Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley has faced an intense television grilling just one day after her dramatic shift to the right on climate policy, with a journalist directly confronting her about colleagues who might be positioning themselves to take her job.
Live Television Confrontation
During a Friday morning appearance on ABC News Breakfast, Ley endured fierce questioning about her announcement that the Opposition would abandon Australia's emissions reduction targets and subsidise both new and existing coal and gas plants if elected.
The interview took a particularly personal turn when host James Glenday saved his most cutting question for the conclusion. Glenday rattled off names of Liberal colleagues who may have leadership ambitions, including what many would consider a surprise contender.
Among those mentioned was second-term Liberal MP Melissa McIntosh, who has twice won the critical western Sydney seat of Lindsay. McIntosh had reportedly stunned political insiders earlier in the week by frankly admitting she had interest in becoming federal leader someday.
Leadership Speculation Intensifies
"On Wednesday, your colleague, Melissa McIntosh, another frontbench colleague, shocked a few people when she said on this show that she thought she'd make a pretty good Liberal leader at one stage," Glenday stated during the live broadcast.
The host also referenced sightings of Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie dining in a part of Canberra frequented by press gallery journalists, prompting him to ask Ley: "How does it feel to have people gunning for your job so early on in your tenure as Opposition Leader?"
Ley responded with laughter before dismissing the interpretation of events. "Well, that's completely not my interpretation. It really isn't," she asserted, claiming her party remained overwhelmingly focused on "the national interest in the next generation."
Climate Policy Reversal Sparks Division
The leadership speculation follows Ley's controversial announcement on Thursday that the Liberal Party would scrap the government's commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 if they win the next election.
Under the proposed plan, more taxpayer money would be poured into coal and gas power plants, with Ley claiming the move would lead to cheaper energy bills for households and businesses.
"The Liberal Party I lead will not stand by and let Australians get crushed by these high power prices," she told reporters in Canberra. "I can look Australians in the eye and say that prices will always be more affordable under us."
Despite abandoning the net zero target, Ley insisted her party would remain in the Paris climate accord, though she appeared unconcerned about potential breaches of the agreement. "We will look Australians in the eye and say this is a plan to bring down emissions and to provide affordable energy for you," she stated.
The climate policy shift has exposed deep divisions within the Liberal Party, with the conservative flank pushing for net zero to be dumped while moderates campaigned to maintain the commitment. Some moderate MPs even flagged potential frontbench resignations if the party backed away from its existing climate pledge.
The Liberals must now negotiate a joint position with their coalition partner the Nationals, who had already ditched net zero earlier in November.
