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Candidates for Liberal and Greens leadership positions are vying for their spots after both party leaders were unseated in the recent national election.
The National Party is set to choose a new leader as well, following their routine protocol of a leadership spill after every federal election.
Below are the frontrunners in each contest, their comments since the election, and the schedule for when the party rooms will convene to make their choices.
The Liberals
Following Peter Dutton’s loss of his seat to , there are two clear contenders for the Liberal Party leadership: Treasury spokesperson Angus Taylor and deputy leader Sussan Ley.
Taylor officially announced his candidacy on Friday, stressing his record on economic management, national security and a “vibrant private sector”.
“I will provide leadership that unites our party, that puts our cause above sectional interests and that reaches beyond our base and earns the trust of the voters that we’ve lost,” Taylor said.
However, colleagues have criticised Taylor for failing to present detailed economic policy as Treasury spokesperson during the election campaign.
On Sunday, Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price formally announced she will join forces with Taylor and run as deputy Liberal leader, after
In a video cross-posted to Taylor’s and Price’s Instagram pages, the senator describes Taylor as a mentor.
“I think we’re in a really good position to come back from this and come back strong,” the prominent ‘No’ campaigner in the Indigenous Voice for Parliament referendum said.
“I think we have such passion for this country, for our party and for our coalition as a whole. That’s what I think Australians need to understand, that we’re a team that’s prepared to get out and fight.”
During the election campaign, and a push for greater government efficiency — a move widely interpreted as being inspired by the second Trump administration’s
Ley, backed by the party’s moderate faction, has formally declared her candidacy, underscoring the Liberal Party’s need for a “fresh” trajectory.
Representing the NSW seat of Farrer, she emphasized the importance of engaging younger voters and women, who she believes have been “overlooked” by the Liberals.
“To rebuild trust across Australian society, my leadership of the Liberal Party would strongly indicate our recognition that changes are necessary,” she stated.
Following the Liberals’ dramatic election defeat, some moderates pushed for a shift, — a suggestion dismissed by the party’s conservative members.
Party members are scheduled to vote on the new leader on Tuesday.
The Greens
After leading the Greens for five years Adam Bandt suffered a shock loss in his seat of Melbourne, losing his seat to Labor’s Sarah Witty by a margin of 3,885 votes on a two candidate preferred basis.
Tasmanian Greens senator Nick McKim has stepped into the position of acting party leader but ruled himself out of the leadership race on Friday.
McKim, who has previously served as the party’s co-deputy nationally and led the Tasmanian Greens said it was “not his time”.
“If you’re going to lead a political party you have to be prepared to give it 120 per cent,” he said.
NSW senator David Shoebridge announced on Sunday his decision not to run for Greens leader, telling Sky News he feels it is “time for a woman” to take the helm.
NSW senator Mehreen Faruqi, who is currently serving as the Greens deputy leader, emerged as an early frontrunner for the job.
Faruqi became Australia’s first Muslim senator in 2018 and has served as the party’s deputy leader since 2022.
In a 4 May Facebook post, Faruqi said she had been been re-elected “on a campaign grounded in radical politics, solidarity with Gaza, tackling the climate emergency and fighting for cost of living relief”.
Also in contention for the top job is South Australian senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who is currently the manager of the Greens’ business in the Senate.
Hanson-Young has made several unsuccessful runs for the Greens deputy leader leader position in the past.
Apart from Tasmania, South Australia is the only state or territory in which the Greens recorded a swing towards them in the recent election.
In a post-election interview, she said the Greens would use their balance of power in the Senate “to push Labor to do the things that they’ve promised, and push them to go further on dealing with the issues that people are really struggling with in their daily lives, and of course on climate and environment”.
Queensland Greens senator Larissa Waters is also a possible contender. She is currently the Greens leader in the Senate and the party’s national spokesperson on women and democracy.
The Greens will hold a party room meeting on Thursday to elect their new leader.
The party also now faces questions about the ideological future of the party after facing criticism for straying from their core principles of advocating for action on climate change and environmental protections.
Greens co-founder Drew Hutton says the party needs to address internal issues and broaden its appeal to voters, while former Greens senator Andrew Bartlett is urging for a thorough post-election review.
The Nationals
The Nationals also face a leadership skirmish after Queensland Senator Matt Canavan threw his hat in the ring to depose incumbent leader David Littleproud.
Canavan announced his candidacy on Friday, saying the party needs to bring back its “fighting spirit”.
He said he would scrap the Nationals’ support for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and call for new housing supply and economic development in the regions if chosen as leader.
Littleproud, who has been leader of the Nationals since 2022, welcomed the challenge, telling Nine’s Today Show on Sunday “we shouldn’t get upset about democracy taking place”.
The Queensland MP’s pitch on his record includes leading the ‘No’ campaign on the Voice to Parliament, calling for nuclear energy and to stop supermarkets from “taking advantage” of farmers.
The Nationals lost one seat in the lower house this federal election, bringing their national total to nine seats.
The Nationals will hold their party room vote on Monday.
With additional reporting from the Australian Associated Press.
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