Just nowWed 11 Feb 2026 at 9:30am
Party room has felt ‘demoralising’ under Ley
Nampijinpa Price says the party room has felt “demoralising” under the leadership of Ley.
“I’ve felt no sense of inspiration or idea of direction, or how we are supposed to work together in a unified way,” she says.
“[Angus] is the pair of steady hands that we need right now, that we’ve not had that in the party room.”
4m agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 9:26am
Nampijinpa Price won’t run for deputy
Nampijinpa Price says she won’t put her hat back in the ring to run as deputy to Taylor.
“I’m not sure who or if there is anyone willing to put their hand up,” she says.
“All I know is when it comes to the top job I will be backing Angus in.”
8m agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 9:23am
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price will back Taylor
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who defected from the Nationals last year to unsuccessfully run as deputy to Angus Taylor, is on Sky and says she’s (unsurprisingly) backing Taylor again.
“I will be backing a move for a change of leadership,” she says.
“If we do not make this change, we will be wiped out at the next federal election.”
12m agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 9:18am
‘Unacceptable’ to knife first female Liberal leaders, says Wallace
Shadow Attorney-General Andrew Wallace is on Sky and says people have been “trying to undermine Sussan since day one”.
“To effectively knife the Liberal party’s first female leader in under a year is simply, in my view, unacceptable,” he says.
“The anger is palpable against the Albanese government, but there is also anger directed at us. The anger that many Australians are feeling is understandable on both sides of the fence.”
Wallace says he doesn’t know when the party room meeting will be and is a “little surprised” that a spill was not announced by Taylor tonight.
“But I would like to ensure it is done before the end of this week.”
21m agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 9:09am
Taylor’s woman problem
One of the big questions this week has been if Taylor will face consequences if he moves to unseat the Liberal party’s first female leader.
Afternoon Briefing’s Patricia Karvelas is speaking with host Sarah Ferguson on 7.30 and says conservatives are a worried.
“I’ve spoken to conservatives over the last week who are very concerned about the optics in relation to that,” says Karvelas.
“They also have told me, because the right, the conservative side, weren’t all united behind Angus Taylor. This is a key point. Andrew Hastie was the choice of many of them.”
28m agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 9:03am
Taylor supporters unlikely to make more moves tonight
Further moves by Taylor’s supporters are not expected until Thursday morning, sources have told the ABC.
Taylor is in the conservative faction of the Liberals, and has been under building pressure from other conservatives to resign from the frontbench this week.
33m agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 8:57am
Could someone else challenge Ley?
7.30 political editor Jacob Greber has been watching this play out in parliament today.
Greber says Ley is resisting a rapid spill, and that could create space for a new candidate.
“It does look like Sussan Ley is resisting a rapid spill and one of the reasons she might be doing that is to create space, potentially, for a different candidate, for someone else to come up the middle,” Greber says.
He then flagged Tim Wilson as a potential candidate but said there may be others.
“You’d have to say someone like Ted O’Brien. If they’re all in the mix, you can start extending it,” he says.
“There is definitely a sense that Sussan Ley probably knows that she’s going to struggle to hold on. That said, the numbers are tight, I’m told, but she recognises that her time is up.
“She does not want to just open the gates for Angus Taylor to romp through unchallenged.”
47m agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 8:44am
‘Matter for him’: Wilson won’t say if a spill is coming
Jumping over now to our friends at 7.30 who are speaking with Liberal Tim Wilson.
Angus Taylor may have resigned from the frontbench, but he did not announce a spill motion against Sussan Ley’s leadership.
Host Sarah Ferguson asks Wilson if he knew a leadership spill was coming, but he said he did not believe that was the case.
“I’ve only heard the news, as you have, that he has resigned,” Wilson said.
“I have not heard the second part of that. I can’t confirm that. That’s ultimately a matter for him.”
Wilson also failed to announce who he might support, but simply called for strong leadership of the Coalition.
“I said consistently I support and back the leader. I’ve done that in every ballot in the previous context.
“I have said consistently that I expect leadership and I expect leadership to drive a vision for the future of the country.”
48m agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 8:42am
That’s a wrap from Taylor
He has walked away from the media scrum, signalling an end to his snap press conference.
That’s all we are likely to hear from him tonight.
While Taylor confirmed that he had resigned from the Liberal frontbench, which creates a path to a likely challenge to Ley, he did not confirm if he was contesting for the leadership.
He did say Ley was not the right person to lead the party.
“What we need right now is strong leadership, clear direction and a courageous focus on our values,” he said.
52m agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 8:39am
Resignation was ‘difficult decision’ says Taylor
Taylor is asked if he shares some responsibility in the current state of the Liberal Party.
He says the whole party has to do better and has let Australians down.
“That’s why I have made the very difficult decision that I have tonight,” he says.
“But I tell you what, I am absolutely committed to restoring confidence in the Liberal Party and steering the party back to where it needs to be.”
56m agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 8:34am
Focus on cost of living and ‘Australian way of life’
Angus Taylor repeats a line he’s said a few times in the press conference already — that his vision for the future of the Liberals is for the party to focus on “restoring our standard of living” and “protecting our Australian way of life”.
