Login
ISCOVER
A new leader of the opposition has emerged following a tight leadership race, becoming the first female leader of the party.
Sussan Ley has become the first female leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, replacing former party head Peter Dutton after a dismal election for the Coalition that saw them lose at least 17 electorates from their previous total of 58.
The recently re-elected member for Farrer beat Angus Taylor, member for Hume, in a two-horse party leadership race.
Ley – who has been acting Liberal Party leader since Dutton’s unseating – was formerly the deputy leader of the opposition and shadow minister for women, as well as the shadow minister for industry, skills and training and shadow minister for small and family business.
Her move to lead the opposition comes after claims the Coalition lost the election partly due to a lack of support from female voters.
Ley claimed victory by a narrow margin, beating former shadow treasurer Angus Taylor MP by 29 votes to 25.
Her deputy will be Ted O’Brien, the previous energy spokesperson.
Speaking at a press conference after becoming party leader, Ley said: “My story is a migrant story.
“It’s a small-business story. It’s a rural Australia story. It’s a story about a mum and a family, and it is a modern Australian story.
“When I came to this country as a young girl from a cold English boarding school in my teenage years, I stepped out of the aeroplane at Brisbane Airport and I looked at this brilliant blue sky and I knew that I’d come to the best country on Earth.
“I knew that Australia was a place where I could dream my biggest dreams - and I have.
“I’ve never stopped feeling grateful for this country, for what it has given me.”
Ley – who has been the member for Farrer since 2001 – has a particular focus on rural needs and regional issues, having herself been part of a livestock and dairy farming partnership for 17 years.
She is an advocate for decentralisation, improving local food security, balancing water for agriculture, and increasing services for rural health.
Ley holds a commercial pilot’s licence and previously worked as an air traffic controller with Sydney and Melbourne airports, as well as aerial stock-mustering in outback NSW and Queensland.
The Opposition Leader appointment comes after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled the new line-up of his cabinet and outer ministry, including the financial services portfolio.
Following a landslide Labor win in the federal election on 3 May (Labor has at least 92 seats in the House of Representatives but some seats are yet to be called), Albanese named Dr Daniel Mulino MP as the new Assistant Treasurer (to Treasurer Jim Chalmers) and Minister for Financial Services.
[Related: New Financial Services Minister announced]
JOIN THE DISCUSSION