Spill motion delivered to Sussan Ley
Liberal conservative Jess Collins has handed a spill motion to the opposition leader, Sussan Ley.
Together with Phillip Thompson, the pair handed Ley the motion and the request for a special party room meeting where the leadership spill would take place.
The move, just in the past few minutes, means Ley will have to consider whether to call a special meeting today or tomorrow.
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Updated at 16.59 EST
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Tom McIlroy
Bragg believes Ley can survive challenge
Liberal frontbencher Andrew Bragg says he expects Sussan Ley will remain the party’s leader, despite the growing challenge from forces close to Angus Taylor.
The NSW Liberal senator said the party had a rich environment to attack the Labor government and needed to get back to work prosecuting policies, including on housing affordability.
I think most Australians will look at it and say, well, ‘this person hasn’t even been given a year in a job.’
He said Ley should be allowed time to release policies on issues including immigration, housing and small business.
Asked about a possible Angus Taylor leadership of the Liberal party, Bragg said he wouldn’t comment on colleague’s motivations.
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Josh Butler
Wilson tight-lipped on leadership spill
Liberal MP Tim Wilson was giving little away on his way into parliament today, saying he wanted a party leader with a “clear vision for small business”.
Numerous Liberal and Nationals members were bailed up by media this morning, sharing thoughts on the leadership spill.
Wilson – whose name has been mentioned as a potential Liberal deputy leader – said on the ABC last night that he still supported Ley as leader, but didn’t say who he’d back in any potential spill if it occurred.
I’ll be looking for a leader with a clear track record turning impossible situations into improbable victory. I want to see someone who’s got a very clear vision for small business as the centre and drive of Australia’s economic success.
I want policy and vision that is going to deliver for the Australian people, and that’s going to be the basis.
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Updated at 17.04 EST
Josh Butler
Henderson denies spill has overshadowed Herzog visit
Liberal senator Sarah Henderson has denied that the leadership spill has overshadowed the visit of Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, or the Closing the Gap statement today, but argued that the leadership needs to be sorted out “urgently”.
Angus Taylor’s expected resignation hung over much of Wednesday, with his walk down the corridor to Sussan Ley’s office coming shortly after she met with Herzog in Parliament House.
Liberal senator Sarah Henderson. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Taylor launched the first step in his leadership bid on the day of Herzog’s visit, which came after the Nationals announced their split from the Coalition on the national day of mourning for the Bondi massacre, which was prompted by the Nationals opposing Labor’s emergency legislation in response to the antisemitic massacre.
Asked if the Liberal soap opera was distracting from other important issues, including the annual Closing the Gap statement in parliament today, Henderson said “I don’t accept that” and argued Taylor had waited until after Ley’s meeting with Herzog.
Henderson told reporters at a doorstop this morning:
We appreciate and understand that this is urgent. We cannot continue as we are. We’ve declined very rapidly since the election. We are no longer looking like a viable, formidable opposition.
Henderson, a Taylor supporter, was also asked why the member for Hume was the right person for the job. She said: “Angus is very experienced. He’s very principled. He’s got a wonderful background as a business person.
He’s got a great empathy with regional Australians and he’s very determined. He’s very courageous and he’s very focused on our values.
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Updated at 17.03 EST
Spill motion delivered to Sussan Ley
Liberal conservative Jess Collins has handed a spill motion to the opposition leader, Sussan Ley.
Together with Phillip Thompson, the pair handed Ley the motion and the request for a special party room meeting where the leadership spill would take place.
The move, just in the past few minutes, means Ley will have to consider whether to call a special meeting today or tomorrow.
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Updated at 16.59 EST
Tom McIlroy
More on the shadow ministry resignations
The opposition deputy whip in the Senate, Matt O’Sullivan, has quit his position, joining forces aligned with Angus Taylor as part of the coup against Sussan Ley.
O’Sullivan took part in peace talks between Taylor and fellow conservative Liberal Andrew Hastie in Melbourne last month.
In the past few minutes, he has told Ley he is resigning as shadow assistant minister for fisheries and forestry, as well as shadow assistant minister for infrastructure.
The list of resignations now includes Taylor, O’Sullivan, Phil Thompson and Claire Chandler.
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Updated at 16.51 EST
Ley given enough time, says conservative senator
Jess Collins and Phillip Thompson say Sussan Ley has been given enough time, contradicting the leader’s allies who say she should at least be able to remain in the job until the budget is handed down in May.
Collins and Thompson have spoken to reporters at parliament. Collins says:
We have heard from our colleagues, some of our colleagues think she should be given a budget. I don’t think delivering budget and reply is going to save us in this crisis.
Thompson adds:
I think it’s quite clear that we need to stop talking about ourselves. Get on with the job. Now this morning, before I walked into Sussan’s office, I faced on my two daughters, and it gave me that resolute position next generation to make Australia better for them.
The polling doesn’t lie. We’ve seen that the people are quite upset. Well, the way that we act is by change, and nine months is enough time to be able to turn that around, and that hasn’t happened.
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Updated at 17.01 EST
Liberals call for special party room, as two other conservatives resign
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Following Claire Chandler this morning, senator Matt O’Sullivan, the shadow assistant minister for fisheries, forestry and infrastructure and Phillip Thompson, shadow assistant minister for defence and the NDIS are resigning now.
Thompson confirmed he and senator Jess Collins, another ally of Taylor, have written a letter to Ley, requesting an urgent party room meeting for the spill.