“And you’ll hear more about that in the coming days,” he says.
59m agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 8:31am
Why has it taken so long for Taylor to resign?
Angus Taylor is asked why he’s waited until after 7pm to tender his resignation and make a statement.
He’s been under pressure all week to make clear his intention to run for leadership of the Libs.
Angus Taylor has resigned from the Liberal frontbench. (AAP: Lukas Coch)
He says Sussan Ley’s meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog — which she just wrapped up before he walked in to let her know he was resigning — was important.
“That was out of respect to that very important meeting and very important visit. But look, the process here more generally has been talking about the focus of the party,” he says.
1h agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 8:27am
Taylor will ‘continue to serve party’
Angus Taylor hasn’t confirmed if he is mounting a leadership challenge to Sussan Ley, but the writing is on the wall.
Taylor says he will continue to serve the Liberal Party.
He dodges questions about whether there will be a vote tomorrow.
Taylor says Ley not in a position to lead
Taylor says the Liberal party must act quickly to “protect the Australian way of life” and says Sussan Ley is not the person for the job.
“We need to urgently restore confidence in the Liberal Party,” he says.
“I don’t believe Sussan Ley is in a position to be able to lead the party as it needs to be led from here.”
1h agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 8:19am
‘We can’t mince with words’ says Taylor
Angus Taylor has stepped up to the mic at a snap press conference at Parliament House after tendering his resignation with Liberal leader Sussan Ley.
“I’ve sought to be a constructive member of the leadership team and supported Sussan Ley’s leadership in a difficult time when we needed a rebuild of the party,” he says.
“But we can’t mince with words. The Liberal Party is at the worst position it has been since 1944, when the party was formed. That is a confronting reality and we cannot ignore it.”
BREAKING: Angus Taylor resigns from Liberal frontbench
This paves the way for him to challenge Sussan Ley for the leadership of the party.
1h agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 8:06am
Joyce says Ley should reflect on ‘dignified’ work in the Liberal Party
As MPs leave parliament for the day, some have chatted to my colleague (and friend of the blog) Samantha Dick about the expected spill.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce says if things don’t go well for Sussan Ley, she should reflect the “dignified” work she did in the Liberals.
“She had to break the ice and to have to pick up the pieces and be the first opposition leader is a hard job and I hope if things don’t work out for her, I hope she reflects on the fact that she did an honourable job,” Joyce says.
He says Angus Taylor is a “decent human being” but that he’s focused on One Nation’s success.
Liberal MP and leadership aspirant, Andrew Hastie, stopped to talk for a moment and said he wouldn’t weigh into the leadership speculation.
“It’s a privilege to represent my electors in Canning and that’s what I’m focused on at the moment,” Hastie says.
1h agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 7:50am
Liberal party ‘needs a way forward’, shadow minister says
Liberal shadow minister Tim Wilson has left the door open to the possibility of serving on an Angus Taylor-led frontbench.
The Goldstein MP has told Sky News that he will serve however the Liberal Party wants him to serve.
He says the Liberal Party “needs a way forward” and that it “doesn’t much matter who sits in the swivel chair”.
“I want to see Liberal governments elected, I want us to be driving a really hard agenda on small business, small traders, family businesses and the self employed,” Wilson says.
1h agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 7:37am
Tony Abbott urges Liberals to resolve leadership by the end of this week
Former prime minister Tony Abbott has added his voice to the chorus of Liberals urging the party to resolve its leadership issue soon.
Speaking to Sky News, Abbott says the Liberals need to resolve the leadership question “one way or another” by the end of this week.
He says Liberals should not take the rise in the One Nation vote as a sign the party should become “teal-lite”.
“The important thing is to have good, strong policies on energy, on immigration, on the role of government, on national pride and respect for national symbols,” Abbott says.
“The rise of the One Nation vote, that is not a sign that the Liberal Party should become teal lite, that’s a sign that the Liberal Party has got to go back to being the party it was when the One Nation vote was negligible, namely the Howard Liberal Party or dare I say it the Abbott Liberal Party,” he says.
2h agoWed 11 Feb 2026 at 7:22am
Ukraine still negotiating security agreement with Australia: ambassador
Back at the National Press Club earlier, Ukraine Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko said his country was still negotiating a security agreement with Australia.
Australia has made several high-profile donations of military equipment to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion almost four years ago — with total support now reaching more than one and a half billion dollars.
But the two countries have also been in discussions about a separate security pact.
The ambassador didn’t go into details about it, but said the embassy was “working very actively with DFAT on this, and we’ve progressed and certainly Ukraine would be very interested in it.”
He said it would help to create a “framework for our engagement on defence, on security, on other matters” and open the door to military cooperation that “we haven’t had before”, including cooperation on new defence technologies.
“As you know, the innovation in electronic warfare and unmanned systems in Ukraine has been quite phenomenal during the past four years,” he said.
“And that innovation was, of course, driven by war. And we have been sourcing different components, including here in Australia, but also in other countries.”