🟠 News Club - Onwards and upwards?

Following bruising election results, the Liberals, Nationals, and Greens are all voting for new leaders this week. As PM Anthony Albanese settles into his second term, we take a look at who's in the running to lead the opposition and cross benches…

Onwards and upwards?

The Coalition’s woes following their mega election defeat are by far the biggest story out of last weekend’s vote. Questions about the parties’ viability are receiving way more attention than what PM Anthony Albanese will do with his mandate to lead the country for the next term of government, which, I suspect, is what many Squizers would prefer to focus on. 

But as they say in the classics: if it bleeds, it leads. To torture that a little further, some say the Coalition is on life support and a skilled surgeon is required - aka a game-changing leader. We’ll know who that will be for the Nationals and Liberal Party this week - today for the Nats and tomorrow for the Libs. 

Ahead of that, you might like to know more about those in contention because my sense is that no matter the result, these are people who will be at the front of the ongoing conversation about party reform. How constructive those contributions will be, time will tell… Regardless, knowing something about them won’t be wasted effort. 

So for today’s Club Picks, we have a record-breaking curation of the pieces we’ve found useful and illuminating in the recent past…

1. Starting with the Nationals, given their vote is up first… Current leader David Littleproud is being challenged by Senator Matt Canavan - both men are from Queensland, they are in their 40s, and have credentials in finance/economics. Littleproud was an agribusiness banker with NAB, and Canavan held senior roles at the Productivity Commission and KPMG. The main difference is Canavan’s sceptical view of the Coalition’s settled climate change policies… This piece in The Spectator articulates where people who think Canavan is onto something are coming from. 

2. Onto the Liberals, and the main game is Sussan Ley v Angus Taylor. Ley flies herself around her massive NSW electorate, and has been everything from a punk rocker to a shearers’ cook to a Tax Office worker. As for Taylor, he’s a Rhodes scholar turned McKinsey consultant who’s also a fifth-generation sheep farmer. His interview with the Betoota Advocate during the election was a campaign highlight. 

3. Tim Wilson, a former Human Rights Commissioner who lost last election to Teal Zoe Daniel before winning his seat back this time around, is yet to declare his hand for the Liberal race… He says this campaign has been full on because “I gave up 2 years basically of employment to do this, and so when you’re racking up costs on your credit card at the rate that we were, it terrified me.”

4. Also making headlines over the last week is the Northern Territory’s CLP Senator Jacinta Nampinjinpa Price. She’s abandoned the Nationals for the Libs and wants to be Taylor’s deputy. Her backstory is complex and traumatic, as highlighted in this profile piece in the Weekend Australian. 

5. The Greens are also looking for a new leader following Adam Bandt’s loss in Melbourne, and Sarah Hanson-Young and Mehreen Faruqi are firming as the frontrunners. Yesterday, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that “it’s uncomfortable” for the party because they’re “not accustomed to the process” that will see a vote on Thursday. 

Finally, on our poll from last week - we asked you if the election result was a surprise. Almost 70% of you said it was more dramatic than expected. Hear hear…