Albanese Labor Govt Watch

[Brodlach]

Thoughts on Jacinta Price swapping teams so close to the election?

[DOC]

Has she swapped teams?

She remains a member of the CLP who has formal affiliation with both the Libs and Nats and they can chose as individuals as to who they sit with.

I expect she will be either the Deputy Leader of the Libs or Leader of the opposition in the Senate.

[Brodlach]

She was voted in as a National, she will become a Liberal .

Understand what you are saying but it’s still changing teams.

[DOC]

She was voted in as a Country Liberal.

I understand what you are saying as well but she has never been a National.

That said the CLP was originally a division of the Country Party which is now the National party.

The problem lies in the CLP having two affiliates.

If she went to the election and said she would sit with the Nats then it is poor form. It was probably not asked of her though.

My overall view on members changing parties or becoming independents during their term remains. They should not be allowed and if they wish to leave the party then they should be replaced by someone from the party. I think ill health is the only valid reason to not serve a full term. There is far too much of it and mostly from people who would never be elected otherwise.

[Brodlach]

My issue is that it has been 6 days since we’ve been to the polls.


If she wanted to do it, no issue, but do it before the election.

Didn’t she say last year that she is likely to resign her position before the next (2028) election?

[RB]

My overall view on members changing parties or becoming independents during their term remains. They should not be allowed and if they wish to leave the party then they should be replaced by someone from the party.

I agree with the sentiment but I think if such a rule was enacted (assuming there were no constitutional issues etc.) then these folks would simply not resign from the party, even if they're constantly bagging the party or voting against it etc.

The solution to this is the parties (the major ones in particular) ensuring that they don't preselect folks who pose a flight risk. In almost every case of party-hopping/resigning from party to sit as an independent, the signs are there well in advance.

[DOC]

Her going to the Libs now mean the Nats have 5 senators and not 6 which is required for them to be considered a party in the senate and they lose staff and other resources provided by the parliament.

Overall I think the Libs are very short sighted on this.

The alignment with Trump cost them dearly. Price is Trumpcentric.

[RB]

Her going to the Libs now mean the Nats have 5 senators and not 6 which is required for them to be considered a party in the senate and they lose staff and other resources provided by the parliament.

I think 5 is enough for party status but they'll lose Senator Davey after 30 June and go down to 4 so yes that is a low blow. I would've thought that even the Liberals would be a bit uneasy about her now. What's to stop her party-hopping again?

[Jim05]

Her going to the Libs now mean the Nats have 5 senators and not 6 which is required for them to be considered a party in the senate and they lose staff and other resources provided by the parliament.

I think 5 is enough for party status but they'll lose Senator Davey after 30 June and go down to 4 so yes that is a low blow. I would've thought that even the Liberals would be a bit uneasy about her now. What's to stop her party-hopping again?

I think he has to party hop if she wants to become leader of the opposition eventually.
She will be deputy under that clown Taylor and I reckon they will try to perhaps parachute her into a Lib seat in the Reps.

[RB]

Could be - but if they're looking for a safe Reps seat for her, she's going to have to state-hop as well!!

[DOC]

Her going to the Libs now mean the Nats have 5 senators and not 6 which is required for them to be considered a party in the senate and they lose staff and other resources provided by the parliament.

I think 5 is enough for party status but they'll lose Senator Davey after 30 June and go down to 4 so yes that is a low blow. I would've thought that even the Liberals would be a bit uneasy about her now. What's to stop her party-hopping again?

Correct. 5 is enough. Lose it from June 30.

Tony Abbot being blamed/credited with her defection.

[Jim05]

If counting finished right now ALP would have 93 seats

That was paying $61

Several seats called today so current state of play is

ALP 93
LNP 41
Greens 1
Other 11

4 seats in doubt still and at this stage 2 of them look like going to the Libs, 1 to the ALP and one far too close to call so the ALP will end up with 94 or 95

[RB]

If Labor hold Calwell, it'll be the first time the incumbent government has retained all their seats at an election since 1966.

[Jimmy_041]

Libs lose thousands of members amid factional fighting
Andrew Tillett and Ronald Mizen

Liberal grandees Alan Stockdale and Richard Alston have revealed the abuse of factional power within the NSW branch has triggered an exodus of thousands of grassroots members, amid a tightening leadership tussle that will shape the ideological direction for the shattered centre-right party.

