‘Sussan has been undermined from day one’: Former Liberal MP quits party in protest

A former Liberal senator who left parliament just six months ago has quit the party to protest what she described as the undermining of Opposition Leader Sussan Ley from the moment she beat conservative rivals to take the job.

Hollie Hughes’ move came as Ley’s headaches on climate policy continued, with Nationals MPs demanding the opposition leader agree to fund new coal plants and moderate Liberals working to stop party members quitting over the fresh climate war.

Hughes, a former shadow assistant minister in the Dutton opposition, unloaded on Ley’s leadership rivals Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie and their backers, accusing them of not being across their brief.

“It’s clear that Sussan has been undermined from day one,” she told this masthead.

“And the people who are doing it are the people I spent six years in the party room with. I want the freedom to be able to speak about their capacity, or lack thereof, without being restricted by party rules.”

Hughes, who represented NSW in the Senate from 2019 until the middle of this year for the Centre-Right that also counts Ley as a member, has been a long-time factional opponent of Taylor and lost her Senate spot to one of his allies.

After weeks of bitter internal debate that has damaged Ley, the Coalition on Sunday agreed to a new energy plan. It would scrap legislated emissions targets, pull back on subsidising renewables and instead adopt a “technology neutral” approach that could subsidise coal alongside batteries, gas or nuclear.

Nationals MPs said the approach meant new coal plants were supported under the Coalition policy, but moderate Liberals disenchanted with Ley are watching to ensure she does not concede to right-wing demands, including her speaking positively about coal and negatively about net zero.

No moderate MPs have decided to resign from Ley’s frontbench, which some had been contemplating, in part because doing so would likely hasten a move to oust her and benefit her conservative rivals.

After the NSW Liberal Party decided to retain its net zero pledge on Tuesday, federal frontbencher Andrew Bragg urged supporters to stay in the party, acknowledging some were upset while others believed the campaign against net zero should be even more explicit.

“We cannot allow the fragmentation of the centre-right”, Bragg said in an email to members, begging members to stay in the tent to keep advocating for “coherent policy”.

Bragg argued that the Liberals’ decision to remain committed to the Paris Agreement meant the party was backing an “international mechanism to drive down emissions to net zero” that would “force us to be ambitious” on setting climate targets.

The Nationals have instead said that Australia should cut its emissions in line with a global average, which would result in far smaller cuts than the government’s current targets.

Bragg told this masthead that “true believers” who worked and volunteered and donated to the party for years in Sydney’s affluent inner suburbs had become despondent. In some areas, party branch members were working to convince members not to resign.

“There’s a perception some people have that we’re not learning lessons,” the NSW senator said. “And so we have to tack towards the centre if we’re going to win.”

“Some people have expressed their frustration, and I understand that, but I think it’s important we don’t give up on the party.”

South Australian Liberal senator Andrew McLachlan, a green advocate, supported Bragg’s claim.

“My office has been contacted by many members questioning why they should remain in the party given they are parents and the Coalition does not seem to care for the future,” he said.

But while the Moderates battle to keep members in their party branches, three Nationals MPs demanded the Coalition offer financial support to new coal plants.

Queensland senator Matt Canavan said new coal plants should be added to the grid, arguing Australia had wasted billions of dollars funding alternative energy generation such as hydropower as well as propping up old coal plants.

“We should build some new coal plants. What have we got to lose? As China builds two coal-fired power stations a week, what exactly will be harmed by us building a couple in a year?” Canavan said.

Nationals deputy leader Kevin Hogan said support for new coal was included in the plan.

“The Commonwealth is going to underwrite more capacity and it is technology neutral so it is going to be either coal, nuclear, it could be more renewables, hydrogen, it could be gas. It will be what comes to the market with the cheapest offer,” he told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing on Monday.

Flynn MP Colin Boyce said “coal is the cheapest form of generation” and “we should 100 per cent” support construction of new plants.

In an olive branch to frustrated Moderates on Monday night, Ley said she was happy to help fund the continued operation of coal plants already in the grid, but the opposition would not fund the construction of new plants.

“We won’t be building coal-fired power stations, and there are no proposals for new coal,” she told ABC’s 7.30.

The Coalition energy policy said it would prevent “premature closure” of existing coal plants, a strategy that NSW and Victoria have committed funds to with the Eraring and Yallourn power stations.

In a separate point, the energy plan listed support for “new and existing” coal plants, backed by “modest, targeted underwriting” by the government.

Ley said a coal plant has to stack up economically to win government support. “There’s nothing on the table that looks remotely like it will at this point in time.”

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