Divisions in the Liberal Party threaten to haunt Sussan Ley’s fledging leadership as colleagues raise questions about her handling of the demotion of a firebrand senator.
Party insiders say she could have handled the frontbench demotion of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price better, after the Northern Territorian’s controversial comments on Indian migrants.
Liberal sources don’t expect a challenge in the short term to Ms Ley, who won the leadership after the party’s disastrous federal election result in May under Peter Dutton.
Ms Ley dumped Senator Nampijinpa Price, who is popular among conservatives, from her front bench after she failed to declare confidence in her three times during a press conference.
Many in the party consider the senator’s comments about Indian migrants last week as having crossed the line, but say Ms Ley should have confronted her sooner and not allowed the issue to drag on.
Senator Nampijinpa Price had suggested the government favoured Indian migrants to boost Labor’s vote, infuriating the Indian community.
Ms Ley apologised for the comments on Thursday.
The furore placed Ms Ley in an uncomfortable situation and was “symptomatic” of the issues within the Liberal Party, Monash University head of politics Zareh Ghazarian said.
Ms Ley’s leadership would be under pressure throughout the term, he said.
“Sussan Ley has taken a pre-emptive approach to assert her authority on the party, but it’s going to be incredibly difficult because the party is so far behind in terms of where it was even at the last parliamentary term,” Dr Ghazarian said
The federal government’s looming 2035 emissions reduction target is expected to split the party room, as the coalition remains deeply divided over the net-zero by 2050 commitment.
Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie, who has confirmed his own leadership ambitions, said the “knives are not being sharpened” against Ms Ley.
The opposition leader on Thursday refused to answer questions on whether Senator Nampijinpa Price would be reappointed to the front bench at some stage, or criticism directed at her handling of the saga.
“I addressed that situation, or the situation more broadly about Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and the circumstances that led to the decision that I made, and I’m certainly not going to reflect on colleagues this morning,” she told reporters.
Dr Ghazarian said there would be “constant work being done” to sound out potential leaders.
“The big problem is the party’s heavy loss (at the federal election). It did lose potential leaders, potential talent, and so it’s got a smaller pool of people to work with compared to previous parliaments,” he said.