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Angus Taylor quits frontbench to take on Sussan Ley for the Liberal Party leadership

GREG BROWN and SARAH ISON - 11 February 2026

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Conservative MP Angus Taylor has quit the Coalition’s frontbench and declared he does not have confidence in Sussan Ley to restore the support of the Liberal Party, paving the way for a spill of the leadership by Friday.

Mr Taylor did not say whether he would push for a spill of the ­Liberal leadership this week, but his backers are expected to write to the Opposition Leader on Thursday and ask for a meeting the following day.

His supporters are expected to resign from their frontbench ­positions on Thursday as they prepare for him to mount a challenge.

The Hume MP, who did not unveil a plan to challenge in his conversation with Ms Ley, said the Liberal Party was “at its worst position it has been since 1944 when the party was formed”.

“We have failed to hold a bad Labor government to account,” Mr Taylor said in the Parliament House courtyard in Canberra on Wednesday night .

“We’ve seen a collapse in Australian standard of living, we’ve seen a failure to protect Australians’ way of life. Australians want better from the Liberal Party.”

Mr Taylor’s backers were claiming he had the numbers to topple Ms Ley, while Ms Ley’s supporters conceded it was close.

One supporter of Mr Taylor said the request for a party room meeting would “come tomorrow”.

“Preference is for a Friday meeting so all colleagues can ­participate,” the Taylor supporter said.

While moderates were pushing for Ms Ley to demand Mr Taylor’s backers present a petition showing majority party room support for a spill, the Liberal leader’s closest supporters said she was unlikely to do this.

After Mr Taylor’s news conference, Ms Ley told The Australian: “He did not challenge for the ­leadership. He simply tendered his resignation,” .

One powerful backer of Ms Ley said ahead of Mr Taylor’s resignation as opposition defence spokesman, the Opposition Leader would probably hold a party room meeting on Thursday evening or Friday if this was requested in writing by two Liberal MPs.

Victorian Liberal MPs Jane Hume, Zoe McKenzie, Dan Tehan and Tim Wilson have been floated by conservatives as being potential ­options for a deputy leader with the support of the Right faction, with incumbent Ted O’Brien, the Treasury spokesman, unlikely to survive if Ms Ley’s leadership bid fails.

Ms McKenzie, Mr Tehan and Mr Wilson both supported Ms Ley over Mr Taylor in the previous leadership ballot held in May last year.

Mr Taylor’s backers were earlier this week flagging his intention to quit on Wednesday, but he waited until about 7pm to do so. This ensured the speculation of his frontbench exit dominated the entire day, including question time.

Mr Taylor’s supporters said his announcement was delayed by Ms Ley’s meeting with Israel President Isaac Herzog, which finished about 5pm.

The lengthy day of speculation prompted one moderate MP to label it the “most shambolic coup ever”.

Speaking after his meeting with Ms Ley, Mr Taylor said: “We need to urgently restore confidence in the Liberal Party. We need to protect Australians’ way of life. We need to focus on restoring their standard of living.

“I don’t believe Sussan Ley is in a position to be able to lead the party, as it needs to be led from here.

“I have just a few moments ago tended my resignation. I will continue to serve the Liberal Party and to work towards getting it to where it needs to be.”

Anthony Albanese and his senior ministers used parliament’s question time to deliver a series of pre-emptive strikes against Mr Taylor, with Labor preparing to flood social media with attack ads on the Hume MP.

The Prime Minister took a swipe at Mr Taylor for undermining Ms Ley and raised his past ­support of a GP co-payment, while his record was also ridiculed by ­Infrastructure Minister Catherine King and Defence Minister ­Richard Marles.

The most savage criticism came from Jim Chalmers, who accused Mr Taylor, a former opposition Treasury spokesman, of “failing upwards” and of being “born with a silver foot in his mouth”.

“The member for Hume took to the last election a policy to jack up income taxes and make deficits bigger and debt worse,” the Treasurer said.

“The worse he performs the more entitled he feels to a promotion, no matter what happens.

“At every stage of his life he wants everything handed to him on a silver platter … The member for Hume was born with a silver foot in his mouth.

“Just when we thought that they couldn’t go any lower on economic credibility, the member for Hume says ‘hold my ­chardonnay’.”

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Moderate MPs and other supporters of Ms Ley were out in force on Wednesday, declaring the Liberal leader had not been given a fair go.

