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Subjects:Leadership of Sussan Ley, future of Liberal Party, future of Coalition, keepingLabor accountable
E&OE
Culliver
Let’s find outwhat kind of a leader she might be. Maria Kovacic is a Liberal Senator for NewSouth Wales and joins you this morning. Senator, good morning to you.
Kovacic
Good morningand thank you for having me again.
Culliver
What kind of aleader will Sussan Ley be?
Kovacic
I think shewill be a great leader. It’s wonderful to see Sussan elected as our leader asthe longest serving woman in the House, a former deputy, and now, as you say,our first female leader of the Liberal Party. Her election is not just historic,but I think very well deserved. She’s one that has experience, conviction andauthenticity and I think she’ll be an excellent leader.
Culliver
In terms of theLiberal Party’s electability going forward and certainly looking at its fallingvote rates amongst women, was this the only choice in a way? Was this thesmartest choice for the party going forward?
Kovacic
I think thereare two elements to answer your question. Number one, who's the best person tolead out of the people that were put forward? The answer to that, in my view,is Sussan, and that is what the party room chose yesterday. But the other partof your question is an important one. Australians want to see people who leadthem to reflect them. Half the population is female. The reality is we don'thave enough females in Parliament representing the Liberal Party, so we need toaddress that. I think what we need to focus on is exactly what Sussan saidyesterday. We need to be a party that respects modern Australia, reflectsmodern Australia, and represents modern Australia, and I think she'll do justthat.
Culliver
It’s aninteresting problem that faces the Coalition over the next however long youwant to set for the rebuild - three to six years, say, in terms of the factthat the Coalition is mostly made up by rural and outer suburban areas,regional members, in terms of the House of Representatives. It's a question ofhow you can win back some of those seats that have been lost in the innersuburbs, the suburbs of the capital cities, and I dare say you'd even love towin some seats in the Newcastle and Hunter regions, not currently held by any Liberal.How do you do that when the party room is mostly dominated by people that arenot from there?
Kovacic
I think it's animportant question and, and it sort of goes back to the answer that I madebefore. We need to ensure that we can present policy positions and haveconstructive discussions about issues that are important across our country.That doesn't mean that we prioritise one or the other but provide a clearbalance that ensures that we can deliver for everyone, and I think one of thechallenges that we had over the last election period is that we very clearlyarticulated the problems over the past three years, particularly in relation tocost of living and access to housing, but what we didn't do that well wasarticulate how we would fix that, and I think that's the job ahead of us. Thatmatters whether you are in regional New South Wales, whether you're in OutbackQueensland, whether you are in Newcastle, whether you're in the Sydney CBD orin regional Victoria. Those are the issues, and you want the answers to thosesame questions in the same way.
Culliver
A curiousfeature of the vote that took place yesterday is that it was of the currentmembers of Parliament – the Senate and the House of Representatives. Of course,we have the new Senate and our Senators-elect taking their role up at the startof July, which means the party room dynamics will shift slightly. Are youworried about Sussan Ley's hold on the leadership given it was a close vote?
Kovacic
I think thatthe party room made its decision yesterday and I think we have the support forSussan to lead, and I think everybody will back Sussan in to do that. Primarilybecause that's an important part of what we do once we make those decisions.That decision has been made. It's done. We now move on and go to work to ensurethat we can rebuild our party and show Australians that we are the right peopleto govern for them in the future.
Culliver
Do you thinkAngus Taylor would retain any kind of leadership ambitions, and do you thinkother members would be telling him, don't try it? Like, let's just get on withthings.
Kovacic
I wouldn'tspeculate on what others would or wouldn't say to them. I'm very focused onworking with Sussan and Ted, as our new leadership team, to ensure that wedeliver the outcomes that Australians need, and I expect that the broader partyroom is of that same view.
Culliver
Ted O’Brien wasof course shadow Energy Minister, and obviously those portfolios are still tobe determined in the future. You were perhaps one of the first and one of themost prominent people after the election to point out that you would like tosee the nuclear energy policy dropped from the Coalition platform. Ted O'Brien,of course was one of the primary spokespeople for that as the shadow ministerfor energy. Are you confident that policy is gone now? What's going to happenthere?
Kovacic
Thosediscussions are yet to be had. I think what's important, and Sussan and Tedboth noted this yesterday, is that they are very keen to see the broader partyroom contribute to policy debate and development. I think that's a crucial wayforward to ensure that we do absolutely represent modern Australia.
Culliver
Obviously DavidLittleproud has hung on as the leader of the Nationals despite a challenge byMatt Canavan. I know you're going to comment on National Party politics becauseyou don't like to do that, and nor do they like to comment on Liberal Partypolitics. In terms of the Coalition, do you think that that will stay intact?Is it useful for the Liberal Party right now to stay in the Coalition?
Kovacic
The Nationalsare important partners to the Liberal Party, and as both David Littleproud andSenator McKenzie have said, there is great partnership there, but there arealso differences. It's about working through the best way forward in terms ofthat partnership, and I don't see anybody suggesting that shouldn't continue.
Culliver
Myunderstanding is that yourself, Andrew Bragg, Dave Sharma, all Liberal Senatorsfor New South Wales, are all considered moderates within the Liberal Party. Isthis going to be a case of a rise of the moderates? Should we see some morepromotions for moderate members in the party?
Kovacic
I would preferto say that what we are doing now and what our focus is, and I've spoken aboutthis previously, is it's a shift to the centre. That's where most Australiansare, that's the type of government that Australians want to lead them, andthat's the type of government that Australians vote for. I think that's veryimportant for us to focus on.
Culliver
Obviously, it'sthree years in opposition at least. You have obviously a very strong showingfrom Labor in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. They can eithernegotiate with the Greens or the Liberal Party to get legislation passed in theSenate. What are you thinking about in terms of your role as a Senator, as aLiberal Party Senator over the next three years, and what good opposition lookslike?
Kovacic
My job is toensure that I represent the needs of the people of New South Wales in theSenate, that there is robust debate on legislation, and that we hold thisgovernment to account. There's no free pass in the Senate. It is the house ofscrutiny, and I intend to do that, continuing over the next term.
Culliver
Is there aparticular portfolio or position that you would like to hold in the opposition?
Kovacic
I haven't hadany discussions or any thoughts in relation to that. I'm here to do my job andwill do any job that's asked of me.
Culliver
Senator, Iappreciate your time today.
Kovacic
Thank you somuch. You take care. Bye-bye.
Culliver
Liberal Senatorfor New South Wales, Maria Kovacic reflecting on the new leadership for theLiberal Party. Sussan Ley is, of course, also a New South Wales Member of theHouse of Representatives. Certainly, there’s a strong showing, potentially, inthe opposition front benches for New South Wales.
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