Sussan Ley reveals Coalition shadow ministry
The leaders of the Liberal and National parties are unveiling the new shadow cabinet for the reunited Coalition in Canberra.
Sussan Ley is speaking to reporters and starts by thanking her National counterpart, David Littleproud, who just a week ago was leading his party as it broke away from the Liberals. Ley tells reporters:
I want to thank you, David, for the respectful and productive way that you and I have engaged throughout this process. I know that we will be a great partnership going forward.
She says she spoke to every single member of the Liberal party room about her cabinet decisions – even those who were left out:
I promised my leadership would be done differently and it will be. I have communicated with every single member of my party room about this shadow ministry. Those who are in the shadow ministry and those who are not. That style might be unconventional but it is important because I always said that I would harness the talents of my party room. Everyone has a role to play, even if they are not formally in the lineup.
Key events
Luca Ittimani
With that announcement wrapped up, I’ll hand over to Nick Visser to take you through the rest of the day’s news. All the best.
Sussan Ley has said the culture of Parliament House must improve after Senator Fatima Payman reported the behaviour of a male parliamentary colleague over claimed inappropriate comments.
Ley said she was concerned by the news:
I read that report with great concern and it is simply not good enough to have that behaviour take place in this building.
It is vital that reporting of events like this are a reminder to everybody that we must never take our eye off the ball when it comes to continuous improvement in the culture in this building.
Read the full report here:
Littleproud denies demanding ‘free for all’ for shadow ministers
David Littleproud has denied misleading his party room after Nationals MP Colin Boyce this morning accused his party leader of failing to raise a key issue believed to have motivated the Coalition split.
Liberal politicians said Littleproud had demanded shadow ministers be permitted to break shadow cabinet solidarity and cross the floor, which Nationals MPs said he had never discussed with them.
Littleproud said he had never demanded a “free for all”:
It wasn’t a demand, it was a conversation, and Sussan was quite clear that the parameters that we have were ones that we should continue to adhere to. I wasn’t asking for a free for all and that was not something I think was appropriate to share – the fact that it’s been ruminated out here – because I don’t want a free for all in my party room.
He said National party room members remained free to come forward and bring new policy or challenge existing policy.
Disquiet among the Nationals MPs saw Barnaby Joyce endorse Michael McCormack to replace Littleproud as leader, but Littleproud denied McCormack was being punished for criticising him:
I made it clear when I became leader three years ago that I wanted to have generational change but, at that point, wanted to respect the leadership that was before me to allow them to impart their wisdom.
David Littleproud has refused to say whether he regretted his decision to split the Coalition at a time Liberal leader Sussan Ley had left Canberra to be with her dying mother.
Asked whether he had apologised to Ley for his decision, the Nationals leader said:
With due respect, we made sure Sussan and I worked through that at a pace she was comfortable with … We were sensitive around that. So much so that … Sussan offered to fly back to Canberra to have our first meeting and I made it clear I didn’t want her to leave her mother’s side.
Ley has said she “doesn’t get hung up on titles” after failing to appoint a shadow minister with an explicit responsibility for climate change listed in their title.
Dan Tehan has been appointed shadow minister for energy and emissions reduction, opposite Labor’s climate and energy minister, Chris Bowen.
Ley said she looked past the title of ministries to the substance:
At one stage there were so many titles on a minister that they couldn’t fit on a business card, in the days that we had those. I look at the substance of what’s going on and the policy areas and don’t get hung up on the titles.
Ley was again asked about whether she supported net zero by 2050, and did not explicitly confirm:
We have to play, as a country, our part in the global response to climate change. Net zero, Paris [Accord] targets, gas, all of the resources conversations around critical minerals are all part of that. We have to get this right. We have to play our part but we have to make sure that we don’t do it at any cost …
You can’t have an energy policy that crashes our energy grid and you have to recognise the great manufacturing base of this country and it’s built on reliable, secure, baseload power.
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price demoted
Sussan Ley was asked if Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has been demoted after the firebrand senator was denied a shadow cabinet position, instead appointed to the shadow minister in defence industry.
Ley responded saying Price had told her she was excited to take on the new position:
I’m delighted that Jacinta is taking up what is a really vital role and her style of communication and relationship with Australian people will be incredibly valuable.
David Littleproud, standing alongside opposition leader Sussan Ley, says he remains disappointed that Price left the Nationals but that he wished her well:
She has ambition beyond what my party room can give and I don’t think I should put my personal disappointment above somebody who has the ambition to have a higher office than the National party. I have to be bigger than that and think about the country. We wish her well in whatever endeavour she achieves but why should we put a ceiling on someone that has ambition?
Ley has declined to take a stance on net zero and says the Coalition’s commitment to remove a moratorium on nuclear energy development is an “important first step” in policy development.
The commitment to remove the ban on development was a term in the agreement for the Coalition’s reunification. Ley told reporters:
There will be development of the detail of any further policy with respect to nuclear after that point, so that’s where we’re starting.
