Former Nationals leaders mourn with Sussan Ley at her mum’s funeral

Michael McCormack and Barnaby Joyce have joined Liberal figures in supporting Sussan Ley at the funeral of her late mother, whom she lauded for helping lead the way for strong women.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley talks with former Nationals leader and deputy prime minister Michael McCormack at the funeral of her late mother Angela Braybrooks in Albury on Friday. Picture: Simon Dallinger/NewsWire

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Former Nationals leaders Michael McCormack and Barnaby Joyce have joined senior Liberal figures in supporting Sussan Ley at the funeral of her late mother Angela Braybrooks, who she lauded for leading generations of strong women in her family.

In an emotional farewell at ­Albury’s St Matthew’s Church in southern NSW, two days after re-forming the Coalition and unveiling her shadow cabinet line-up with Nationals leader David Littleproud, the Opposition Leader said her mother believed that a woman’s identity should be “separate from the vocation of being a mother and a wife”.

While Mr Littleproud did not attend the funeral on Friday, Mr McCormack and Mr Joyce paid their respects alongside senior Liberal frontbenchers Michaelia Cash and Anne Ruston.

The former deputy prime ministers, who were previously leadership rivals, worked with Ms Ley to repair the rift between the Nationals and Liberals and bring the Coalition back together after Mr Littleproud publicly quit the conservative alliance. Senator Cash and Senator Ruston, members of Ms Ley’s leadership group, sat with Mr McCormack and Mr Joyce for the service after arriving together at the church.

Ms Ley, supported by her three children and six grandchildren, delivered a moving eulogy for her late 93-year-old mother, who passed away just days after the 63-year-old became the first woman elected to lead the Liberal Party on May 13.

“I remember one morning telling her all the jobs I needed to do as a home mum, and she said sharply (she was never sharp), ‘What about (expletive)?’ (She never swore), ‘What about doing something for you?’ When I went to university, aged 30, she supported so much of that effort,” Ms Ley said. “She did it for me because she believed in that part of a woman’s identity that is separate from the vocation of being a mother and a wife.

“My mother lived a life that was, in many ways, traditional but also unconventional. She strove to be her authentic self.”

Reflecting on her mother’s “difficult” early life in England, her work ethic and the strength and support she gave her as a young mum, Ms Ley said her mother’s marriage was at the ­centre of her world but did “not completely define her”.

“Her attachment in later life to the Anglican faith, her love of birds and the stars, and her passion for helping those struggling with mental illness, also formed the person she became,” she said.

Sussan Ley speaks at the funeral of her mother Angela Braybrooks. Picture: Simon Dallinger/ NewsWire

Ms Braybrooks trained as a nurse and worked in Britain and Australia before she married Ms Ley’s father Edgar, a British intelligence officer, and moved to Nigeria. The family spent 12 years in the Middle East before settling in Australia.

“As a child, I saw my mother as a devoted wife, but I also saw the determination with which she wanted to carve out something that was just hers. She dispensed with a cook, who came with the job, and taught herself to prepare amazing meals,” Ms Ley said “She never joined the diplomatic or expat cocktail and tennis circuit and if a conversation was just gossip, she quickly became bored.

“She started a daycare and a library at home. She worked in a nursery school. She wanted her own money and her own independence. For her whole life, she never had a joint bank account.”

From left, Michael McCormack, Senate opposition leader Michaelia Cash, Barnaby Joyce and Senator Anne Ruston arrive at the funeral. Picture: Simon Dallinger/NewsWire

Senators Michaelia Cash and Anne Ruston, and MPs Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack. Picture: Simon Dallinger/NewsWire

Ms Ley said: “When you’ve lost both parents, it feels as if the roof has lifted off your world. As I sat quietly last weekend, in a precious window of time, going through my mother’s papers, letters and photographs, I felt a deep sense of gratitude for the things she taught me: patience, persistence and self-reliance, how to lift your eyes and, without fear, take on the world.

“I think of my inquisitive five-year-old granddaughter and the unbroken chain of strength and love that connects three generations of women.”