Sussan Ley was ousted as Liberal Party leader on 13 February. She has now resigned from Federal Parliament completely. Photo: Chris Johnson.
Former opposition leader Sussan Ley has quit Federal Parliament, effectively immediately.
She wrote to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Milton Dick, on Friday morning (27 February), to advise him of her resignation as the Federal Member for Farrer.
Her timing means she will not be returning to parliament next week, and she will not be delivering a valedictory speech.
“I am confident that my efforts and achievements over 25 years will speak for themselves – as a local member, minister in four Coalition governments and Leader of the Liberal Party, as well as in the minds of the many people whose lives touched mine along the way,” Ms Ley said in a statement on Friday.
“Naturally, I am sad to no longer represent my electorate of Farrer. I love the wide western plains of NSW, the country towns along the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers and the thriving cities of Albury and Griffith; communities that it has been my enormous privilege to serve for almost 25 years.
“At one stage, the western edge of Farrer was the entire NSW-South Australian border, touching Queensland at Cameron Corner. I certainly appreciated being able to fly myself in a light plane, often into remote airstrips.”
Describing every community in Farrer as “unique”, Ms Ley said her approach was that one size did not fit all. She insisted she always fought to ensure all of her constituents – “whether they lived in the bigger centres or miles away from them” – were treated with the same importance as anyone else, anywhere else across Australia.
“The people and their stories will always be with me,” she said.
“Farming families battling fires, dust storms, drought and low irrigation allocations; small business owners breathing activity into quiet streets and local volunteers asking for so little but doing so much.
“And always, always, the wonderful women of western NSW – the ones who put themselves last without ever losing heart. I want to acknowledge their strength, their courage and their sheer bloody-mindedness when fighting for the people they love and the future they deserve.”
The Speaker will now decide when to call a by-election for Farrer, which will be an early test for new Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, who ousted Ms Ley from the Liberal Party’s top job on 13 February.
Ms Ley has urged voters to return a Liberal to the seat in the by-election.
She also used the statement to reference her short leadership period, to thank her Coalition colleagues, and to wish all current parliamentarians well.
“After the Liberal Party suffered our worst defeat in 81 years, it was with gratitude and humility that I took on the role of Leader of our Party,” she said.
“I was elected by my parliamentary colleagues, and I thank them once again for the opportunity to serve.
“I believe my election as the first woman to ever lead not just the Federal Liberal Party, but any Federal Opposition, is a milestone for all women to be proud of.
“I hope I have paved the way for the next woman to be elected to and succeed in both these roles.
“It will be for commentators and historians to measure the period of my leadership, but I am proud that we were instrumental in establishing a Commonwealth Royal Commission into Antisemitism and that we set clear directions on several key policy areas in tax, industrial relations, energy, national security and families.
“I welcome the Coalition’s immediate readoption of many of these directions and policies in recent days and weeks.”
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
