EDITORIAL: Nation needs Liberals to put a stake in the ground

It was Labor icon Bob Hawke, seeking to highlight leadership instability dragging down his Liberal opponents, who delivered the killer line.

“If you can’t govern yourselves, you can’t govern the country”.

The Federal Liberal Party finds itself just as exposed today as it was when Hawke was in the ascendancy.

The political landscape looks bleak for the Liberals.

It was just last week that a Newspoll showed One Nation outpolling the Coalition for the first time in Australian political history with a primary vote of 22 per cent compared with 21 per cent.

And the spat between the Coalition partners over the legislative response to the Bondi massacre ended with the Nationals walking out as their leader David Littleproud declared the Coalition was basically finished for as long as Sussan Ley remained Liberal leader.

It was only in May that Ms Ley won the leadership of the Liberal Party in a tight partyroom ballot, edging out Angus Taylor 29 votes to 25, becoming the first woman to hold the position in the party’s history.

But Ms Ley has mostly struggled to impose herself or cut through.

She won respect as she took the fight up to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over his confused and inadequate initial response to the Bondi attack.

But that political capital evaporated as the Coalition imploded.

Last week Ms Ley surpassed eight months and eight days as her party’s leader, meaning she had lasted longer in the top job than Alexander Downer did during his time as the shortest-serving Liberal leader.

But for days now the political drums have been beating loudly about the leadership and whether she can continue to survive in the job as speculation swirls around the prospects of potential replacements Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor.

During an Australia Day appearance the Opposition Leader defiantly declared she would be remaining in the job, repeatedly dismissing suggestions of a looming partyroom showdown.

Her language sounded familiar. “I’m not speculating on something that is a media frenzy and is just speculation,” Ms Ley said. Her agenda was “getting back to work for the Australian people”.

In sounded rather like what we often hear from a besieged leader. And as familiar as protestations from others that they are right behind the leader. Just before the knives come out.

This is all very unfortunate for the nation. Mr Albanese is no Bob Hawke, and yet he appears politically unassailable at this point, despite the many pressing issues we face.

The Liberals need to put a stake in the ground.

Our system of government and the nation need a strong Opposition with a clear plan to hold Mr Albanese and his Government to account.

And that means the Opposition Leader needs to be capable of convincing the Australian people they are the right person with the right policies.

More uncertainty is the last thing needed. The instability must end.

Responsibility for the editorial comment is taken by Editor-in-Chief Christopher Dore.