Ley and Hume clash behind closed doors

Leadership rival Angus Taylor’s key Moderate backer, Jane Hume, has a blunt exchange with Sussan Ley in a closed-door party room meeting, demanding to know how the opposition leader would reverse disastrous Coalition polling as MPs brace for a leadership challenge in days.

Hume, dumped from the frontbench last year by Ley, is in the mix to run as Taylor’s deputy running mate and raised expectations of a spill on Monday when she warned the Liberals face an election wipeout. Ley rebuked Hume on Monday, urging her to keep her criticisms for Tuesday’s confidential party room meeting.

Hume appeared to take the advice, asking Ley on Tuesday morning what Ley would do to avoid “electoral oblivion” the polls.

Ley responded, according to three MPs in the room unwilling to speak publicly, by saying: “It’s simple. Stop talking about ourselves. Disunity is death.”

One MP said it was disappointing that Ley did not give a more fulsome response on policy direction, given she asked Ley to keep the conversations for the party room meeting.

Liberals are preparing for a spill on Thursday or Friday. This masthead reported on Monday that Taylor was preparing to quit the frontbench as early as Wednesday, after Question Time, to precipitate a challenge.

Hume said on Monday: “I don’t think that at this point there will be a single member of the House of Representatives from Victoria. There won’t be a single member of the House … from New South Wales. Something has to give.”

The Victorian senator called for urgent change, as did conservative MP Sarah Henderson, who argued the leadership needed to be addressed “very quickly, this week”.

Moderates are unhappy with Hume given the small-l liberal faction firmly backs Ley. Hume and Taylor developed a close working relationship as shadow treasurer and finance spokeswoman under leader Peter Dutton last term.

Moderate Angie Bell used a joint party room meeting with the Nationals, held after the Liberal-only meeting, to plead for unity.

Taylor’s forces did not use the scheduled party room meeting on Tuesday to force a spill because most senators are attending estimates hearings where they grill bureaucrats. A spill may be called for Thursday or Friday.

The opposition home affairs spokesman, Duniam has called on Angus Taylor to make his intentions clear on a leadership challenge to Opposition Leader Sussan Ley.

“If Angus is interested in – as many are speculating – the leadership, then he should say so. That’s something he needs to make clear. And of course, then what events take place after that well trodden path, that’s all a matter for him,” Duniam told journalists at Parliament House in Canberra.

“When he does what he does is a matter for him. I think obviously, as I’ve said multiple times now, when a party is in the electoral doldrums like we are, it’s accompanied hand in glove with fever pitch leadership speculation. This is no different to any point in history. So if people have something to say, a clarification to make, or candidacy to declare, then go ahead and do it,” Duniam said.

Duniam is a prominent member of the Liberals right-wing and was involved in a private Melbourne meeting last month on the leadership with both Taylor and Hastie in attendance.

More to come.