As Liberal MPs and senators prepare to return to Canberra for Tuesday’s leadership showdown between Angus Taylor and Sussan Ley, Taylor could name his pick as shadow treasurer early as he seeks to settle moderates and centrists left unnerved by his choice of fellow conservative Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as his running mate.

Price confirmed the worst-kept secret in politics on Sunday, announcing she would stand for the deputy leadership, as Taylor promised to put talent ahead of factional allegiances that have dogged the party for years.

“This cannot be a winner takes all situation. That is not how we will succeed. There are too few of us, for a start. We need to look past tribal histories to the talent that we have,” he told The Australian Financial Review.

Taylor, who as shadow treasurer has been blamed for not developing a more compelling economic policy, also committed to the same suburban and regional strategy that Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton unsuccessfully pursued at the past two elections as voters abandoned the Liberal Party.

Number crunchers for both sides claimed their respective candidate was leading the race to secure a majority in the 55-member party room.

Taylor’s camp claimed as few as six MPs and senators were undecided, while the moderates campaigning for deputy opposition leader Ley put it at between eight and 12. Both sides agreed Queensland was the largest bloc of undecided MPs.

“They’ve got more of an individualistic streak,” said one moderate powerbroker, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the contest.

But whoever wins the contest will have to reform a moribund party organisation that has been outcampaigned by Labor and teal independents, is riven by factionalism and has a membership base skewed towards older, conservative white males that does not reflect modern Australia.

Ley’s and Taylor’s home branch of NSW remains under federal administration after Dutton last year ordered a takeover. This followed a local government preselection debacle where almost 150 candidates failed to be nominated for council elections.

In an opinion piece for the Financial Review, the three NSW administrators – former federal presidents of the Liberal Party Stockdale and Alston and former NSW MP Peta Seaton – warned party reform had never been more important after the “disastrous” federal election campaign, which reduced the Liberals to just 27 lower house seats.

“The root cause of the problems in NSW is the abuse of factional power. Factions control the NSW party and routinely abuse their power to deny members their right to participation and, even, to join the party,” they wrote.

Tactics embraced by the moderates, conservative and smaller centre-right factions include branch stacking, refusing to let new members join branches so they can maintain control, blocking the creation of new branches and delaying preselections so that candidates chosen by factional deals can be parachuted into a seat.

According to the administrators, the factional power plays have turned off many party members, with 4500 allowing their memberships to lapse in recent years, while 608 applicants have been refused membership. No new branch has been formed since 2016, while many areas have no branches.

“Our membership has declined by more than 1000 [about 10 per cent] in just a year, many branches refuse to support in any way their sitting MP not of their faction and we have lost successive state and federal elections,” they wrote.

While the focus is on the Liberals, Nationals leader David Littleproud will have his position come under challenge from Queensland Senator Matt Canavan in the junior Coalition partner’s party room on Monday.

Price’s defection from the Nationals party room last week to the Liberals angered both her former country colleagues for disloyalty and Liberal moderates who fret that she will drag the Coalition further away from the centre ground.

Price is a darling of the conservative movement, including with Liberal branch members and the so-called Sky after Dark hosts and viewers of the right-wing pay-TV channel’s evening programming.

But during the election campaign, she arguably damaged the campaign by declaring she wanted to “Make Australia Great Again”, evoking the slogan made popular by US President Donald Trump. Polling and focus groups showed an association between the Coalition and Trump was toxic for Dutton.

One Liberal MP, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the party was “paying too much attention to Sky News”.

“I’ve been travelling around the last few days and no one has been telling me we need to be more right,” they said.

Amid the ructions of Price’s defection, a Liberal source said Taylor was considering naming who he would appoint shadow treasurer to give colleagues a sense of the broader team he would lead.

Under party rules, the deputy is entitled to pick their portfolio but Price will not be shadow treasurer. Taylor is yet to settle on his choice, as Queensland MP Ted O’Brien, who was the architect of the Coalition’s nuclear energy policy, signals his interest in the treasury portfolio by mulling a run for deputy.

