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No deal: Angus Taylor and Andrew Hastie at stalemate after summit
ANTHONY GALLOWAY - 29 January 2026
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Sussan Ley has renewed hope that she can cling onto her tenuous leadership of the Liberal Party, after conservative rivals Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor failed to strike a deal in a secret breakfast meeting with factional powerbrokers in Melbourne.
Liberal MPs now expect the impasse to drag on for weeks after The Australian revealed on Thursday that Mr Taylor and Mr Hastie met face to face on the morning of former Liberal MP Katie Allen’s funeral, amid pressure from right-wing powerbrokers for one contender to step aside and allow a single challenge.
The clandestine meeting – also attended by opposition home affairs spokesman Jonathon Duniam, WA senator Matt O’Sullivan, finance spokesman James Paterson and former senior frontbencher Michael Sukkar – has left Ms Ley and her supporters buoyed by the two would-be challengers’ inability to unite, strengthening her chances of holding onto the leadership.
Ms Ley is now expected to announce a new frontbench – either in an acting capacity or as a permanent line-up – as early as Friday or over the weekend, following last week’s split with the National Party.
MPs in both Coalition parties expect that if Liberals end up permanently filling the vacant spots in shadow cabinet – which will come with bonuses of $60,000, bigger offices and more staff – will cement the Coalition split for a protracted period of time.
Several sources with knowledge of the meeting said that there was a lot of goodwill displayed between Mr Hastie and Mr Taylor, but no agreement on who was the candidate.
There was agreement, however, that there should be a single candidate from the Right if a spill motion was to be called.
Some senior conservatives played down the prospect of any spill in the first fortnight of the parliamentary term, declaring that the appetite was not there in the partyroom to bring it on. There is also considerable anger within the partyroom, particularly from women, that the male MPs chose the morning of Dr Allen’s memorial service to hold the meeting to roll the party’s first female leader.
“They didn’t have a single woman they could bring to the meeting to roll the first female leader,” one MP said.
“We say we are trying to change culture and make it easier for women in this party, but today shows how much further we have to go.”
Allies of Ms Ley said she received a briefing from people in the room, and said that not everyone in the meeting was in favour of a spill.
One supporter said a challenge was “weeks off, if at all”.
Although one of Mr Hastie, Mr Taylor or another MP could move a spill next week, MPs from the factional divide believe that the numbers currently aren’t there until the Right settles on a single challenger.
Mr Taylor has made headway among some moderates in recent weeks, but MPs said Ms Ley’s support among non-conservative MPs had only hardened in recent days.
“There’s a sense that if you can’t carry your own faction, there’s no way you can carry the partyroom,” one moderate MP said.
But MPs from both factions said that either Mr Taylor or Mr Hastie likely had the numbers to roll Ms Ley should there be an agreement between the two, while others suggested a more centrist candidate could emerge such as treasury spokesman Ted O’Brien.
The attendance of Mr Duniam and Senator Paterson – both members of Ms Ley’s leadership group – underscores the growing view within the party that Ms Ley’s leadership is under serious jeopardy.
Neither frontbencher is yet advocating for a spill, but both believe the situation is deteriorating and that the party must avoid a damaging internal conflict.
Few conservatives have publicly stated who they would prefer as their leadership candidate, but Liberal MPs pointed out Senator Duniam and Senator O’Sullivan had been Mr Hastie’s housemates in the past, indicating a close relationship among the young men.
“There’s a realisation that even once they get on the same page, it’s not happening easily or quickly … nothing is going to happen at Tuesday’s partyroom that’s for sure,” one senior Liberal MP said.
“But the Right (faction) is just sitting here thinking ‘no resolution’? What were you guys meeting for?”
Senator Paterson, who is seen as a key cog, has not been advocating for either candidate.
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