By Zac de Silva and Andrew Brown in Canberra
A meeting between Liberal MPs to thrash out a deal to take over as opposition leader on the morning of a funeral for a former colleague was not behaviour voters expect from leaders, a party senator says.
As speculation swirls over the fate of Sussan Ley following the Liberals splitting with the Nationals, leadership contenders Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie held talks in Melbourne to thrash out a compromise on who should be put forward as a conservative contender for opposition leader.
The talks ended in a stalemate, with neither man appearing willing to cede ground and conservative agitators failing to coalesce around a single candidate.
The negotiations were held on the morning of the funeral for former Liberal MP Katie Allen, who died from a rare cancer aged 59.
Liberal senator Maria Kovacic said the timing of the meeting before the funeral was not ideal.
“(Voters) would probably rightly say that it’s not a reflection of the leadership that they expect,” she told ABC Radio on Friday.
“Australians expect us to be focused on them and the problems that face Australian households and Australian small businesses, and not focused on ourselves or the internal machinations of who may want to potentially be a leader.
“That has harmed us in the past, that is harming us now, and it will continue to harm us unless we actually understand that in a very, very clear way.”
Fellow Liberal senator Jane Hume said the meeting was not edifying behaviour.
“Certainly for a secret meeting, it wasn’t so secret. I’m very glad that both Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor didn’t decide to become spies, that wouldn’t have worked so well,” she told Seven’s Sunrise program.
“There is no challenge to Sussan Ley’s leadership. No one has put their hand up and said, ‘I am going to challenge’.”
With a conservative faction candidate not agreed, Ms Ley is likely to hold onto her job for the time being.
Sources confirmed to AAP a vote was unlikely next week – although if a consensus candidate were to be agreed upon, the challenge could move quickly.
Ms Ley’s supporters believe she has the numbers to retain the leadership for now, because the conservative vote will be divided while both MPs remain in the race.
Mr Taylor ran unsuccessfully against Ms Ley for the party leadership after the coalition’s horror federal election result in May.
Parliament returns next week, when tensions within the Liberals are expected to flare.
Liberal backbencher Ben Small added to the leadership speculation by nailing his colours to the mast on Thursday, declaring his support for Mr Hastie.
“Australia does best when it has a good government and a strong opposition. Presently, we have neither,” he told AAP.
“Generational change is key to reconnecting to voters who have simply stopped listening to the Liberal Party, but I need to be clear – changing salespeople alone does not help.”
Tensions over the leadership resurfaced after the Liberals and Nationals split from the coalition, the second time since May’s election wipeout.
The breakdown happened after Ms Ley sacked three Nationals frontbenchers after they broke with the party’s stance on hate speech laws introduced to parliament after the Bondi terror attack.
The remaining Nationals frontbenchers quit in solidarity, with Nationals leader David Littleproud now facing calls for a reunion with the Liberals and a spill motion against him brought on by Queensland backbencher Colin Boyce.
The relationship between Ms Ley an Mr Littleproud has been an uneasy one since May’s election result, with the Liberal leader aiming to take the party back to the centre to regain seats lost to teal MPs in traditional heartland.
Meanwhile, the Nationals are facing of threats in regional seats posed by One Nation, who have overtaken the coalition’s primary vote in some polling.
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