Jane Hume not a ‘scapegoat’ despite backbench exile, Sussan Ley says

Once one of the most senior women in the Coalition has been exiled to the opposition backbench after several blunders during the federal election campaign.

Jane Hume’s exile to the opposition backbench does not mean she is being scapegoated for the Coalition’s decimation at the federal election, Sussan Ley says.

The Opposition Leader unveiled her shadow cabinet on Wednesday after striking a new Coalition agreement with David Littleproud, officially ending the historic, albeit brief, separation of the Liberal and National parties.

Senator Hume did not nab a spot.

She was deeply involved in the Coalition’s key policies as finance spokeswoman, championing its highly controversial work-from-home proposal.

The Coalition ultimately abandoned the policy mid-campaign and analysts have said it was a core reason for the Liberal vote collapsing.

Despite the noticeable demotion of one the Liberal Party’s most senior women, Ms Ley on Thursday said there were “no scapegoats”.

Liberal senator Jane Hume has been demoted to the backbench after serving as opposition finance spokeswoman. NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“Jane is a terrific and talented senator for Victoria and, of course, remains that,” she told Sky News.

“The team that I announced yesterday includes new faces because we are bringing a fresh approach.

“It’s a new term in parliament, it’s a new leader, and we are going to do things differently.”

Ms Ley insisted it was “not about the top down or the ownership of portfolios or what seat you have at what table”.

“It’s about everyone working hard, every player on the field, everyone doing what they know they need to do to earn back the respect and trust of the people who didn’t support us at the last election,” she said.

“We have to acknowledge that we didn’t meet the Australian people with where they expected us to be, and that’s something we’ve listened to with humility and understanding and we’re going to act on.”

Ms Ley was pressed on why she could not find a role for Senator Hume or senator Sarah Henderson, who also lost her shadow portfolio.

Senator Henderson held education and has said she regretted “a number of high-performing Liberal women have been overlooked or demoted in the new ministry”.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says there are ‘no scapegoats’ for the Coalition’s decimation at the federal election. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Ms Ley refused to “reflect on individuals and individual appointments” but said “everyone remains important” and both Senator Hume and Senator Henderson “will continue to contribute incredibly well”.

“Forty per cent of the new shadow ministry that I announced is women,” Ms Ley said.

“Of course … I want to see more women, more women come into our party.

“And I was able to announce women who are younger in terms of their political career, and I know that they’re going to do very well too.

“But ultimately, this is not about who we choose for what seat at the table.

“It’s about bringing the strongest possible team onto the field to work hard for the Australian people in every corner of this country.”

Ms Ley said her “team represents life experience across the Australian nation, from the bush to the city to the suburbs and everywhere in between”.

‘That’s politics’: Demoted Nats react

Barnaby Joyce said it was “a bit disappointing” he learnt he was going to the opposition backbench via the media, but he saw “it coming for a while”.

Mr Joyce, a former Nationals leader and one of the party’s staunchest pro-Coalition MPs, was not among the names in Ms Ley’s new-look shadow executive.

He said on Thursday he “read about it about a week before it happened, but that’s politics”.

Barnaby Joyce saw his demotion ‘coming for a while’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“That’s life – move on to other things,” he told Nine.

Mr Joyce was among several senior MPs Ms Ley reached out to in an effort to save the Coalition and maintained his support for the 80-year-old political partnership both publicly and through backchannels.

He said it he did not know why the Nationals leader sent him to the backbench, but it was Mr Littleproud’s “prerogative”.

Though, he did dismiss Mr Littleproud’s framing as “generational change”.

“It’s not about generational change,” Mr Joyce said.

“There are people who are older than me now. I’m 58, I’m not 103.”

He pointed out Mr Littleproud, 48, would be the youngest.

“So it’s not generational change, it’s politics and personalities,” Mr Joyce said.

“Let’s call it for what it is, let’s be straight.

“(I’m) a little bit disappointed that I think everybody in the (shadow) cabinet … voted for David.

“It’s hard to bring back unity because you’re going to have to have some authority over every corner of the room, and that’s difficult.

“But nonetheless, that’s the prerogative, that’s happened.”

The Liberal and National parties are officially the Coalition again after Ms Ley and David Littleproud inked a new agreement. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Fellow former Nationals leader Michael McCormack also landed on the backbench.

Like Mr Joyce, Mr McCormack was involved in backchanneling during the Coalition crisis talks and was among the senior Nationals that Ms Ley reached out to.

Echoing Mr Joyce, he said it “would have been nice to hear a week ago … instead of readings it in the newspapers”.

“That’s life, that’s politics, we move on,” Mr McCormack told the ABC.

Asked if he was being punished for his public and private efforts to get the Coalition reunited during the split, he said it was a question for Mr Littleproud.

“I thought it was important to get the two parties back together as quickly as possible,” Mr McCormack said.

“We shouldn’t have split in the first place. Last week was a messy week.

“When honestly there are people with their houses under water and now they’re cleaning mud out of their homes … it looked messy and people out in voterland must have looked and thought, ‘What on Earth are those people doing navel-gazing talking about themselves’.

Former Nationals leader Michael McCormack has left the door open for a run at the his party’s top job. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr McCormack was rumoured to be considering a challenge to Mr Littleproud’s leadership, as was Mr Joyce, over how the Coalition crisis was handled.

He still left a door open to a possible tilt, saying the Nationals party room was not “told everything that went on between Sussan Ley and David”.

The four key policies Mr Littleproud took to the Liberals – divestiture, nuclear energy, regional future fund and telecommunications for the bush – were “important for the people we represent”, but “there could have been some other things on that list which could have been taken as part of the Coalition agreement”, Mr McCormack said.

As for another run at the National Party leadership, he said “never say never”.

“I’m not going to draw a line through my name because that would be silly, but, look, it’s up to the party room,” Mr McCormack said.

“It’s the gift of the party room. I have always accepted that.”