00:00:00
Speaker 1: Nineteen past ten to five A on this very eventful Friday morning. Let's across to Canberra and have a chat with the Stale and Associated Press Federal politics reporter Zach to Silver. Zach, good morning to you.
00:00:12
Speaker 2: Good morning Graham.
00:00:12
Speaker 1: Well it's all happened. We have a new leader at the Liberal Party and Susan Lee stepping away.
00:00:17
Speaker 2: That's correct. Susan Lee is not only stepping away as leader, but has announced her intention to resign from politics after a couple of weeks and step away from public life altogether. This all went down this morning. Angus Taylor was elected the new leader of the Federal Liberal Party at a party room meeting here in Canberra just a little bit after nine am Canberra time, following weeks of speculation and mounting pressure on Susan Lee, after a series of increasingly dire poll results that showed One Nation eclipsing the Pauline Hanson's One Nation eclipsing the vote for the coalition. Now, of course, it has not been an easy time for the Liberals and Nationals. They've broke up, gotten back together, they've come off one of their worst election defeat in modern history, and increasingly Susan Lee has been feeling the pressure. This morning, in a party room meeting, there was a vote to spill the leadership, which was successful, and then Angus Taylor and Susan Lee both nominated, and Angus Taylor had a pretty decisive victory thirty four votes to seventeen.
00:01:25
Speaker 1: Was that ac Was that a surprise act because they were saying it could be only one or two votes in.
00:01:30
Speaker 2: It depends who you talk to. Susan Lee's backers have always said this was going to be close. That's what they've told me, That's what they've told many other journos in the press gallery here. If you spoke to Angus Taylor's side, they said, we think, you know, you'll be surprised at how many people back him. I think one of the there were a number of resignations yesterday, including James, including what one liberal who has been a long term supporter of Susan Lee, and that really I think precipitated this spill. That really kind of built momentum for Angus Taylor. I think for a lot of liberals that it was clearly a case of this just can't keep going on. That's what people were telling me, that this has to end, we have to try something different. Now, whether Angus Taylor is there something different that actually helps them that remains to be seen. We're going to hear from him at some point today. We don't know when yet, but he will then presumably give us a bit more detail about his vision for the Liberal Party and how he intends to haul it out of the doldrums that it is in at the moment.
00:02:36
Speaker 1: What are we to make of Jane him becoming his deputy?
00:02:40
Speaker 2: Well, this is quite interesting. This is the old economic team under Peter Dutton back together. Angus Taylor under Peter Dutton was the Shadow Treasurer. Jane Hume under Angus Taylor was the Shadow Finance Minister. Both of them have come in for their fair share of criticism after the election for the Liberals and Nationals lack of economic policy. People I've spoken to say that really hurt them after the election and kind of questioned what they were doing. You talk to people who were close to them and they say, look, you know that this was all Peter Dutton not kind of Peter Dutton should have taken more of a lead on policy and he didn't. But it's interesting that the band is back together. Now essentially and presumably indicates some kind of shift more towards economic policy. Jane Hume is also depending on who you talk to in the Liberal Party, there are a lot of Liberals who regard her as one of their best communicators and believe that it was a waste to put her on the back bench, as Susan Lee did after the election. So, I mean, time will tell, right that it is. It's certainly interesting that the two of them are back together and interesting, you know, it's a kind of return to the spotlight for Jane Hume after nine months on the backbench.
00:04:00
Speaker 1: Getting back to Susan Lee, right, she lost the leadership business a surprise that she's decided to step away from politics altogether.
00:04:06
Speaker 2: Oh look, I mean, I don't think it's that much of a surprise when you lose the leadership in this way. You know, she was only leader for nine months. She was the party's first female leader. She made in her press conference just now a quite pointed comment about Angus Taylor deserving clear air. She said that and followed that up saying this is something that hasn't always been afforded leaders of the Liberal Party. You know, to me, that sounds like, you know, a hint of bitterness, the way she's been treated by her colleagues, the kind of constant sniping and undermining that she's had to deal with. Is it a surprise that she's decided to step away from politics given all of that, I mean, in my judgment, probably not. I thought it was interesting she said she wants to step away entirely from public life. She's going to spend the next few weeks thanking her constituents in Farah on the New South Wales Victorian border. She's going to thank them for you know, she has been a member for the Member for Parah for a long long time. So she's going to spend a couple of weeks touring Parah thanking them, and then she'll tend to her resignation and said she wants to get back to one of her passions, which is aviation. You know, she's a pilot, worked as a pilots beforehand, and it's been a big part of her brand. It's something she talks about a lot. So it will be interesting to see what she does next.
