A woman has been voted leader of the Liberal Party, but will Sussan Ley listen to voters and "modernise" the party, and is her appointment a breakthrough for women? Managing editor Michelle Pini considers the Liberals' latest iteration.
SUSSAN LEY has begun her stint as the Liberal Party’s first ever female leader with claims of a “modern” Liberal Party that would “listen to voters”, be defined by “consultative leadership" and “unify” the nation, such that we will all be singing Kumbaya in no time.
Having a woman at the helm does, on the surface at least, appear to be an improvement on the many, many years of toxic Tory male rule. But does Ley’s gender have any bearing on why she was elected leader and where, if indeed anywhere, she plans to take the Liberal Party?
As a disgraced member of Malcolm Turnbull's Ministry, Ley was sacked for rorting — a well-honed skill she shares with her chief opponent for the Liberal leadership, Angus Taylor. Ley's overall lacklustre parliamentary track record would suggest that if she intends to take any positive steps at all to change the outdated patriarchal, climate-denying and racist culture within her beloved Liberal Party, they’re unlikely to be significant strides.
Ley's abysmal parliamentary record notwithstanding, the Tories' complete electoral annihilation and consequent paucity of available talent would seem to support the theory that it was time to invoke the "glass cliff effect" and appoint a woman to take the inevitable fall.
Certainly, the MP's underwhelming opening media address as party leader did not support Ley's declaration of doing anything “differently”.
Firstly, it’s hard to believe there is much chance of “consultative leadership”, given Ley began by throwing Peter Dutton under the bus, without ever once mentioning his name. On replacing him as leader, Ley rambled cryptically about the Liberal Party losing the election because “it” didn’t listen to the electorate, that "it" was no longer in the “sensible centre” and that there would be no “captain calls” forthwith.
The people “felt let down”, said Ley:
“We stood at polling booths across this country, and we saw the look on people's faces that they came in sadly not to vote for us, and they were disappointed, and they felt let down.”
Not that her predecessor didn’t deserve it, mind, but it was hardly a good look, particularly since she served as his Deputy, mostly gushing about Dutton on a regular basis throughout their three-year partnership.
Then there’s the matter of the mythical "sensible centre" and Ley’s claims that such a place: a) still exists within the Liberal Party; and b) that she can convince the rest of the gang to go there, wherever that is.
Not only have the Liberal Party stalwarts and their media fan club already begun opining about how the party must not veer from its Far-Right course to oblivion, using the re-election of IPA stalwart Tim Wilson as evidence, but also how the election pantsing it received cannot be blamed on the party, either.
Nope, the fact that the Coalition are only likely to end up with 41, possibly 42 seats, while Labor look like getting 95, is not due to the Tories’ archaic policies but the fact that Australia has preferential voting. Sure, we’ve had it at every federal election since 1918, but this is the only election in which it has been grossly unfair, apparently.
WHAT SHE SAID
Secondly, let’s look at what Ley actually said during her first speech as Opposition Leader about many of the issues that turned away Liberal voters — to which she has presumably been "listening" for 24 years.
1. Women
Sure, as well as being a woman and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Ley was Shadow Minister for Women for the past three years. However, Ley said an “appropriate review” is now needed to determine why women abandoned the Liberal Party in their droves or what policies might possibly appeal to the female gender.
Ley also declared the Liberal Party needed "more women" but did not commit to whether quotas would be adopted or concede the "glass cliff" towards which she is clearly headed.
2. Climate
As Environment Minister, Ley actually lobbied against the Great Barrier Reef being included on the UNESCO World Heritage in Danger List. She single-handedly did more to exterminate Australia's koalas than possibly even Gladys Berejiklian, also announced a "review" on climate change policy.
Because, you know, 50 odd years of scientific analysis would not provide any sense of urgency for the new “modern” Liberal Party under her leadership.
3. The “flag issue”
Dutton devoted many of his last breaths as Opposition Leader to undermining and denigrating First Australians, claiming Acknowledgement of Country and Welcome to Country protocols were “over the top”.
And what did his successor have to say on the subject?
“I see you characterising the flag issue as divisive and I don’t. I see it as something unifying. We should unite under the one Australian flag — that is my firm view.”
4. Nuts about nuclear
The new Liberal Leader didn’t go beyond saying everything was "under review" and "on the table" when the Coalition’s nuclear plan came up. But the big, iridescent, nuclear elephant in the room during the media conference was, of course, the instigator of the Liberals' nuclear policy and newly elected Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, Ted O’Brien.
5. Social unity, the Liberal Party way
Achieving social unity, according to the new Tory Leader, has nothing to do with her party’s migration policy, which shamelessly favours White people, nor does it have anything to do with embracing Indigenous culture or putting the culture wars it continues to inflame firmly behind us.
No, according to Sussan, any lack of “social cohesion” was due to PM Anthony Albanese's stance on Gaza.
Once a member of the Parliamentary Friends of Palestine group and vocal supporter for a free Palestine, Ley did a complete about-face this week, with the following:
One of the biggest threats to social cohesion in this country is the Prime Minister’s approach to Jewish Australians and everything that happens overseas. I’ve reflected on that, with the hideous events in Gaza, has domestic implications.
We have a Foreign Minister, Penny Wong, who has let down Australia in the UN and we have a Prime Minister who is intent, it seems, on letting down Jewish Australians on the streets of our cities.
THE APPROACHING GLASS CLIFF
Not only are the most vocal people remaining in the Parliamentary Liberal Party firmly on the Right, as is the “friendly media” that supports them, but the Nationals – that part of the Coalition with which they are tethered by a secret agreement they refuse to divulge and who now constitute a far greater proportion of the alliance – will never stand for it.
While Ley may not be as far gone on the Far-Right Richter scale as Peter Dutton, it is abundantly clear that even if she had once toyed with any “sensible centre” that may have ever existed, this is no longer the case. Any sudden moves in that direction will no doubt send Ley tumbling down that glass cliff into political oblivion faster than she can mutter sensible centre.
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