Leading NSW moderates ­Andrew Bragg and Maria Kovavic said MPs who wanted a meeting to spill the leadership should sign a petition. “If people want to do these things, they should put their names to it,” Senator Bragg told the ABC.

“We’re not paid to play games, tiddlywinks. We’re paid to fight hard for the Australian people.

“We had a party room meeting this week, yesterday. There were no leadership issues raised there in that meeting … I think it is best we move on. We will be marked down if we fail to do our job.”

Senator Bragg said Ms Ley had been “dealt a bad hand” since the election loss, noting the two “bust-ups” with the Nationals made it hard for her to deliver a policy agenda.

Senator Kovacic said “enough is enough” with speculation on the leadership. “If you want to call a spill, put your name to it and call it,” she said.

Opposition defence industry spokeswoman Melissa Price said Ms Ley had been undermined by her internal detractors.

“I think she’s done a very good job in very bad circumstances, in a really difficult situation, where she hasn’t had at least half of the party room openly supporting her,” Ms Price said. “We’ve also had the media who, from my perspective, looked like they were hell bent on undermining her as well, probably with a bit of help from some of my colleagues.

“I think she’s handled it with a great deal of aplomb.”

Conservative Liberal MP Ben Small – who was backing ­Andrew Hastie to become leader before he withdrew his candidacy – also said the ongoing speculation over whether Mr Taylor would run had become “unhelpful”.

“It’s robbing us of oxygen to hold the government to account,” Mr Small told the ABC.

“I think that would be fair to say that we need to resolve this ­question, stop talking about internal matters and get back to holding the Labor Party to account.”

The Liberal turmoil comes as the Coalition languishes in third place, according to Newspoll, with a primary vote of 18 per cent, well behind One Nation on 27 per cent.

Former prime ministers Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull had unsurprisingly divergent views about the way forward for the Liberal Party.

Mr Abbott suggested the party needed to become more conservative and be a “clear alternative to a deeply underwhelming government”.

“The rise of the One Nation vote, that’s not a sign that the Liberal Party should become teal-lite,” Mr Abbott told Sky News.

“That’s a sign that the Liberal Party has got to go back to being the party it was when the One Nation vote was negligible, namely the Howard Liberal Party, or dare I say, the Abbott Liberal Party.

“Because back in 2013 we got 46 per cent of the primary vote and the One Nation vote hardly ­existed.”

Mr Turnbull, meanwhile, said the party needed to shift towards the political centre and avoid a race to the right with One Nation.

“They’re essentially moving down to the right, legitimising Hanson, making Hanson’s issues most salient,” Mr Turnbull told the ABC. “You see, the more they go on about the issues that Hanson is interested in, the more they ­elevate (Pauline) Hanson. And there’s no wonder that she’s ahead of them in the polls.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/angus-taylor-quits-shadow-cabinet-to-take-on-sussan-ley-for-the-liberal-party-leadership/news-story/d0fa93691becf617fed83257745bce15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXyTZ9mMBMY

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Taylor poised to become Liberal leader as Ley backers lose hope

Paul Sakkal and Nick Newling - February 12, 2026

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Angus Taylor is poised to take on the enormous task of reviving the Liberal Party, as backers of Opposition Leader Sussan Ley lose hope and lament the rejection of a peace offering that would have seen Ley stand down in coming months to create an orderly transition and avoid a coup.

As Taylor declared the party’s future was at stake, momentum swung hard towards the challenger over the course of Thursday. Eight members of Ley’s shadow ministry, including James McGrath, who voted for Ley over Taylor last year, quit and declared no confidence in her leadership.

Unaligned MPs had been wary of toppling Ley but have this week swung towards Taylor, saying the current leader had failed to demonstrate in private conversations how she would turn around the party’s terrible polling numbers.

The powerbroker who has guided Taylor’s strategy and helped force Andrew Hastie out of the race, James Paterson, held a solo press conference in Canberra and laid out a brutal assessment of Ley’s leadership while acknowledging his own share of blame for the Coalition’s historically poor polling.

“At the last election … almost 5 million Australians voted for us. They put their trust in us. Over the last nine months, according to the most recent opinion polls, 2.1 million of those people have since deserted the Coalition,” Paterson said, admitting Ley had been dealt a bad hand.

“That’s more than 200,000 votes a month. It’s more than 50,000 votes a week. It’s more than 7,000 votes a day. This cannot go on. If it goes on, there’ll be nothing left of the Liberal Party by the next election.”

