The Sauce: Sussan Ley scraps summer holiday to launch political blitz on Albanese government
The Liberal leader has ditched summer holidays entirely, choosing instead to hit the road with a four-pillar policy blitz targeting energy, migration, budget management and tax cuts.
Sussan Ley is the latest pollie to cancel a summer holiday.
The Sauce can reveal the Liberal leader will spend the usual Christmas break period undertaking policy development work, though her office refused to give us an idea of topics or themes.
We were told Ley would also work through to “take the Coalition’s core messages directly to families, workers and small businesses across the country”. The summer messages will be anchored on four pillars that are starting to shape the Coalition’s case for change at the 2028 election, including energy and emissions, migration, budget management and personal-income tax cuts.
In driving the case for affordable power and responsible emissions reduction, her office told us Ley will visit households and businesses being hit with soaring bills and will highlight the “practical, measured approach” the Coalition was building.
We have been told to expect a stream of local visits, business roundtables and targeted media in regional and metropolitan areas.
On migration, Ley will soon set out the Coalition’s new migration principles, which she hopes will help ease pressure on housing, infrastructure and services.
On budget management, we are told she will build on two key economic speeches this year to keep pressure on the government over spending blowouts, rising debt and cost-of-living effects on households.
As for personal income tax cuts, her office says the emphasis will remain on delivering tax relief that rewards effort and lets Australians keep more of what they earn. We are told this will feature in her summer messaging and appearances.
“I’ll be on the road all summer listening to families and small businesses who are doing it tough,” Ley said.
“I understand not everyone gets a break under this Albanese government and our plan has to reflect the real world, not Labor’s spin.”
Last month, Anthony Albanese effectively cancelled summer holidays for Labor caucus members, giving them a list of things to talk to their local communities about, from road safety and bushfire awareness to the social media ban and “fair” education funding.
The PM spoke of the Coalition making a mistake in the lead-up to this year’s election by choosing to “stop working in January,” which contributed to their election loss – and something Ley is clearly not going to repeat.
STU-ING, PERHAPS?
With the clock ticking before the 2027 state election, the Liberals are not giving up in wooing former Penrith MP Stuart Ayres back to the fold.
While the former cabinet minister lost the prized seat at the last election, Liberal sources believe he remains their best chance to reclaim the seat. However, just how long the party will wait for Ayres is the question.
Nominations for the seat were opened this year, with no closing date in sight.
Ayres, who is Urban Development Institute of Australia (NSW) chief executive, was rumoured to have had his sights on the Panthers Group CEO, but with that position filled by Andrew Hill, the Libs are still hopeful he still might be tempted.
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Originally published as The Sauce: Sussan Ley scraps summer holiday to launch political blitz on Albanese government
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