PETER VAN ONSELEN: Why Sussan Ley’s decision to punt Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was necessary, overdue and likely to kick off a new Coalition killing season
Sussan Ley has kicked Jacinta Nampijinpa Price off the Opposition frontbench after the senator refused to apologise for her remarks about Indian migration.
It’s the first clear exercise of authority from the new Liberal leader: necessary, overdue and certain to set off a chain reaction inside an Opposition that was already divided.
Price had a choice. Either show contrition and move on, or double down and dare her leader to dump her.
She chose the latter, and as recently as today was refusing to back down. Price wouldn’t even endorse Ley’s leadership, that’s how toxic the parliamentary Liberal Party is becoming.
Ley called Price’s bluff and moved her on. That’s leadership. But it will also inflame the factional right, which has long been itching to take a swing at the new leader.
Price’s claim that Labor is juicing up Indian migration for vote-winning purposes was no slip of the tongue. It was a political dog whistle dressed up as a demographic insight.
When pressed, the now former frontbencher expressed ‘regret’, but wouldn’t apologise. Ley is now not apologising for sacking Price. What goes around, comes around.
But that might also be Ley’s fate in the months ahead if Team Price and Angus Taylor can secure the votes to challenge for the party leadership.
The killing season is just months away.
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (pictured) was sacked by Leader of the Federal Opposition, Sussan Ley, a week after her controversial comments on mass migration
Sussan Ley (pictured) called Price’s bluff and moved her on. That’s leadership. But it will also inflame the factional right
Nevertheless, Ley was right to act. She had no choice. The alternative was more drift: more divisive oxygen for a culture war cul-de-sac that repels swinging voters and alienates the very communities the Coalition needs to win back government.
Senior Liberals spent the day choosing sides on what Price had to say and how she’s reacted.
Jane Hume used the moment to tee off on Alex Hawke and Ley at the same time, payback after Ley dumped her from the frontbench upon becoming leader. Politics really can be petty.
Ley showed strength today by acting as she did, but she had little choice and her authority now rests on increasingly fragile ground.
The cracks are visible, the bitterness is real and the opposition she leads now looks more divided than ever.