00:05:30
Speaker 1: So Zach focus now on a by election which will come up in the near future for the seat of Parah she held that at the last election pretty comfortably with about a margin about six percent. Do you see the Liberals likely to hold on or is it an opening for one nation?
00:05:48
Speaker 2: Look, that's a really good question, and to be honest, and given how fast things have been moving here, it's not something I've put a lot of thought into. But I actually used to live down there. My first radio job was reading local news in Aubrey, part of Susan Lee's Electric and in the last election there was an independent who challenged who her name escapes me at the moment, but she did very, very well against Susan Lee. Susan Susan Lee still held the seat comfortably, but she made this independent challenger made in roads. It will be interesting to see whether she decides to run again. She may make some progress. You're right, this could be an opening for one nation. I am sure one nation will run a candidate. In terms of who wins, I think it's anyone's guest. The other thing is Farah used to be a national seat. Farah was held by the Nationals. You know, it's a regional seat. I'm sure the Nationals will probably want that Electric back, so there will have to be some kind of negotiation within the coalition about who runs a candidate for it. So this will be a very very interesting by election to watch, you know, potentially less than six months after Angus Taylor takes the reins of the Liberal leadership.
00:06:59
Speaker 1: I know it's very really days, but has there been any reaction yet from the coalition partner the Nationals?
00:07:05
Speaker 2: Look to be honest, I haven't seen any. Things are moving very quickly. There may have been a statement or something that I've missed. I've been running around like a headless chicken here in Parliament the moment.
00:07:15
Speaker 1: So we're expecting and we're waiting for Angus Taylor to accept. I guess I mean'd be fair to say that Susan Lee was very gracious in defeat, and you know she could hold her head high.
00:07:28
Speaker 2: Look I think so she you know, this was her. To me, this almost struck me as a valedictory speech. I don't know whether she will have one. This is the traditional speech that is given to Parliament at the end of you know, when a person is retiring from politics. A lot of people don't get valedictory speeches because they lose their seat at an election and they are unceremoniously booted out. To me, Susan Lee's statement did seem like a mini valedictory. She may well still choose to give one in Parliament and kind of shed more light on you know, it's a chance for MPs to kind of recast what they would like the focus of their career to be. Susan Lee mentioned things that she was particularly proud of, things like securing a Royal Commission into anti Semitism in particular, which is one of the recent battles that she has had and really kind of one of the battles that in some way precipitated this whole leadership challenge. You know, people who back Dangus Taylor were telling me one of their big complaints about Susan Lee was that she had furiously demanded Parliament be returned to deal with the aftermath of the Bondie attack, but then kind of didn't really have a plan for what to do. Susan Lee's supporters, of course dispute that, but I think it's clear, you know, that Parliament came back to deal with this and what should have been an easy win for the Liberals, you know, forcing Anthony Albanezi into calling a Royal commission, you know, passing Hank speech was who turned into an absolute disaster for them and the week ended with the coalition in tatus. So it was interesting that she chose that as you know, a key thing that she was proud of given kind of precipitated this whole mess that the Liberal Party is in. Now.
00:09:15
Speaker 1: Would you expect the Labor Party the government to get on the front foot with a change of leadership.
00:09:20
Speaker 2: The Labor Party is already on the front foot. The last two days in question time, nearly every minister who's gotten up has used their speech in question time as an excuse to attack Angus Taylor. And you've got to kind of feel for Susan Lee. You know, she's sitting there in the Opposition leader's chair and all the attacks aren't being made at her, which would be typical for the opposition leader being made at the bloke sitting behind her on the backbench. She was about to challenge her, you know. Jim Chalmers, I think it was the day before yesterday, got particularly personal with Angus Taylor, saying he'd failed upwards in every role he'd ever had took, aim that his record as a minister said that the the Zinger line that had clearly been worked out was the number for Hume. Angus Taylor was born with a silver foot in his mouth. So the government is already on the front foot with this. They're going to continue hammering the Liberals and hammering Angus Taylor over this. I think there are people within Labor who are probably licking their lips at the prospect of Angus Taylor as opposition leader, given that there's you know, they say, there's a material to work with from his time as Shadow Treasurer and before then. So it's going to be an interesting period in federal politics, and Angus Taylor now has a monumental task ahead turn the ship around and try and get the Liberals and Nationals back on an even keel.
00:10:44
Speaker 1: Zach, thanks for your time today. I know it's a very busy one for you. And that's Australian Associated Press Federal politics reporter Zach to Silver on the ever changing events in Canberra with new leader Angus Taylor backed up by Jane Hume. Susan Lee a short time ago announcing not only that she is now out of the leadership, she's going to step away from politics. We'll take a break for news headlines, and we'll hear from South Australian Senator Leah Blythe from Canberra. Five Double A Mornings with Graham Goodings
Speaker 1: Nineteen past ten to five A on this very eventful Friday morning. Let's across to Canberra and have a chat with the Stale and Associated Press Federal politics reporter Zach to Silver. Zach, good morning to you.