Optimistic conservatives hoped they could win by a margin of about 10 votes as MPs sniff the wind and back the likely winner. Ley’s allies hoped they could be behind by as few as two votes, but one conceded that even if the remaining handful of swing voters backed Ley, she would still fall short.

If an initial spill motion is to succeed by a big margin in Friday’s 9am meeting in Canberra, Ley’s supporters are not certain if she will stand against Taylor in the subsequent vote. This would potentially push the Moderates to put up a candidate such as Tim Wilson.

Labor ministers went one-by-one savaging Taylor in question time, treating him as the effective opposition leader and attacking the Liberals for trying to depose their first female leader.

Ley’s allies claimed the bitterness and public disapproval caused by the leadership challenge could have been avoided. Two MPs close to Ley, not willing to speak on the record, said factional ally Alex Hawke and leading Moderates had in recent days and weeks told right-wingers to ditch plans for a spill. They pleaded to give Ley until after the budget in May. After that, if her polling numbers failed to rise, they suggested she would voluntarily quit and hand over the job.

One senior right-winger told this masthead they believed the offer from the Moderates but not from Hawke, and that the case for change was so significant that the spill had to occur quickly.

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Taylor spent Thursday talking to colleagues. He was determined not to do deals with MPs to offer them promotions in return for their vote, as Ley was alleged to have done last year.

In a social media video posted mid-morning on Thursday, Taylor said: “I’m running to be the leader of the Liberal Party because I believe that Australia is worth fighting for”.

“I’m dedicated to serving you, the Australian people, and give you a strong alternative that re-enlivens the great Australian dream,” he said, signing off by warning, “we’re running out of time.”

His supporters flagged a more muscular conservative agenda in contrast to Ley’s stated appeal to shift to the centre.

Former Howard government minister Amanda Vanstone criticised Taylor’s move on social media, saying: “Angus Taylor. Shadow Treasurer 2022 to 25 … And he says libs haven’t held government to account … What’s his explanation for his failure?”

The MPs who quit Ley’s frontbench on Thursday, in order of the time of their announcements, were: Claire Chandler, Matt O’Sullivan, Phil Thompson (who formally called for the spill along with backbencher Jess Collins), Jonno Duniam (a significant move because he had supported Hastie to become leader), Paterson, Michaelia Cash, James McGrath and Dan Tehan.

The field for the party’s deputy leader position could be crowded. Victorian Moderate senator Jane Hume is being backed by a number of Taylor’s supporters. Melissa Price, Zoe McKenzie, Tehan and Wilson are all either certain or possible contenders. Incumbent Ted O’Brien may hold on, but Hume is seen as a top rival.

Wilson is being talked about as a potential shadow treasurer – a role currently held by O’Brien.

A prominent Moderate senator from Victoria, Hume is one of the party’s most energetic and articulate media performers and is viewed as the type of Liberal who can appeal to metropolitan voters. She was shifted to the backbench after the last election due to errors on working from home and a remark about “Chinese spies” that was weaponised in Labor attack ads.

Speaking on 2GB radio on Thursday morning, Hume offered a glowing review of Taylor, saying: “He is a very deep thinker … He’s very good in city seats, but he comes from a country seat himself and is, naturally, a country boy … he’s a very human human.”

https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/hume-lobbies-for-deputy-job-as-taylor-backers-start-resigning-from-ley-s-frontbench-20260212-p5o1le.html

https://www.instagram.com/p/DUomkzikv03/

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Isaac Herzog urges Melbourne Jews to wear ‘your Jewish hearts on your sleeve’ and says ‘hope is in the air’

LILY MCCAFFREY - 12 February 2026

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Israeli President Isaac Herzog has told Melbourne’s Jewish community that “hope is in the air”.

“We have seen first-hand the beauty and resilience of this community and its significance in the eyes of all Australians of goodwill,” Mr Herzog told a large crowd at a community event on Thursday.

“Keep your Jewish hearts on your sleeve and wear your Zionism with pride.”

Mr Herzog said he came to Australia on a journey of “solidarity and love” following the horrific Bondi terror attack, which he said followed nearly two and a half agonising years in which Jewish identities were targeted in Australia.

Mr Herzog, whose speech was met with a standing ovation from the crowd, told protesters outside the venue on Thursday to “go protest outside the Iranian embassy”.

