Opposition Leader Sussan Ley used her National Press Club address to outline a new leadership style. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
As would be expected, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s address to the National Press Club this week has been widely reported and has attracted much commentary.
It was a well-crafted speech and did a great deal in the effort to let Australians know a bit (a lot) more about who she is and where she came from.
Although Ms Ley has been a Cabinet Minister in previous governments and was most recently the deputy leader of the Liberal Party, she is not what you might call a household name.
With her ascension to the party leadership and therefore the role of Federal Opposition Leader, that will change quickly.
More Australians will know who she is and more will want to know who she is.
Dedicating the first half of her address to her roots – childhood, education, first jobs and professional life – all in a world that didn’t make it easy for a young woman to survive, let alone succeed, was not only good listening; it was political gold.
More Australians suddenly do know a whole lot more about the new Opposition Leader and many of them will have connected on some level because her story resonates with them.
All that aside, however, and perhaps the biggest take home message from Ms Ley’s address was that she is not Peter Dutton.
She pointed out the differences between her leadership and that of her predecessor as soon as the speech began.
“Today will be my first address as federal leader of the Liberal Party to the National Press Club and it will not be my last,” she said.
“With many freedoms under assault around the world, I appreciate and understand the important role our media plays in protecting the robust democracy we have in Australia.
“Sometimes we will agree and sometimes we will disagree, but so long as you hold both the Government and the Opposition to account, then our democracy and freedoms will be well served.”
Can anyone imagine Mr Dutton ever saying anything remotely like that?
The former Opposition Leader refused to front up to the Press Club, while Anthony Albanese has clocked up 10 appearances as Labor Party leader.
That was one of the many stark differences between Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton. It is now also one of the many stark differences between Mr Dutton and Ms Ley.
Another is the Liberal Party leader’s valuing of, and appealing to, women.
“We must be a Liberal Party that is proudly for women and made up of women,” Ms Ley said.
“Our party must preselect more women in winnable seats so that we see more Liberal women in Federal Parliament.
“Now, I’m agnostic on specific methods to make it happen, but I am a zealot that it does actually happen.
“Current approaches have clearly not worked, so I am open to any approach that will.
“The Liberal Party operates as a federated model, meaning each state division determines its own preselection rules.
“If some state divisions choose to implement quotas, that is fine. If others don’t, that is also fine.
“But what is not fine is not having enough women.
“As the first woman leader of our federal party, let me send the clearest possible message: we need to do better, recruit better, retain better and support better.
“That is why I will work with every division, as will my parliamentary team, to ensure we preselect more women for the 2028 election.”
Again, it’s hard to close your eyes and even imagine Peter Dutton uttering those words.
Ms Ley’s speech was replete with examples of how she is different to the leader she has replaced (including in opinions towards to the public service).
To this writer, that seemed to be the very point of her address – to let everyone who sees and hears it know that the leadership style of the party has been profoundly changed.
That message has to be sent and received if the Coalition is to have any hope of regaining favour with the Australian electorate after such a devastating loss at the polls in May.
But how long will it be before the rightwing hardheads of the party move to pollute this breath of fresh air the Libs have so badly needed?