00:00:12
Speaker 2: Good morning Graham.
00:00:12
Speaker 1: Well it's all happened. We have a new leader at the Liberal Party and Susan Lee stepping away.
00:00:17
Speaker 2: That's correct. Susan Lee is not only stepping away as leader, but has announced her intention to resign from politics after a couple of weeks and step away from public life altogether. This all went down this morning. Angus Taylor was elected the new leader of the Federal Liberal Party at a party room meeting here in Canberra just a little bit after nine am Canberra time, following weeks of speculation and mounting pressure on Susan Lee, after a series of increasingly dire poll results that showed One Nation eclipsing the Pauline Hanson's One Nation eclipsing the vote for the coalition. Now, of course, it has not been an easy time for the Liberals and Nationals. They've broke up, gotten back together, they've come off one of their worst election defeat in modern history, and increasingly Susan Lee has been feeling the pressure. This morning, in a party room meeting, there was a vote to spill the leadership, which was successful, and then Angus Taylor and Susan Lee both nominated, and Angus Taylor had a pretty decisive victory thirty four votes to seventeen.
00:01:25
Speaker 1: Was that ac Was that a surprise act because they were saying it could be only one or two votes in.
00:01:30
Speaker 2: It depends who you talk to. Susan Lee's backers have always said this was going to be close. That's what they've told me, That's what they've told many other journos in the press gallery here. If you spoke to Angus Taylor's side, they said, we think, you know, you'll be surprised at how many people back him. I think one of the there were a number of resignations yesterday, including James, including what one liberal who has been a long term supporter of Susan Lee, and that really I think precipitated this spill. That really kind of built momentum for Angus Taylor. I think for a lot of liberals that it was clearly a case of this just can't keep going on. That's what people were telling me, that this has to end, we have to try something different. Now, whether Angus Taylor is there something different that actually helps them that remains to be seen. We're going to hear from him at some point today. We don't know when yet, but he will then presumably give us a bit more detail about his vision for the Liberal Party and how he intends to haul it out of the doldrums that it is in at the moment.
00:02:36
Speaker 1: What are we to make of Jane him becoming his deputy?
00:02:40
Speaker 2: Well, this is quite interesting. This is the old economic team under Peter Dutton back together. Angus Taylor under Peter Dutton was the Shadow Treasurer. Jane Hume under Angus Taylor was the Shadow Finance Minister. Both of them have come in for their fair share of criticism after the election for the Liberals and Nationals lack of economic policy. People I've spoken to say that really hurt them after the election and kind of questioned what they were doing. You talk to people who were close to them and they say, look, you know that this was all Peter Dutton not kind of Peter Dutton should have taken more of a lead on policy and he didn't. But it's interesting that the band is back together. Now essentially and presumably indicates some kind of shift more towards economic policy. Jane Hume is also depending on who you talk to in the Liberal Party, there are a lot of Liberals who regard her as one of their best communicators and believe that it was a waste to put her on the back bench, as Susan Lee did after the election. So, I mean, time will tell, right that it is. It's certainly interesting that the two of them are back together and interesting, you know, it's a kind of return to the spotlight for Jane Hume after nine months on the backbench.
00:04:00
Speaker 1: Getting back to Susan Lee, right, she lost the leadership business a surprise that she's decided to step away from politics altogether.
00:04:06
Speaker 2: Oh look, I mean, I don't think it's that much of a surprise when you lose the leadership in this way. You know, she was only leader for nine months. She was the party's first female leader. She made in her press conference just now a quite pointed comment about Angus Taylor deserving clear air. She said that and followed that up saying this is something that hasn't always been afforded leaders of the Liberal Party. You know, to me, that sounds like, you know, a hint of bitterness, the way she's been treated by her colleagues, the kind of constant sniping and undermining that she's had to deal with. Is it a surprise that she's decided to step away from politics given all of that, I mean, in my judgment, probably not. I thought it was interesting she said she wants to step away entirely from public life. She's going to spend the next few weeks thanking her constituents in Farah on the New South Wales Victorian border. She's going to thank them for you know, she has been a member for the Member for Parah for a long long time. So she's going to spend a couple of weeks touring Parah thanking them, and then she'll tend to her resignation and said she wants to get back to one of her passions, which is aviation. You know, she's a pilot, worked as a pilots beforehand, and it's been a big part of her brand. It's something she talks about a lot. So it will be interesting to see what she does next.
