Liberals to announce new Shadow Cabinet without Nationals

The Socialist Bulletin Staff - 27/1/2026

THE Liberal Party is set to announce its first shadow cabinet without any National Party MPs since 1987, as it becomes increasingly clear that the Liberal Party's right flank is too disunited to even put forward a candidate to put Sussan Ley out of her misery.

Sussan Ley was given the leadership at the worst possible time - her party had just lost its worst electoral defeat since its foundation in 1944, the Nationals were not facing the same existential threat to their existence as the Liberals, and a backward and conservative Coalition was somehow still not ready for a woman to lead, however the demise of the Coalition cannot be exclusively blamed on these factors.

Ms Ley has failed to act in a way that appeases anyone in most situations thrown at her since becoming leader 8 months ago, and has presided over a Liberal Party that is so dysfunctional that it almost rivals notoriously useless rabbles, such as the Liberal Party's Victorian branch. She has failed to actively fight back against the rise of One Nation, which has gained hugely in regional and rural areas, backed by the Australian bourgeoisie and their puppets in the right wing of the media. She has failed to appear as a leader at any moment, as the bickering within her own party is far louder than she can make herself.

The collapse of the Coalition this week is the culmination of several events, but can be largely seen as the continuation of tensions between the two reactionary parties that began during the last Coalition collapse, a brief interlude used by the Nationals to gain additional leverage.

Following the collapse of the Coalition, it was widely expected that a One Nation-lite candidate would step forward and replace Ley. Names such as such as Andrew Hastie, a far-right former soldier that opposes multiculturalism, immigration, abortion rights, Queer rights, and the transition to net zero, or Angus Taylor, a former private schoolboy who only got a job as an consultant after he was told by the future Premier of New South Wales, then only a NSW MP, Barry O'Farrell, that he should probably get some sort of job before he moved into politics, were floated as frontrunners in a potential spill. However, as both of these men hailed from the 'National Right' faction of the Liberal Party, that faction sought to ensure that only one would step forward. Both men have, however, appeared too steadfast in their own support for themselves above all else to agree on one name. As a result of this, support within the Party for a spill largely subsided.

The spill, however, would have been one of the few ways to reunify the Coalition, which would be the only way for either the Liberals or the Nationals to form government at any point. The Nationals have made it clear that they will not work with Sussan Ley. This means that the split will be more permanent than the one 8 months ago, and as a result the Liberal Party has begun divvying up cabinet positions among themselves, and the Nationals, now a minor party, are expected to appoint spokespeople for major policy areas, as parties like the Greens and One Nation have in the past.