In her first press conference since Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson suggested that the situation was dire and not working, Ms Ley has laid out a timeline to resolve the net zero debate.
But she suggested reporters “ask her” when it came to her colleague Senator Henderson’s comments.
“I’m not going to comment on a commentary and you wouldn’t expect me to,’’ she said.
“The only thing I care about is working hard for the Australian people.
“I value every single member of my team, including the good senator that you’ve just mentioned.
“In order to interrogate her views, you should probably ask her, I’m not commenting on commentary.
Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
“When we meet on Wednesday to talk about our energy policy, I know that that will be a very important moment in our party, because it will demonstrate the focus we have. We are here to work every single day.”
Liberal Senator Jane Hume, who was also dumped in Ms Ley’s first reshuffle, said she backed her leadership.
“She absolutely does have my support. I’m looking forward to Wednesday. She can navigate us through this. I have no doubt that she can,’’ she said.
“I think Susan has been really consistent in her messaging since she was elected. She has said that we want lower emissions but not at any cost.
“It’s really important that we get this policy right because Australians have seen their energy prices rise by around 40pc under Labour. Their policy isn’t working.”
Ley’s ‘days are numbered’
Ms Henderson has declared it’s an open question of whether or not Sussan Ley’s leadership can survive as the Coalition descends into chaos over net zero.
While the majority of MPs insist there’s no real prospect of Ms Ley being rolled this year, there’s a growing expectation she could face a challenge from Angus Taylor or Andrew Hastie in the new year.
This week, Ms Ley insisted she would survive the “killing season’ of the last parliamentary sitting week of the year as the Liberal Party fights for relevance.
The Liberal Party is now expected to finalise a position on net zero next week as threats fly that the Coalition with the Nationals is “over” if Ms Ley refuses to dump the climate change target.
But the debate has ignited fresh questions over Ms Ley’s leadership with the MPs she dumped from the frontbench leading the criticism.
Speaking to Sky News Australia host Peter Stefanovic on Friday, Senator Henderson, warned Ms Ley was losing support.
“I can’t pretend things are good. We’ve had a dire Newspoll result, a primary vote of just 24 per cent. Things are not travelling well,” Senator Henderson said.
“I do have to say, really honestly, I do think Sussan is losing support, but I do believe in miracles, we can turn things around.
“But things are not good. I don’t support things the way they are at the moment.”
Senator Henderson was dumped from the frontbench after the election after she accused Peter Dutton of burying her education policies.
She was one of a number of surprises in Ms Ley’s first frontbench when she also dumped Victorian Liberal MP Jane Hume.
This week, Ms Ley’s chief numbers man and manager of opposition business Alex Hawke has been under fire after she called Mr Albanese “a liar” in question time and came in for criticism for how he’s been running parliamentary tactics.
Senator Henderson refused to back Ms Ley as leader insisting that she could not support “the way things are”.
Manager of Opposition Business, Alex Hawke during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
“I can’t back in the way things are. I’ve got to be authentic and I’ve got to be honest about that,” she said.
Asked if she was calling for Ms Ley to be removed as leader, Senator Henderson said “no”.
“I am just saying, I do believe she is losing support because of what’s happened since she became leader and we’re all working very hard to get our party back on track,” she said.
“I’m not in the business of throwing anyone under the bus, but I’m stating the bleeding obvious. We are in a dire situation and Sussan has recognised that also,” she said.
“Originally of course (our shadow minister for energy emissions reduction Dan Tehan) said it would take nine to 12 months to finalise our energy policies and I don’t think that was tenable.
“I’m very pleased we are now acting with urgency because I think the Australian people deserve no less.”
The Liberal Party has now outlined a process to finalise its position on net zero with the first party room meeting to be held in Canberra on Wednesday, November 12.
Sussan Ley’s shadow cabinet will then meet in Canberra on Thursday, November 13, with Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan to prepare a submission to formalise the party’s policy position.
In the third phase of the process, Ms Ley and Nationals Leader David Littleproud will oversee a process by which “three senior parliamentarians” from each of the parties will meet to discuss respective party positions.
After the joint Coalition position is finalised, it will be presented to a virtual meeting of the joint party room on Sunday, November 16.
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has warned Sussan Ley that if the Opposition decided to renew its support for net zero it would spell the “end of the Coalition”.
“You can’t defend net zero. If you’re going to the election again with net zero, remember we went to the last two elections with net zero, one was bad the other was catastrophic,” he said.
“I genuinely believe if you take net zero to the next election that will be the end of the Coalition, it will disintegrate and another party will evolve.”
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