Sussan Ley resigns with immediate effect, will not return to parliament
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The news: Deposed Liberal leader Sussan Ley has resigned as an MP with immediate effect, and will not return to parliament for a traditional valedictory speech next week.
The context: Ley was ousted by colleagues in a partyroom spill earlier this month, replaced by Angus Taylor after losing the ballot 34-17.
Immediately after the vote, Ley announced her intention to retire from politics after a career spanning more than two decades, promising to give the new leader clear air.
In a lengthy statement on Friday morning, Ley confirmed she had written to Speaker Milton Dick to resign with immediate effect.
“In keeping with my final remarks at Parliament House, I shall not be returning for a valedictory speech,” she said.
“I am confident that my efforts and achievements over 25 years will speak for themselves.”
Ley’s departure will prompt a by-election in her regional NSW seat of Farrer, which she won off the Nationals in 2001 and has retained ever since. The race is set to be contested by the Liberals, Nationals, One Nation and at least one independent.
Ley served as a minister under three Liberal prime ministers — Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, and Scott Morrison — and was elected as the party’s first female leader after its devastating election defeat in May.
“I believe my election as the first woman to ever lead not just the federal Liberal Party, but any federal Opposition, is a milestone for all women to be proud of,” she said.
“I hope I have paved the way for the next woman to be elected to, and succeed in, both these roles.”
Ley’s brief tenure was marred by Coalition infighting, including two breakups and reunifications with the Nationals, and undermining from her Liberal colleagues.
But her leadership was also undermined by political missteps, after accusing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of antisemitism for wearing a Joy Division t-shirt, and being forced to walk back demands for US ambassador Kevin Rudd’s resignation after pushback from colleagues.
Ley’s conservative flank, which is proportionately more powerful since the election defeat, also ensured the Liberals walked back their commitment to net zero emissions under her leadership.
The former leader said it would be up to historians and commentators to judge her leadership, but said she was proud of her role in forcing the government to implement a royal commission into antisemitism after the Bondi terror attack.
What they said: “Australia is best served by Coalition governments and I particularly wish every one of my — now former — colleagues well as they work diligently and determinedly to win government,” Ley’s statement read.
“For me, I have never lost the feeling I had as a young girl, migrating to Australia, stepping off the plane after travelling halfway round the world. A big sky, a big country, a place to dream your biggest dreams.”
The source: Sussan Ley media release
