{"id":14879,"date":"2026-01-23T04:12:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=14879"},"modified":"2026-01-23T04:12:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:12:34","slug":"sussan-ley-confident-she-will-survive-as-opposition-leader-and-says-door-is-open-to-nationals-rejoining-coalition-coalition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=14879","title":{"rendered":"Sussan Ley confident she will survive as opposition leader and says door is open to Nationals rejoining Coalition | Coalition"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sussan Ley says her likely leadership rivals Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie remain committed to her position, as speculation grows about an imminent challenge to the embattled Liberal leader<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A day after the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, split the Coalition and said his party would not serve under Ley\u2019s leadership<\/a>, the opposition leader told Channel Seven on Friday she expected to remain in the top job.<\/p>\n

Asked if she would survive as leader, Ley said: \u201cYes, I will.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she remained open to the possibility of another reconciliation with Littleproud and the Nationals. Senior Liberal sources described Ley\u2019s leadership as all but over on Thursday, after a the second Coalition<\/a> split in eight months, sparked by a dispute on Labor\u2019s hate speech laws.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy focus is always on the Australian people, so I just want to say the door is not closed, but my eye is not on the door,\u201d Ley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy eye is on the work that my team has already done over summer in holding the government to account on expenses scandals, on Bondi, dragging, kicking and screaming to a royal commission \u2026 \u201d<\/p>\n

In another interview, Ley was asked if she was worried about a challenge from Hastie or Taylor, both conservatives. She said they were \u201cstrong, committed members of my team\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Michael McCormack says he hopes the Liberals and Nationals can reconcile. <\/span> Photograph: Mick Tsikas\/AAP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The former Nationals leader Michael McCormack told Guardian Australia it was unfortunate Littleproud had called the Coalition \u201cuntenable\u201d under Ley this week.<\/p>\n

He said he hoped the two parties would reconcile \u201csooner rather than later\u201d.<\/p>\n

McCormack, a former deputy prime minister, helped reunite the Liberals and Nationals after their short-lived split in May last year and has been a supporter of Littleproud\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s unfortunate that a comment of that magnitude was made,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Liberal party<\/a> leadership is a matter entirely for the Liberal party and I would never suggest anything about a Liberal party leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

Littleproud dug in on Friday, continuing to blame Ley for the split, and claiming he had tried to \u201cavert it\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Nationals leader said it was not up to him to determine who the Liberal leader is, despite his comments yesterday that he would not work with Ley.<\/p>\n

Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/sub><\/a><\/p>\n

The split followed the Nationals senators Bridget McKenzie, Susan McDonald and Ross Cadell crossing the floor to vote on Tuesday, breaking with the Coalition\u2019s position on the laws drafted after the Bondi terror attack.<\/p>\n

Littleproud, who had warned Ley accepting resignations from the trio would spark a walkout by the Nationals, said the party\u2019s door is \u201copen\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I said is that we couldn\u2019t serve in Sussan Ley\u2019s ministry after she accepted the resignation of three senators that shouldn\u2019t have been accepted. There was an avenue not to,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ley\u2019s deputy, the shadow treasurer Ted O\u2019Brien, said he expected her to remain leader.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI know there\u2019s a lot of commentary on this \u2026 yes, she will,\u201d O\u2019Brien told ABC radio.<\/p>\n

\u201cI support the Coalition coming back together, because it is in the national interest. It is the only way that we can get the nation going back in the right direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you don\u2019t just form a Coalition without any commitments. There has to be a rock-solid commitment to work together as one team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Privately, several Liberal MPs told Guardian Australia they did not want the Coalition to reunite, and said the National party<\/a> should be \u201cseverely punished\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOn our side, a number of us are saying, that\u2019s it \u2026 I was speaking strongly to keep the Coalition together [the last time], but not anymore,\u201d one Liberal MP said.<\/p>\n

Another Liberal MP said it would be \u201creckless and foolhardy\u201d to cave into the Nationals\u2019 demands and replace Ley.<\/p>\n

The firebrand conservative senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who moved from the Nationals party room to the Liberals after the election, continued to criticise Ley\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made it very clear that obviously the leader had lost trust in me, lost faith in me, and I suppose I felt the same at the time,\u201d she told Sky News on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel like things have improved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some Liberals say a challenge is more likely to take place when MPs return to Canberra in the first week of February. A special meeting to consider a leadership spill can be held if two MPs petition the party whip for a vote.<\/a><\/p>\n