Taylor cited his past close working relationships with key moderates including finance spokeswoman Jane Hume, returning MP Tim Wilson and Senator Dean Smith, as he emphasised a focus on aspirational policies.

“We held up better in Teal seats than in the suburbs and regions. Do we want to do better in those Teal seats? Sure,” Taylor told the Financial Review.

“But we must win the suburbs and the regional seats to form government again.

“If you are aspirational, we want you to vote Liberal. The key is to put aspiration back as the centrepiece of our agenda.

“On the economy, we must go for growth. On tax, we need to contain the growth and keep taxes lower than Labor.”

He said Price was an extraordinary woman who understood aspiration. “She is one of the most popular politicians in Australia and she is a rock star with our supporters. And people forget, the traditional role of deputy leader is to work with our supporters, the branch members, the state divisions and make sure we are robust and prepared for elections.”

Price said in a statement that if the Liberal Party wanted to inspire and empower Australians it must return to its roots and basic values that defined the party.

“We must once more remember and fight for the forgotten people, those on whose shoulders Australian society has been built and still depends. These are the mainstream Australians who have a big contribution to make,” she said.

While other former prime ministers are keeping out of the leadership contest, Tony Abbott – who played a behind-the-scenes role urging Price to join the Liberals – backed Taylor’s campaign, saying he and Price had “conviction and courage to make a real contest of the next election”.

[Jimmy_041]

If Jacinta Price is the answer, Liberals are asking wrong question
A lesson of the election campaign is that the Liberal Party should never be Labor-lite on economics, but heading in a Trump-like direction would be a dead end.

May 11, 2025 – 5.15pm

If Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is the answer then the Liberal Party isn’t asking the right question.

Having represented the Northern Territory in the Senate and sat in the Nationals party room for the past three years, Price defected to the Liberals last week. She announced yesterday her intention to run as Angus Taylor’s deputy in Tuesday’s parliamentary party leadership contest.

The 43-year-old senator’s prominent part in the No campaign helped defeat the Indigenous Voice to parliament referendum and made her a “rock star” in the eyes of many party loyalists, to borrow a phrase from Angus Taylor’s interview with The Australian Financial Review on Sunday. That is the foundation of her large following among the Liberal Party’s rusted-on conservative base. Taylor rightly argues, “the traditional role of deputy leader is to work with our supporters, the branch members, the state divisions and make sure we are robust and prepared for elections”.

However, the deputy also needs to be a reliable performer. Price’s fans seem to be forgetting that her promotion in February by Peter Dutton to take charge of an Elon Musk-style DOGE position as shadow minister for government efficiency was not a success.

Dutton’s embrace of a Trumpish agenda proved a major factor in the crushing election loss that turfed him out of parliament. Price’s tin-earned sloganising about seeking to “Make Australia Great Again” was a viral moment that assisted Labor’s campaign to portray a Coalition government as risky.

Making ill-judged and ill-timed statements during an election is not a good recommendation for promotion. Neither is Price’s lack of portfolio experience (combined with her naked ambition and opportunism in deserting the Nationals) at time when the party needs to do a lot detailed work coming up with a policy platform based on economic responsibility, personal aspiration and a vibrant private sector.

Yet commentators operating in media echo chambers are backing Price, based mainly on her politically incorrect statements about Indigenous Australia. It’s wrong to argue Australians are completely unbothered by the excesses of identity politics, but the election proves it’s not a major concern for many Australians. Obsessing about left-wing social issues threatens to send the party deeper down the electoral rabbit hole it is already in.

The focus on culture war issues to the exclusion of all else by Sky After Dark commentators has created a defective feedback loop that misleads the Liberals about the issues that matter to most voters. On top of the brand damage by association, these culture warriors rarely focus on the budget, tax, regulatory and industrial relations issues that the Liberal Party needs to re-learn how to fight elections on, to offer voters a substantial and compelling alternative to Labor.

The Liberal Party needs to broaden its appeal to groups of voters, including professional women, migrants and younger people.

What ought to be obvious is that two Saturdays ago, middle Australia resoundingly rejected Trumpian-style politics at the polls by re-electing Anthony Albanese with a larger majority. After the Trump factor upended two national elections in Australia and Canada, it beggars belief that some in the Liberal Party believe that Price’s defection and possible elevation to the deputy role is now the way forward.

