Some rank-and-file Liberals in the nation’s capital say the wrong lesson has been learnt from an election loss as a leadership spill moves the party into more conservative territory.
Leanne Castley has taken over the Canberra Liberals leadership and becomes the ACT opposition leader after choosing to ‘trick’ not treat Elizabeth Lee in a Halloween spill at the local Legislative Assembly.
Ms Lee and her moderate bloc were up against former Liberal leader Jeremy Hanson and his conservative bloc in the nine-member partyroom after he announced his intention to challenge for the leadership following their ACT election defeat.
But hours after saying she would support Ms Lee if she retained the leadership on Wednesday, Ms Castley called Mr Hanson and brokered a deal that put her in the top spot and installed him as deputy.
Despite the new leaders’ more conservative views on social issues such as voluntary assisted dying and abortion access, both expressed no desire to rehash old ground and wind-back policies.
Mr Hanson added conscience votes on social issues meant there wouldn’t be a significant shift in policies anyway.
Ms Castley said she was tired of the conservative-moderate labels within a “broad church” party and that the party slipping backwards at the election meant change was needed.
“We are a unified team and the goal is to win government in 2028,” she said, at which time the Liberals would have spent 27 years in opposition.
But Liberal insiders, talking candidly on the condition of anonymity, say they’re perplexed at the axing of Ms Lee.
“The answer is to be more connected and relevant to the community,” one said, adding additional independents would have been elected under a more conservative Liberal team.
Thomas Emerson, one of two independents elected to the ACT Legislative Assembly for the first time in over 20 years, said that some 15 of 25 members were self-described progressives showed people wanted change.
“Too many vulnerable Canberrans are falling through the cracks,” he told AAP, referencing housing, education and healthcare.
While the leadership of the Liberal opposition in the anomalous ACT may not seem politically pertinent, it exposes the rift between conservative and moderate forces within the party that insiders are blaming for a lack of electorate success.
The ultra-conservatism of former Liberal senator Zed Seselja was a significant factor in the territory’s second upper house seat falling to progressive David Pocock in 2022, who became the first independent senator in the ACT.
By Dominic Giannini in Canberra