“For heaven’s sake, they killed and butchered around 50,000, tens and thousands of their own people, operating a … machine of evil, against us, the State of Israel … which is literally protecting the free world and its values,” he said.

Earlier, Jeremy Leibler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, said the Bondi terror attack had “forever changed” how Australian Jews see themselves in the country.

He said that within hours of the attack, Mr Herzog had called him and said: “Israel is with you”.

Mr Leibler said Mr Herzog’s visit told the purveyors of antisemitic hate that Australian Jews belonged in the country, and that their connection to Israel was legitimate.

“And that attempts to demonise us will not be tolerated,” he added.

“We are not going anywhere, the state of Israel is not going anywhere.

“You do not need to trade your Jewish identity for social approval,” Mr Leibler told the crowd to applause.

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Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, Opposition Leader Jess Wilson and Jewish Community leaders were scheduled to at the event, while family members of Bondi victims and the president of the Adass Israel Synagogue – which was firebombed in 2024 – were also present.

There was a heavy police and security presence at the venue, with a road blocked off.

The event – called “an afternoon of light and solidarity” – is hosted by the Zionist Federation of Australia in partnership with other Jewish organisations and aims to highlight ties and shared values between Israel and Australia.

Mr Herzog arrived at Government House in Melbourne, where a group of protesters has gathered.

Mr Herzog was driven into the Government House grounds on Thursday morning, where he met the Governor of Victoria, Margaret Gardner, and the Premier.

A group of about 25 protesters – many wearing masks – gathered near the entrance where police formed a guard between them and the road.

One sign read: “all colonies will fall” and another “stop backing genocide in Gaza”.

Mr Herzog left a heartfelt written tribute to the relationship between Australia and Israel in a guest book at Government House.

“I come from Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Israel, bearing the warm wishes of the Israeli people and the gratitude of the Jewish people worldwide,” he wrote.

“Here in Victoria, let us work together to promote a brighter future, rooted in co-operation, partnership, and mutual respect between Israel and Australia.”

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters are planning to descend on Flinders Street Station at 5pm to protest against Mr Herzog’s visit.

On Wednesday night, vandals spray-painted “Death to Herzog + Israel + Oz” on a wall at the University of Melbourne’s campus in Parkville. Staff quickly covered up graffiti.

This came after the Supreme Court on Wednesday granted Victoria Police its application for special powers under terrorism legislation to cover Mr Herzog’s visit to Melbourne.

The powers, which have rarely been used, apply only in relation to designated areas Mr Herzog is visiting, and allow police to seek the identity of individuals passing through that location, to search individuals, to search vehicles and to cordon off particular areas.

Protesters have started gathering at Southbank where there is another event.

Upwards of 5000 protesters are expected to gather at Flinders Street Station in Melbourne’s CBD to rally against Mr Herzog’s visit on Thursday evening.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/protesters-gather-at-government-house-to-confront-israeli-president-isaac-herzog-in-melbourne/news-story/f814c0252b72622acf40decc0d68f78d

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRba79NIu24

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‘Intifada’ chants at anti-Israeli protest shutting Melbourne’s Flinders St

JOHN FERGUSON and LIAM MENDES - 12 February 2026

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Several thousand protesters descended on Flinders Street Station in Melbourne’s CBD, waving Palestinian flags and chanting anti-Israeli slogans including “intifada Palestine”.

Protest numbers swelled by 6pm on Thursday at the anti-Israel rally called to protest Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Melbourne. Scores of police were deployed to counter the protest that choked one of the city’s busiest intersections.

The protesters walked from an earlier function held in honour of Mr Herzog. Protesters chanted in support of First Nations people and against the Israel Defense Forces.

Commuters could not enter Flinders Street Station from the Swanston St entrance and the tram system was stopped on several routes.

By 7.30pm, protesters had marched to State Parliament on Spring St, chanting “from the river the to the sea” among other anti-Israeli slogans.

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State Greens MP Gabrielle de Vietri accused Australia of having failed its people by inviting Mr Herzog to Melbourne and vowed to “never, ever” back down

Ms de Vietri said a state election year was a great opportunity to prosecute the argument against Israel. She said the presence of Mr Herzog had stoked division and the way to punish the state government was at the polls.

“This is the year we can take power away from them,” she said.

She ended her speech with the words “from the river to the sea”.

Several unions are represented at the rally, including the Australian Services Union, United Workers Union and the Maritime Union of Australia.