00:05:30
Speaker 1: So Zach focus now on a by election which will come up in the near future for the seat of Parah she held that at the last election pretty comfortably with about a margin about six percent. Do you see the Liberals likely to hold on or is it an opening for one nation?
00:05:48
Speaker 2: Look, that's a really good question, and to be honest, and given how fast things have been moving here, it's not something I've put a lot of thought into. But I actually used to live down there. My first radio job was reading local news in Aubrey, part of Susan Lee's Electric and in the last election there was an independent who challenged who her name escapes me at the moment, but she did very, very well against Susan Lee. Susan Susan Lee still held the seat comfortably, but she made this independent challenger made in roads. It will be interesting to see whether she decides to run again. She may make some progress. You're right, this could be an opening for one nation. I am sure one nation will run a candidate. In terms of who wins, I think it's anyone's guest. The other thing is Farah used to be a national seat. Farah was held by the Nationals. You know, it's a regional seat. I'm sure the Nationals will probably want that Electric back, so there will have to be some kind of negotiation within the coalition about who runs a candidate for it. So this will be a very very interesting by election to watch, you know, potentially less than six months after Angus Taylor takes the reins of the Liberal leadership.
00:06:59
Speaker 1: I know it's very really days, but has there been any reaction yet from the coalition partner the Nationals?
00:07:05
Speaker 2: Look to be honest, I haven't seen any. Things are moving very quickly. There may have been a statement or something that I've missed. I've been running around like a headless chicken here in Parliament the moment.
00:07:15
Speaker 1: So we're expecting and we're waiting for Angus Taylor to accept. I guess I mean'd be fair to say that Susan Lee was very gracious in defeat, and you know she could hold her head high.
00:07:28
Speaker 2: Look I think so she you know, this was her. To me, this almost struck me as a valedictory speech. I don't know whether she will have one. This is the traditional speech that is given to Parliament at the end of you know, when a person is retiring from politics. A lot of people don't get valedictory speeches because they lose their seat at an election and they are unceremoniously booted out. To me, Susan Lee's statement did seem like a mini valedictory. She may well still choose to give one in Parliament and kind of shed more light on you know, it's a chance for MPs to kind of recast what they would like the focus of their career to be. Susan Lee mentioned things that she was particularly proud of, things like securing a Royal Commission into anti Semitism in particular, which is one of the recent battles that she has had and really kind of one of the battles that in some way precipitated this whole leadership challenge. You know, people who back Dangus Taylor were telling me one of their big complaints about Susan Lee was that she had furiously demanded Parliament be returned to deal with the aftermath of the Bondie attack, but then kind of didn't really have a plan for what to do. Susan Lee's supporters, of course dispute that, but I think it's clear, you know, that Parliament came back to deal with this and what should have been an easy win for the Liberals, you know, forcing Anthony Albanezi into calling a Royal commission, you know, passing Hank speech was who turned into an absolute disaster for them and the week ended with the coalition in tatus. So it was interesting that she chose that as you know, a key thing that she was proud of given kind of precipitated this whole mess that the Liberal Party is in. Now.
00:09:15
Speaker 1: Would you expect the Labor Party the government to get on the front foot with a change of leadership.
00:09:20
Speaker 2: The Labor Party is already on the front foot. The last two days in question time, nearly every minister who's gotten up has used their speech in question time as an excuse to attack Angus Taylor. And you've got to kind of feel for Susan Lee. You know, she's sitting there in the Opposition leader's chair and all the attacks aren't being made at her, which would be typical for the opposition leader being made at the bloke sitting behind her on the backbench. She was about to challenge her, you know. Jim Chalmers, I think it was the day before yesterday, got particularly personal with Angus Taylor, saying he'd failed upwards in every role he'd ever had took, aim that his record as a minister said that the the Zinger line that had clearly been worked out was the number for Hume. Angus Taylor was born with a silver foot in his mouth. So the government is already on the front foot with this. They're going to continue hammering the Liberals and hammering Angus Taylor over this. I think there are people within Labor who are probably licking their lips at the prospect of Angus Taylor as opposition leader, given that there's you know, they say, there's a material to work with from his time as Shadow Treasurer and before then. So it's going to be an interesting period in federal politics, and Angus Taylor now has a monumental task ahead turn the ship around and try and get the Liberals and Nationals back on an even keel.
00:10:44
Speaker 1: Zach, thanks for your time today. I know it's a very busy one for you. And that's Australian Associated Press Federal politics reporter Zach to Silver on the ever changing events in Canberra with new leader Angus Taylor backed up by Jane Hume. Susan Lee a short time ago announcing not only that she is now out of the leadership, she's going to step away from politics. We'll take a break for news headlines, and we'll hear from South Australian Senator Leah Blythe from Canberra. Five Double A Mornings with Graham Goodings
