Ruston is the opposition health spokeswoman, deputy Senate leader and a key moderate ally of Ley who has made the case for the party to retain support for net zero.<\/p>\n
Asked if she would resign if net zero was junked, Ruston said: \u201cNo comment\u201d.<\/p>\n
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And Wilson, a strong supporter of net zero and the opposition\u2019s industrial relations spokesman, said only that \u201cI\u2019ll have more to say in the coming days\u201d when asked if he would resign.<\/p>\n
Several of Wilson\u2019s colleagues told this masthead that he was leaning towards quitting if net zero was junked, but it would depend on the final form of the new policy and whether he would be able to help influence its design.<\/p>\n
Such a move would see Ley lose four of her key supporters on the frontbench and potentially deliver a fatal blow to her troubled leadership, already damaged by the resignation of conservative frontbencher Andrew Hastie, the forced sacking of fellow conservative Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and a series of missteps from Ley, including calling for Ambassador Kevin Rudd to be sacked and accusing the prime minister of anti-semitism because he wore a Joy Division T-shirt.<\/p>\n
In the past week, several Liberal MPs have suggested that a challenge to Ley for the leader\u2019s job is all but inevitable, with only the timing and the identity of the candidate to be determined.<\/p>\n
One supporter of Ley, who asked not to be named so they could speak freely about the opposition leader\u2019s future, said that \u201cSussan\u2019s leadership is terminal, it\u2019s just a question of when\u201d.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Monday, Kovacic told Sky News that she was disappointed in her fellow Liberal senator, Sarah Henderson, who last week said that internal Coalition fractures were the worst she\u2019d ever seen and Ley was \u201closing support\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kovacic said Henderson\u2019s comments were unhelpful and undisciplined, prompting a swipe in return from the Victorian senator.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to add to my comments, other than to reiterate that from the backbench, we can agree to disagree. So there\u2019s nothing undisciplined about that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n