Meet the Liberal Party MPs vying for worst job in Australian politics
Meet the front runners for the worst job in Australia – aka leading the Liberal Party from here on.
Federal Election
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Former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is again being touted as a future leadership contender for the Liberal Party, but if he wants the toughest job in Australian politics, another MP will need to stand aside.
As the bloodletting continues in the Liberal Party Angus Taylor and Senator Jane Hume have emerged as frontrunners to take on the leadership and the Senate leadership respectively.
Deputy leader Sussan Ley, Victorian Dan Tehan and WA’s Andrew Hastie are also in the mix.
For now, Ms Ley is acting Liberal leader after what she described as “a very difficult night for the Liberal Party.”
It currently looks like the ALP will secure 86 seats and the Coalition 39 in the 150-seat Parliament.
“Today we reflect on these results with humility,” she said.
“As Acting Leader of the Liberal Party, and deputy leader for the past three years, I want to pay particular tribute to Peter Dutton and thank him for his 25 years of deeply valued service to our country.
“As per our party rules following an election defeat, the Liberal party room will meet in order to elect a Leader of the Opposition and Deputy Leader of the Opposition. These positions will be declared vacant at this meeting.
“Today I have consulted with our party’s senior leadership and it is clear that there are several seats where preferential counting must continue before this meeting can take place.”
Once regarded as the heir apparent, former Liberal MP Josh Frydenberg suffered the same fate at the 2022 election and lost his seat to the independent Monique Ryan.
That means, like Peter Dutton, he doesn’t get a vote in the looming leadership contest, in which all of the Liberal MPs will decide, and senators will be left standing.
Josh Frydenberg: “never say never”
Former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has repeatedly flirted with a return to parliament.
Just five days ago, he was asked if he still wanted to be a future Prime Minister.
“I don’t think ambition’s a crime,” Mr Fydenberg told a leadership summit in Perth.
“I’m not rushing back. Life is good on the other side,” he said.
“Never say never.”
Other future leadership contenders mentioned in the past include former NSW Premier Mike Baird.
Whoever takes the reins, there’s plenty of people dishing out the advice
NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman has urged his party to reach out to women and migrant voters and stick to the “sensible centre”.
“The federal election loss is devastating, but the federal Liberal Party can and must rebuild and reconnect,” he said.
“I’m not here to finger point about the past, but to look to the way forward. I’m determined that at a state level, our policy development is rigorous, timely and firmly grounded in the sensible centre of Australian politics.”
“If we want sustained solutions to cost-of-living and housing crises, we need more than tinkering, but instead a national conversation on substantial tax and productivity reform to reverse declining prosperity,” he said.
“If we want lower power bills and reliability we need to provide certainty to investors in new energy, which means avoiding wild fluctuations in policy seen for 20 years at a federal level and having our 2020 infrastructure road map as the starting point.”
Angus Taylor-Jane Hume ticket emerges
In the meantime, two of the architects of the Liberal’s election strategy – treasury spokesman Angus Taylor and finance spokeswoman Jane Hume are “in cahoots” according to critics to take over the party.
Speaking on Sky News, Labor minister Graham Richardson quipped that if Angus Taylor was the answer it was a worry.
“if Angus Taylor is the answer, it’s a stupid question,’’ Mr Richardson said.
“We’ve tried Dutton – what else have we got? Well not much.”
Is Angus Taylor the best option?
Liberal Party Treasurer Angus Taylor’s election performance has been slammed as “an absolute disaster” by a Liberal MP amid a crushing Coalition defeat.
As a blame game erupts over the defeat, which saw Peter Dutton lose his own seat of Dickson, insiders have unloaded on the performance of the Liberal economic team.
“(Taylor) has been an absolute disaster,’’ a Liberal MP told news.com.au
“He’s been an absolute disaster because of the failure to develop a tax policy.”
The Liberals have come under fire for vowing to repeal Labor’s modest $10 a week tax cut and offering only temporary tax relief in the form of a fuel excise cut for one year only and a $1200 tax cut that was a one-off.
‘Everyone is a d*ckhead’
But it’s the bedside manner of the Treasury spokesman that has annoyed some colleagues.
“I don’t think he doesn’t understand political communication. I’ve never known anyone to be so condescending and rude,’’ the Liberal MP said.
“Doesn’t matter if you’re a journalist or a colleague. I mean, he thinks everyone is dumb.
On election night, Sky News commentator Chris Uhlman said the party was facing “an existential crisis”.
“Where does this party go?” he asked. “This is a party that will tear itself apart while it tries to work out how it articulates itself to appeal to enough people in Australia to be able to form a government in future.”
But Peta Credlin, a former chief of staff to Tony Abbott said Mr Dutton had been “demonised” by the media.
She said so-called culture wars over the Welcome to Country were not a factor.
“I’d argue we didn’t do enough of a culture war,” she said.
Jane Hume’s challenging campaign
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has sought to weaponise Liberal frontbencher Jane Hume’s extraordinary and unsubstantiated claim that “Chinese spies” could be working on Labor pre-poll booths during the campaign.
Capping off a challenging campaign for Senator Hume, who was also at the centre of the work-from-home backflip, the comments have infuriated Liberal colleagues.
Senator Hume previously claimed public servants who were “working for home” were in fact driving around in campervans while travelling Australia.
The Liberal Party later dumped the plan to force public servants back into the office amid fears staff thinking it applied to all workers.
Accusing the Liberal Party of questioning the loyalty of Chinese Australians, Senator Wong used new social media advertisements targeting Chinese voters on WeChat and RedNote.
The ads are being rolled out in key seats that could decide Saturday’s election.
“Liberal Senator Jane Hume accused Chinese Australians volunteering in the federal election of being Chinese spies,’’ Senator Wong said.
“We’ve seen this before from the Liberal Party.
“But Chinese Australians know what Peter Dutton is like.”
Senator Wong then speaks in Chinese before translating her words to English.
“He won’t change,’’ she says.
Chinese spies claims
The Coalition finance spokeswoman told Channel 7’s Sunrise on Wednesday that people associated with the Chinese Communist Party had organised campaigners for a teal and Labor MP, before the latter rejected the arrangement.
Her observation followed a newspaper article outlining the claims.
“There might be Chinese spies that are, you know, handing out for you,” Hume said to Clare O’Neil. She offered no evidence to support the claim.
Peter Dutton and China
During the 2022 election, the Liberals took a big hit among Chinese voters after taking an anti-China stance during the pandemic.
In the Liberal Party’s review of its election performance, undertaken by former party director Brian Loughnane and frontbencher Jane Hume, it was reported: “In the top 15 seats by Chinese ancestry the swing against the party (on a 2PP basis) was 6.6 per cent, compared to 3.7 per cent in other seats.
On Friday, Senator Hume also appeared on ABC Breakfast and when asked about whether Angus Taylor was a future leader made a comment about gutting a chicken.
“You do not read the entrails until you’ve gutted the chicken,’’ she said.
Originally published as Meet the Liberal Party MPs vying for worst job in Australian politics
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