By 6.30pm, the marchers were moving towards Bourke Street in the city.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/police-brace-for-clash-at-melbournes-flinders-st/news-story/1db6219d0c5718c01f7131084377a611

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P3hxZk-Zks

>>24243846

Canberra bakery assistant faces court charged as an alleged Chinese spy

Zheng Siru presents as a hard-working bakery assistant serving busy Canberrans. But federal authorities allege the ‘peaceful life’ Ms Zheng insists she leads is a facade.

LIAM MENDES, BEN PACKHAM and ELIZABETH PIKE - 12 February 2026

Polite, young and even quietly patriotic to her adopted country, Zheng Siru presents as a hard-working bakery assistant serving coffees and buns to busy ­Canberrans.

But federal authorities allege the “peaceful life” Ms Zheng insists she leads is a facade – and that the 31-year-old with a shy smile is a Chinese Communist Party agent working surreptitiously to monitor members of Australia’s Chinese community.

Ms Zheng on Wednesday sat in the ACT Magistrates Court, charged as an alleged foreign spy together with a 25-year-old Chinese man who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Police accused the pair of collecting information on a Canberra Buddhist group for Beijing’s Public Security Bureau with another Chinese woman who was arrested in August. All three face charges of reckless foreign interference, which carries a maximum 15-year prison term.

The Australian approached Ms Zheng at her central Canberra workplace on August 15, as part of this newspaper’s inquiries into the alleged targeting of the Canberra branch of the Guan Yin Citta Buddhist Association, which the Chinese Communist Party considers an “evil cult”.

“It’s better for everyone to keep quiet now,” she said at the time.

Asked whether she worked as a spy for China and whether she was a police suspect in the case, Ms Zheng said the question was “over the line”.

“I understand you are doing your job … but for me I just want a peaceful life,“ she said.

“Australia is very good country and we’re very happy with all the things we have.”

When asked why she was being treated as a potential suspect, she said: “No, no, no, no, no. Let’s wait until all things (are) public.”

Details of the allegations against Ms Zheng were not aired in court.

Her lawyer, Travis Jackson, said he had been handed a 57-page statement of facts by the police but “whether it’s actually fact or fiction is the question”.

Police alleged the 25-year-old man, who was given the pseudonym “Joseph Vance”, had since May 28, 2022 tasked associates to collect information and had engaged in conduct for a “foreign entity” to support the intelligence work of the People’s Republic of China.

Magistrate Glenn Theakston asked whether the facts and the names of the pair needed to be suppressed.

An Australian Federal Police representative requested a protection order for the documents “in the interest of national security”.

An order was granted banning publication of Mr Vance’s identity because it could expose other people connected to the case.

Lawyers for the pair said they would wait 24 hours to seek bail and the matter was adjourned until Thursday morning. Ms Zheng and Mr Vance were led back into custody by their lawyers.

The arrests were made as part of an AFP-ASIO operation called Operation Autumn-Shield.

They came after the first Chinese woman charged over the matter was granted bail in October by an ACT magistrate, who acknowledged there was an outside risk she might flee the country.

Prosecutors at the time argued the woman, who has significant “unexplained wealth” and a China-based husband who works for the Public Security Bureau, could have a fresh passport issued by Beijing allowing her to abscond. But the court ruled that the likelihood she would abscond or interfere with witnesses was not sufficient to deny her liberty.

Announcing the charges against Ms Zheng and Mr Vance, AFP Assistant Commissioner Stephen Nutt said foreign interference was a serious crime that undermined democracy and social cohesion.

“Australia is not immune to foreign interference, and we should not expect this arrest will prevent further attempts to target our diaspora communities,” Mr Nutt said. “Members of our culturally and linguistically diverse communities are more likely to be victims of foreign interference or transnational repression than to be offenders.”

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess said foreign interference remained one of Australia’s principal security concerns.

“A complex, challenging and changing security environment is becoming more dynamic, diverse and degraded,” Mr Burgess said.

“Multiple foreign regimes are monitoring, harassing and intimidating members of our diaspora communities. This sort of behaviour is utterly unacceptable and cannot be tolerated.”

Guan Yin Citta has clandestine centres in mainland China, as well as associations in the US, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/two-chinese-nationals-charged-with-foreign-interference-over-alleged-buddhist-group-spying/news-story/3a8c1fea13d41d7bb861635e6621338c