Asked whether she would consider dropping the Liberal party’s commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, Ley said:
We’ll have those discussions inside the policy development process.
Nationals senators Matt Canavan and Barnaby Joyce have spoken out against net zero, which Ley said was their ability as backbenchers:
One of the traditions our parties share is the ability to speak freely on the backbench. It’s not something you can ever do in the Labor party but we value it and we love the expression that people want to make.
Coalition not distracted by ‘gossip and innuendo’, Littleproud says
Sussan Ley denies the Coalition split was a “bitter breakup”, saying she and David Littleproud had maintained a professional partnership between the Coalition parties.
Ley told reporters she got along well with Littleproud:
Personally, David and I will be friends. I think a woman who got her start in the shearing sheds of western Queensland can always find something to talk about over a steak and a beer, David, with you, the person who represents those communities now. So we will, 100%, take this forward together. We will be stronger together.
Littleproud said negotiations over the last week had been effective, taking a shot at media commentary over the split:
We’ve laid the boundaries and foundation stones and while there’s been gossip and innuendo through the halls of the gallery, let me be clear – Sussan and I have always kept the lines of communication open. We’ve risen above that. We haven’t let us get distracted by what’s been reported.
Jane Hume dumped from shadow cabinet
Sussan Ley has not reappointed former Liberal frontbencher Jane Hume to shadow cabinet but she denies that decision was “vengeance”.
Asked whether Hume had asked to not be reappointed, Ley would not confirm. She said she would not reflect on private conversations but paid tribute to Hume:
These are tough days and having been through many days like this myself in my parliamentary career, I recognise that. …
[Hume] has contributed amazingly over her political career, will continue to do so and is a strong performer across a range of different subjects.
David Littleproud, Nationals leader, announces his party’s appointments to the shadow ministry:
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Darren Chester in veterans affairs.
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Ross Cadell in water, fisheries, forestries and emergency services.
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Ann Webster in regional development, local government and regional telecommunications.
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Pat Conaghan as shadow assistant treasurer and shadow minister for financial services.
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Sam Birrell as shadow assistant minister for health and education.
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Jamie Chaffey as shadow assistant minister for agriculture and resources.
Ley announces the last set of appointments to shadow ministry:
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Leah Price and Zoe McKenzie will become shadow assistant ministers.
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Gisele Kapterian will become shadow assistant minister for communications, shadow minister for technology and the digital economy, if she wins Bradfield in a recount.
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Andrew Wallace as shadow cabinet secretary.
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Dan Tehan in energy and emissions.
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Dean Smith as shadow minister for industry and emissions reduction.
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Alex Hawke as shadow minister for industry and innovation and manager of opposition business in the house.
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Jonathon Duniam in education and early learning.
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Julian Leeser as shadow attorney general and minister for the arts.
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Paul Scarr as shadow minister for immigration.
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James McGrath as shadow minister for new urban infrastructure and cities, a new portfolio.
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Phil Thompson as shadow assistant minister for defence and for the NDIS.
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Matt O’Sullivan as shadow assistant minister for infrastructure and for fisheries and forestry.
Michaelia Cash, Andrew Hastie, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price given new shadow ministry positions
More positions in the new shadow ministry:
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Michaelia Cash as shadow foreign minister.
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Angus Taylor as shadow defence minister.
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Andrew Hastie as shadow home affairs minister.
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Jason Wood as shadow minister for international development and the Pacific.
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Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as shadow minister for defence industry and shadow minister for defence personnel.
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Kerrynne Liddle as shadow minister for Indigenous Australians and social services.
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Angie Bell as shadow minister for environment and youth.
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Melissa McIntosh as shadow minister for women.
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Anne Ruston as shadow minister for aged care, sport and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
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Melissa Price as shadow minister for cybersecurity and science.
Ted O’Brien named shadow treasurer in new Coalition lineup
The new Coalition shadow ministry includes:
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Ted O’Brien as shadow treasurer.
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James Paterson as shadow finance minister.
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Andrew Bragg as shadow minister for productivity and deregulation and for housing.
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Tim Wilson as shadow minister for industrial relations and employment and for small business.
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Dave Sharma as shadow assistant minister for competition, charities and Treasury.
Sussan Ley reveals Coalition shadow ministry
The leaders of the Liberal and National parties are unveiling the new shadow cabinet for the reunited Coalition in Canberra.
Sussan Ley is speaking to reporters and starts by thanking her National counterpart, David Littleproud, who just a week ago was leading his party as it broke away from the Liberals. Ley tells reporters:
I want to thank you, David, for the respectful and productive way that you and I have engaged throughout this process. I know that we will be a great partnership going forward.
She says she spoke to every single member of the Liberal party room about her cabinet decisions – even those who were left out:
I promised my leadership would be done differently and it will be. I have communicated with every single member of my party room about this shadow ministry. Those who are in the shadow ministry and those who are not. That style might be unconventional but it is important because I always said that I would harness the talents of my party room. Everyone has a role to play, even if they are not formally in the lineup.
