Go your own way: Split from Nationals not viable for Ley
The Nationals’ split from the Liberals is more than the final humiliation for the Coalition following its May 3 drubbing. If left unattended, it risks becoming potentially cataclysmic.
The Nationals’ split from the Liberals is more than the final humiliation for the Coalition following its May 3 drubbing. If left unattended, it risks becoming potentially cataclysmic.
The former prime minister says he is deeply concerned about the split in the Coalition and urged both the Liberal Party and Nationals to reform quickly.
Sussan Ley confirmed in writing to David Littleproud that she could not guarantee that the Nationals’ four key policy demands would be Coalition policy in the current term of parliament, triggering the major split in conservative parties.
The housing construction industry has suffered 39 per cent decline in productivity over the past two decades, making Labor’s pledge to build 1.2 million new homes even more unachievable.
Beset by turmoil in the wake of its catastrophic defeat, the party faces a herculean task: how to stop a civil war.
Sussan Ley has managed to get under Anthony Albanese’s skin in the past and the re-elected Prime Minister will have to be cautious in his approach.
Anthony Albanese has moved to address the perennial weakness that national security has been for Labor, while the rivalry between he and Tanya Plibersek won’t be extinguished by shunting her into social services.
Australia’s first female Liberal premier Gladys Berejiklian has endorsed Sussan Ley to succeed Peter Dutton as Liberal leader and ‘bring the party back to the centre’.
The question now is whether Albanese dares to be bold and makes the much needed course corrections or does he double down on a leftist agenda that locks in a cycle of economic doom.
Adam Bandt’s utopian vision of turning the next parliament into the most progressive in the nation’s history may still be realised, it just won’t include him.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/simon-benson/page/2