Member for Farrer for the past 25 years, Sussan Ley has announced her exit from politics with grace and dignity after losing to Angus Taylor in a Liberal Party leadership spill 34-17 on Friday.

By virtue, the former Shadow Minister replaced Ms Ley as leader of the Opposition following his convincing win.

Mr Taylor is a prominent member of the National Right party faction and on February 11, resigned from Ley’s shadow cabinet when he declared she was not “in a position to lead the party as it needs to be led”.

In her address to the nation on Friday, Ms Ley expressed gratitude to the Liberal Party to which she belonged to and loved for more than half of her adult life, and to the party room that elected her as their leader, nine months ago.

“The leadership of our party is a gift of the party room,” Ms Ley said.

“And I respect the decision that they have made.

“For those who supported me today, I thank you. I thank you. Your loyalty, your unflinching loyalty, I will always appreciate.

“For those who do not, I genuinely have no hard feelings.

“I wish Angus Taylor well.

“I know he has experience, energy, and drive. I know the whole team will have what it takes to fight this awful Labor government.

“I will be cheering them on.”

Ms Ley also thanked the grassroots party members who get up every day and work hard for the values they all believe in so deeply.

Ms Ley won the seat of Farrer in 2001 by 206 votes, and has been re-elected nine times.

“I have never sought to influence what other people think of me,” she continued.

“I am proud of the role I played in establishing a royal commission into anti Semitism.

“I am proud that we landed an energy policy in November last year, and I’m also proud that after a difficult period, the coalition reformed stronger than before.

“There is no doubt that it has been a challenging time to lead the party after we suffered the worst defeat in 81 years.

“It has been tough. At times, very tough.

“But every sleepless night, every intractable problem, indeed, every personal challenge has always been put in perspective by my understanding of the burdens that so many ordinary Australians face. Quietly and without fuss. Every day.

“Those Australians remain my inspiration.

“It is important that the new leader gets clear air.

“Something that is not always afforded to leaders.

“But which, in the present moment, is more important than ever.

“I will be spending the next couple of weeks thanking the amazing people of Farrer, and expressing my gratitude to them, for the honour of representing them for 25 years.

“Shortly thereafter, I will be tendering my resignation to the speaker.

“I’m not sure what comes next for me.

“I look forward to stepping away, completely and comprehensively, from public life to spend time with my family, to reconnect with my enduring passion, aviation, which taught me, if I had an ego, I’d be dead.

“It’s been quite useful in politics.

“And finally, as some of you know, I was part of the early punk rock movement in Canberra.

“I will continue to find wisdom in one of Punk’s defining themes. A fearless and honest belief in yourself. Thank you.”

Ms Ley’s announcement is expected to trigger a hotly contested by-election in her long-held and former safe seat of Farrer.

The outgoing opposition leader had the second-longest tenure in the electorate’s history, with Farrer marked a safe seat until the 2025 election when independent candidate Michelle Milthorpe took 20 per cent of the primary vote and fell short in the two-party preferred stakes by just over six per cent.

Mrs Milthorpe has confirmed she will run again this year.

Pauline Hanson flagged One Nation will also put forward a candidate following the party’s recent boost in the polls.

Labor is not expected to contest the byelection, given the party has not achieved a quarter of the primary vote since the 2007 federal election.

ALP candidate, Glen Hyde secured only 15.1 per cent of the vote last year.

Independent State Member for Murray, Helen Dalton has not ruled out contesting the by-election.

“My mobile has been burning up since Sussan announced she was leaving politics,” Mrs Dalton said.

“I understand that the people of my region want their voices to be heard and whatever I decide to do, I will be doing it to make sure their voices are a lot louder.

“While the calls for me to run are heartfelt, I need to make sure that whatever I do, will give the people of my region the best possible representation.

“That might be in Federal politics or it might be in State politics.

“I have some serious thinking to do.

“What this does show is that people in rural Australia do not feel like they are being properly represented by their political leaders.

“To me, that is the take home message of this moment.

“Rural Australians are the heart and soul of this country and yet we continue to be ignored by State and Federal Governments.

“For now, I will continue to talk to the people in my region to get a better gauge of what they want.

“I will listen to what the people of Farrer have to say about the Federal by-election.”

Mrs Dalton paid tribute to Ms Ley and wished her all the best for the future after 25 years representing the Farrer electorate.

“I thought Sussan’s exit speech was elegant and heartfelt, given she has had a very tough time in politics especially as Opposition Leader.

“Sussan gave the electorate everything she could and that’s important.

“I sincerely wish her all the best.”

Independent candidate for Farrer in the 2025 election, Michelle Milthorpe is already calling for volunteers and donations for the by-election.

“I’m back, I’m ready, and I’m prepared to stand again for Farrer as an Independent,” Mrs Milthorpe announced.

“I didn’t run in 2025 because I wanted a political career.

“I ran because I couldn’t see real, relatable representation for our region.

“Because too many decisions about Farrer are made by people who don’t live here, don’t understand our context, and don’t feel the consequences of getting it wrong.

“That hasn’t changed.

“Across Farrer, communities are still dealing with GP shortages, childcare and aged care under pressure, housing challenges, unreliable services, and longstanding issues around water, infrastructure and regional investment.

“These are not new problems, but they continue to be ignored while party politics takes centre stage.

“Farrer and regional Australians should never be an afterthought.

“If a by-election is triggered, this is our chance to make sure our voice is heard as part of the decision-making, not filtered through party rooms in Canberra.

“It’s time for a fresh start.

“We need to look to the future.

“The people of Farrer are solutions-focused and now is our opportunity to have me as your representative to bring our voices to Canberra.

“But I can’t do this alone.

“I’m asking for your help in two important ways: volunteer or donate.” 

This article appeared in The Riverine Grazier, 18 February 2026.