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Updated at 17.02 EST
‘It’s not clear to me what the alternative vision is’: Bragg
If Andrew Bragg looked over the leadership drama yesterday, it’s even worse today.
Fronting up to the media again and speaking with Sky News, the shadow housing minister, a moderate, says he’s not actually sure what the “alternative vision” is.
Host Pete Stefanovic tries to get Bragg to articulate whether he’s talking about Taylor’s “vision”.
Bragg says:
It hasn’t been articulated as yet, what the alternative vision might be.
Bragg says again that Ley should be given more time:
I think Sussan has been dealt a pretty difficult hand. She’s a tough person and I think she ought to be given more time in the role, as I think most normal people would expect. Twelve months in a job is at least a reasonable attempt.
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Updated at 16.47 EST
We could be ‘so much better than this’: Chandler releases resignation video
Claire Chandler has released a video to social media explaining her resignation from the frontbench.
The now former shadow minister for science and cybersecurity says she’s been contacted by members of the public saying the Liberal party has “let them down”.
She doesn’t directly criticise Sussan Ley personally but says the opposition has been “obsessed” talking about itself and that it could be better.
In recent weeks I’ve been contacted every day by Tasmanians by Australians who feel the Liberal party has let them down. They don’t see an opposition that is tackling the Albanese government head-on and holding them accountable for their failures, they just seen an opposition that is obsessed with talking about itself.
I know that the Liberal party is capable of so much better than this but, in recent days, I’ve come to the view that that’s not going to happen under the current leadership.
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Updated at 16.46 EST
Jane Hume to nominate as deputy leader
The former shadow finance minister Jane Hume will put her hand up for the deputy when a leadership spill is called.
Guardian Australia has confirmed Hume spoke to current deputy leader, Ted O’Brien, on the phone last night.
Former shadow finance minister Jane Hume Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
A Liberal source confirmed the Victorian moderate senator has also been canvassing colleagues overnight.
It’s understood Hume would not run on a ticket with Angus Taylor, and would run regardless of who wins the leadership ballot.
Earlier this morning, conservative senator Sarah Henderson backed Hume for the position.
Hume’s not the only name that’s been thrown up so far; Dan Tehan and Zoe McKenzie have also been mentioned as potential deputy candidates but both are on the frontbench so would have to resign to do so.
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Updated at 16.45 EST
One Nation ‘needs to be taken seriously’: Albanese
Anthony Albanese says the rise in One Nation’s popularity is due to “frustration” from the public over the cost of living.
One Nation recorded a 27% primary vote in the latest Newspoll, eclipsing the Coalition on just 18%, and just behind Labor on 33%.
Earlier this week, several Liberals called the polls “middle-finger voting” against the Liberal and National parties.
Albanese, speaking to Adelaide 5AA radio, said the minor rightwing party are all talk and no action.
One Nation have played a divisive role in Australian politics over a long period of time. They identify what they see as issues and don’t come up with solutions. Now, the fact that their vote has risen means that it needs to be taken seriously.
What it signals to me is that there are many people who are frustrated with the existing system, and that’s understandable, given that there are real cost of living pressures there, and that’s why we’re acting on cost of living.
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Updated at 16.45 EST
‘I’m disappointed for him’: Wallace
Andrew Wallace is continuing his support tour for Sussan Ley this morning, telling ABC RN Breakfast he’s “disappointed” for Angus Taylor and for the party after he resigned to the backbench yesterday ahead of a leadership spill.
Wallace says again that Ley “absolutely” hasn’t been given a chance to lead, and that disunity is death for the party.
He says he still believes Ley could have the support from the party room to withstand a challenge.
Angus is a friend of mine. I’m disappointed for him. I’m disappointed for us. Australians want to see their opposition, no matter how much they may vote for us or not vote for us, they want to see a strong opposition because they know that a government is only as good as its opposition.
I’m not going to go into numbers there but I do believe that she has that majority.
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Updated at 16.15 EST
Sarah Henderson backs in Angus Taylor, says Ley is ‘done’
Conservative Victorian senator Sarah Henderson, one of Sussan Ley’s most vocal critics in the party, says the Liberals face a wipeout without a leadership change.
She argues the party needs a “credible set” of policies and says most of the policies taken to the last election, where the Liberals suffered a crushing defeat, should not have been abandoned – including policies she put forward as the then shadow education minister.
Henderson was sent to the backbench after the election but says she expects more of her conservative frontbench colleagues and Taylor allies to quit today.
Asked if Ley is “done”, she tells ABC News Breakfast:
I think she is [done].
It is very difficult time for the Liberal party. This is not easy, to change leader, but at a primary vote of 18% would wipe out most members in the House of Representatives and we owe it to the Australian people to be a credible opposition.
We have been going backwards at a rate of knots and had a terrible election loss but since then we have abandoned all of our policies.
Henderson also puts her support behind Jane Hume as a deputy leader, saying she has a “wonderful track record”.
While Hume is a moderate, the Victorian senator is also an ally of Angus Taylor.
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Updated at 16.14 EST
Claire Chandler resigns from frontbench
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Guardian Australia understands Claire Chandler, the shadow minister for science and cybersecurity, has resigned from her frontbench position.
The conservative senator is the first to follow Angus Taylor over to the backbench ahead of a leadership spill.
We expect more Taylor allies to resign as well today.
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Updated at 15.52 EST