Ley formally resigns, tells Taylor it’s ‘vital’ he holds Farrer
- Written by Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
Deposed Liberal leader Sussan Ley formally resigned from parliament on Friday – and sent a blunt challenge to her successor, Angus Taylor, in her farewell statement.
Speaker Milton Dick will now set the date for the byelection in the regional New South Wales electorate. The poll is expected to be in mid April or early May. It is too late to have it before Easter.
Ley, who has been on a goodbye tour of the electorate, will not return to parliament – which resumes next week – to deliver a valedictory.
Upping the ante for Taylor, Ley said in a statement: “The election of a Liberal Member in the Farrer by-election is vital for the betterment and ongoing strength of our region and I know that Angus Taylor can and will ensure the Party continues to enjoy the support, trust and confidence of the people of Farrer”.
In fact, the byelection is a very open contest, with at least four main contenders. The Liberals, Nationals, and One Nation will run. Also, one strong independent, Michelle Milthorpe, is already campaigning. She polled 20% of the primary vote at last year’s election.
Milthorpe, who received Climate 200 funding at the 2025 election, is being backed by independent Helen Haines, who holds Indi, the Victorian seat across the border from Farrer, and by independent ACT senator David Pocock.
Labor has not made a decision on whether to stand, but appears unlikely to do so. It can’t win the seat, although if it stood it would preference One Nation last and therefore put maximum pressure on the Liberals to do so. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was in Farrer early this week.
The contest is shaping as a big test of whether the surge of support for One Nation in recent opinion polling will translate into actual votes. One Nation will choose its candidate on March 7. It has had more than 70 nominations and has reduced the field to three possible candidates. They are: agribusiness professional David Farley, 69, from Narrandera; small business owner Leigh Wolki, 58, from Albury, and agribusinessman Guy Cooper, 31, from Boeill Creek. The party says it is well resourced for the byelection, in finances and local membership.
Taylor told a news conference the contest would be “very, very tough” for the Liberals.
The Liberals have nominations open and could choose their candidate as early as next week if there is a stand-out contender. The Nationals also have nominations open; the party’s candidate will be chosen by a rank and file ballot.
The 2025 primary votes were: Liberals, 43.4% (-8.9%); Milthorpe 20%; ALP 15.1% (-3.9%); One Nation 6.6% (+0.3%).
Ley won over Milthorpe 56.2% - 43.8% on the two candidate preferred result.
The seat has been held by either the Nationals or Liberals since its creation in 1949. Tim Fischer, who was leader of the Nationals and deputy prime minister, held it from 1984-2001. He was the only National to represent the seat. In 2001, after Fischer’s retirement, Ley won the seat from the Nationals by only 206 votes.
The electorate’s main centre is Albury, on the Murray River. The sprawling seat, which stretches to the South Australian border, also includes the towns of Griffith and Leeton in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. One of the issues in the byelection will be water.
Ley said in her statement: “After the Liberal Party suffered our worst defeat in 81 years, it was with gratitude and humility that I took on the role of Leader of our Party. I was elected by my parliamentary colleagues and I thank them once again for the opportunity to serve.
"I believe my election as the first woman to ever lead not just the Federal Liberal Party, but any Federal Opposition, is a milestone for all women to be proud of. I hope I have paved the way for the next woman to be elected to, and succeed in, both these roles.
"It will be for commentators and historians to measure the period of my leadership, but I am proud that we were instrumental in establishing a Commonwealth Royal Commission into Antisemitism and that we set clear directions on several key policy areas in tax, industrial relations, energy, national security, and families. I welcome the Coalition’s immediate re-adoption of many of these directions and policies in recent days and weeks.”
Authors: Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
