Welcome back to Today. The stage is now set for a Liberal Party leadership showdown between Sussan Ley and Angus Taylor, after Andrew Hastie confirmed he will no longer challenge for the top job. Let’s bring in today’s panel — Queensland Senator Paul Scarr and our very own Lizzie Pearl. Paul, I’ll start with you. You’re a Liberal man. Does Angus Taylor get your vote?
Senator Scarr
I support Sussan Ley. She’s our leader, and she has my full support. But can I say — the most important meeting next week will actually be the Reserve Bank of Australia, which is considering another interest rate rise. That’s going to affect millions of Australians, and I think that should be our focus.
Host
A very neat diversion from the topic there, Paul — and an important point — but I want to come back to the leadership. Sussan Ley has been pushing the proverbial uphill since taking the job. Surely if there isn’t a change, this infighting will just continue?
Senator Scarr
Sussan was elected leader only eight months ago, in May. She’s done everything asked of her and has worked incredibly hard in what is probably the toughest job in politics. She has my 100% support. And again, our focus should be on issues affecting everyday Australians.
Host
The Senator throwing his weight behind Sussan Ley. Lizzie, does it really matter who’s in charge at the moment? From the outside, the Liberal Party looks like a bit of a mess.
Lizzie Pearl
It does look like a mess. It’s more like a living room on Christmas morning — absolute chaos. Sussan Ley is hanging on, the right faction can’t make up its mind, and it’s taken a week just to work out who they’re backing. Hastie pulling out clears the way for Angus Taylor, but we still don’t know if there’ll even be a challenge. Meanwhile, Pauline Hanson is surging in the polls, and the Liberal Party can’t even agree on major policies. Voters have had enough. We need a strong opposition, and right now we don’t have one. If a leadership challenge is what’s needed to resolve this, then it should happen sooner rather than later so everyone knows who the leader is and what the policies are — and so we can get back to talking about interest rates, cost of living, the issues people actually care about.
Host
Absolutely. Everyday people are tired of the leadership fights for exactly those reasons. Now — moving to a very different battle: a David versus Goliath fence dispute. Pensioner Keith “Cathy” Pope is taking billionaire businesswoman Gina Rinehart to court over the conditions of a 12‑kilometre fence that separates their properties in regional NSW. Paul, I’m not sure if you own a fence that long, but no matter where you live, good neighbours can be hard to find.
Senator Scarr
They say good fences make good neighbours. My fence is only about 100 metres all up — and I’m very happy with all my neighbours! I just hope they can sort it out.
Host
Same here — I’m lucky to have wonderful neighbours, though I live below them, so we don’t share a fence. Lizzie, Ms Pope says she had a handshake agreement with Gina to replace the fence. Whatever happened to a handshake meaning something?
Lizzie Pearl
A good reminder to all of us, a handshake means nothing. Get it in writing. And it shows that no matter how wealthy you are, you still have neighbours. Unless you’re on an island, you’ve always got neighbours, so you’ve got to get along.
Senator Scarr
I’d love Lizzie as a neighbour, we wouldn’t be in this situation!
Host
She is a wonderful neighbour. Senator Paul Scarr and Lizzie Pearl, thank you both.