Rather than the beginning of a genuine reset and long-term strategy for revival, it is a cynical ploy by the conservative faction. The aim is to intimidate Liberal MPs to vote for the Taylor-Price ticket to avoid offending the party base.

Taylor bears some of the responsibility for the election loss. As shadow treasurer, he failed to effectively challenge Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ economic management despite Labor’s first term coinciding with the deepest and most prolonged household recession and fall in living standards on record. By choosing Price as his running mate, Taylor is sending the message that the Liberal plan would be to double down on the culture wars under his leadership.

Part of the purpose of centre-right parties should be to push back against the overreach of left-wing identity politics and stand up for fundamental small-l liberal values such as respect for the individual and the merit principle. The Liberal Party should have sensible things to say about important social issues, such as the content of school curricula that educate the next generation of citizens.

Some moderate Liberals are urging the party to move closer to the centre and the progressive positions of Labor and the Greens. There is no point in the Liberal Party being a pale imitation of other parties. The priority should be to ensure that social and cultural debates that are side issues for many voters have a proportionate place in a Liberal platform that should be weighted towards its traditional economic strengths.

A clear lesson of the disastrous election campaign is that the Liberal Party should never be Labor-lite on economics. But heading in a Trump-like direction would be a dead end.

The Liberal Party needs to show a more empathic face and broaden its appeal to groups of voters, including professional women, migrants and younger people, who continued to abandon it in greater numbers at the election. The challenge for future leaders of the party is to convince these key demographics that the Liberal movement’s enduring belief in reward for effort offers a better pathway to a prosperous Australia for them and their families.

When Labor’s bigger taxing, bigger spending and bigger handouts agenda fails to make people substantially better off, the Liberal Party must be prepared and ready to offer voters a credible alternative economic policy agenda that includes an affordable safety net.

That is the real challenge that should be shaping the leadership contest inside the party, and determining who Liberal MPs choose to attempt to lead them out of the wilderness.

The Australian Financial Review’s succinct take on the principles at stake in major domestic and global stories – and what policy makers should do about them.

My opinion: The Libs are cooked if Taylor gets the leadership
And I was pretty much alone when I disagreed with people saying that about Abbott
He was very different but people didn't hate him as much as Dutton

I wouldn't vote for Taylor - total incompetent

[Jim05]

If Jacinta Price is the answer, Liberals are asking wrong question
A lesson of the election campaign is that the Liberal Party should never be Labor-lite on economics, but heading in a Trump-like direction would be a dead end.

May 11, 2025 – 5.15pm

If Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is the answer then the Liberal Party isn’t asking the right question.

Having represented the Northern Territory in the Senate and sat in the Nationals party room for the past three years, Price defected to the Liberals last week. She announced yesterday her intention to run as Angus Taylor’s deputy in Tuesday’s parliamentary party leadership contest.

The 43-year-old senator’s prominent part in the No campaign helped defeat the Indigenous Voice to parliament referendum and made her a “rock star” in the eyes of many party loyalists, to borrow a phrase from Angus Taylor’s interview with The Australian Financial Review on Sunday. That is the foundation of her large following among the Liberal Party’s rusted-on conservative base. Taylor rightly argues, “the traditional role of deputy leader is to work with our supporters, the branch members, the state divisions and make sure we are robust and prepared for elections”.

However, the deputy also needs to be a reliable performer. Price’s fans seem to be forgetting that her promotion in February by Peter Dutton to take charge of an Elon Musk-style DOGE position as shadow minister for government efficiency was not a success.

Dutton’s embrace of a Trumpish agenda proved a major factor in the crushing election loss that turfed him out of parliament. Price’s tin-earned sloganising about seeking to “Make Australia Great Again” was a viral moment that assisted Labor’s campaign to portray a Coalition government as risky.

Making ill-judged and ill-timed statements during an election is not a good recommendation for promotion. Neither is Price’s lack of portfolio experience (combined with her naked ambition and opportunism in deserting the Nationals) at time when the party needs to do a lot detailed work coming up with a policy platform based on economic responsibility, personal aspiration and a vibrant private sector.

