AARON PATRICK: The women who will make or break Sussan Ley after shadow cabinet reshuffle

Liberal leader Sussan Ley’s first frontbench is all about the women.

From the dusty streets of Broome to the leafy avenues of Sydney’s north shore, Ms Ley has placed women from across the continent at the forefront of her alternative government.

The gender promotion has come at a cost though, and conservative women have paid it. In return for three years pushing back against left-wing doctrine in schools and universities, education spokeswoman Sarah Henderson lost her job and is now on the backbench.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who was going to run for deputy leader two weeks ago, only remains in the shadow ministry because the new defence spokesman, Angus Taylor, convinced her to become his understudy in the defence personnel and technology portfolio.

Claire Chandler, a critics of the trans-gender movement, lasted in the shadow cabinet four months. She is now back on the backbench with Senator Jane Hume, who is from the party’s left but became close, professionally, to Mr Taylor when she was in the finance portfolio and he held treasury.

The relegation of these women, all popular within the party, may trigger an internal insurgency against Ms Ley in the right-wing media and on Sky News, a television channel that appeals to conservative voters. Their demotion will be a permanent and uncomfortable reminder of the cost of the left faction’s ascendency for the first time since Malcolm Turnbull was prime minister from 2015 to 2018.

Break from tradition

The way Ms Ley will defeat her internal opponents is to present voters with a different kind of Liberal Party, one that reflects the urbane tastes of the inner cities as well as the outer suburbs and country Australia.

Her women will be central to the makeover. Like Ms Ley, they are a big break from the traditional Liberal pathway to power through elite schools, universities and professions.

The Coalition’s new environment spokeswoman, Angie Bell, is a gay professional saxophonist. Melissa Price, now in charge of science, is a country lawyer driven around what may be the biggest single-member electorate in the world, Durack, by her devoted husband.

Kerrynne Liddle, an Indigenous woman with a University of Adelaide MBA, once managed over 1000 employees at the Ayres Rock Resort. She will take over Indigenous affairs from Senator Price.

Michaelia Cash was given foreign affairs, defying pundits’ predictions the job would go to a man because she is not diplomatic enough.

The new leader’s style reflects the party she is creating. Ms Ley spoke to all 54 Liberal MPs before revealing her frontbench, an act of management sensitivity uncommon to the alpha-world of party politics. In meetings she has asked for suggestions, appeared to take them seriously, and made a few hard decisions.

The best example: she stared down an attempt by the Nationals to get the right to freelance on sensitive policies.

The 63-year-old Ms Ley may never be elected prime minister, but after 15 days as the Leader of the Opposition, she has created a team that demonstrates a new Liberal Party is emerging from the disaster of the 2025 election.