Yet commentators operating in media echo chambers are backing Price, based mainly on her politically incorrect statements about Indigenous Australia. It’s wrong to argue Australians are completely unbothered by the excesses of identity politics, but the election proves it’s not a major concern for many Australians. Obsessing about left-wing social issues threatens to send the party deeper down the electoral rabbit hole it is already in.

The focus on culture war issues to the exclusion of all else by Sky After Dark commentators has created a defective feedback loop that misleads the Liberals about the issues that matter to most voters. On top of the brand damage by association, these culture warriors rarely focus on the budget, tax, regulatory and industrial relations issues that the Liberal Party needs to re-learn how to fight elections on, to offer voters a substantial and compelling alternative to Labor.

The Liberal Party needs to broaden its appeal to groups of voters, including professional women, migrants and younger people.

What ought to be obvious is that two Saturdays ago, middle Australia resoundingly rejected Trumpian-style politics at the polls by re-electing Anthony Albanese with a larger majority. After the Trump factor upended two national elections in Australia and Canada, it beggars belief that some in the Liberal Party believe that Price’s defection and possible elevation to the deputy role is now the way forward.

Rather than the beginning of a genuine reset and long-term strategy for revival, it is a cynical ploy by the conservative faction. The aim is to intimidate Liberal MPs to vote for the Taylor-Price ticket to avoid offending the party base.

Taylor bears some of the responsibility for the election loss. As shadow treasurer, he failed to effectively challenge Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ economic management despite Labor’s first term coinciding with the deepest and most prolonged household recession and fall in living standards on record. By choosing Price as his running mate, Taylor is sending the message that the Liberal plan would be to double down on the culture wars under his leadership.

Part of the purpose of centre-right parties should be to push back against the overreach of left-wing identity politics and stand up for fundamental small-l liberal values such as respect for the individual and the merit principle. The Liberal Party should have sensible things to say about important social issues, such as the content of school curricula that educate the next generation of citizens.

Some moderate Liberals are urging the party to move closer to the centre and the progressive positions of Labor and the Greens. There is no point in the Liberal Party being a pale imitation of other parties. The priority should be to ensure that social and cultural debates that are side issues for many voters have a proportionate place in a Liberal platform that should be weighted towards its traditional economic strengths.

A clear lesson of the disastrous election campaign is that the Liberal Party should never be Labor-lite on economics. But heading in a Trump-like direction would be a dead end.

The Liberal Party needs to show a more empathic face and broaden its appeal to groups of voters, including professional women, migrants and younger people, who continued to abandon it in greater numbers at the election. The challenge for future leaders of the party is to convince these key demographics that the Liberal movement’s enduring belief in reward for effort offers a better pathway to a prosperous Australia for them and their families.

When Labor’s bigger taxing, bigger spending and bigger handouts agenda fails to make people substantially better off, the Liberal Party must be prepared and ready to offer voters a credible alternative economic policy agenda that includes an affordable safety net.

That is the real challenge that should be shaping the leadership contest inside the party, and determining who Liberal MPs choose to attempt to lead them out of the wilderness.

The Australian Financial Review’s succinct take on the principles at stake in major domestic and global stories – and what policy makers should do about them.

My opinion: The Libs are cooked if Taylor gets the leadership
And I was pretty much alone when I disagreed with people saying that about Abbott
He was very different but people didn't hate him as much as Dutton

I wouldn't vote for Taylor - total incompetent

Ley is just as bad.
It’s a real clown show

[dedja]

Matt Canavan forgot to load his gun … David Littleproud stays as Nations leader, Kevin Hogan is the new Deputty.

Liberal’s leadership shit show tomorrow, followed by The Greens on Wed.

[Brodlach]

Matt Canavan forgot to load his gun … David Littleproud stays as Nations leader, Kevin Hogan is the new Deputty.

Liberal’s leadership shit show tomorrow, followed by The Greens on Wed.

I actually don’t mind Canavan, straight shooter.

[Jim05]

Matt Canavan forgot to load his gun … David Littleproud stays as Nations leader, Kevin Hogan is the new Deputty.

Liberal’s leadership shit show tomorrow, followed by The Greens on Wed.

How many challenges has that imbecile lost now?
Didn’t he have a couple of cracks at knifing Barnaby?

[RB]

Liberal’s leadership shit show tomorrow, followed by The Greens on Wed.

It's sort of like a festival, isn't it!!