UPDATED: Castley takes Liberal leadership as party ousts Lee

Yerrabi MLA Leanne Castley is the new leader of the Canberra Liberals after a party room meeting this morning (31 October).

Ms Castley has emerged victorious after a deal in which Jeremy Hanson becomes her deputy.

Mr Hanson had challenged Elizabeth Lee for the leadership, but a late switch paved the way for Ms Castley.

It’s understood Mr Hanson’s party room supporters threw their support behind the former Canberra Liberals deputy leader and member for Yerrabi, leading to the change at the top.

Despite the recent election loss, Ms Lee, who led the party for four years and to the 2024 election, had been expected to retain the leadership with the support of her moderate colleagues until late yesterday.

Ms Lee said “It’s been an honour” to lead the Liberals and congratulated Ms Castley and Mr Hanson on their election to the leadership team.

“Best wishes for the new term!”

Ms Castley said she came to her decision on her own to run against Ms Lee late on Wednesday, having previously backed her former leader.

She offered the deputy role to Mr Hanson, and the deal was struck.

Popular Brindabella MLA Mark Parton contested the deputy leadership but was defeated by Mr Hanson.

The new leadership team is on the conservative side but has vowed to listen to the needs of Canberrans and put ideology aside in a pragmatic approach to improve the Canberra Liberals’ political fortunes.

Mr Hanson said he would not be pulling the strings or still harbouring ambitions to be leader.

“Leanne’s the boss,” he said.

“I think she’s someone that can bring not just the Canberra Liberals together, but the whole community together.

“It became very apparent to me that she was the right person to lead the Canberra Liberals. I was happy to step away from the leadership entirely.”

Mr Hanson would not nominate preferred portfolios, saying he would serve in whatever capacity was in the best interests of the party.

Ms Castley said a change was needed after an election in which the party did not gain ground.

She said the policies were right but were not sold well enough to win more voters over.

“I think our messaging is something that we should definitely be working on,” she said.

“You know, I hear it all the time. We never hear from the Liberals.

“I’d like to look at how we can get our message across better and how we’re selling the policies that we have.”

Ms Castley said she would be a unifying force for the party, saying she was tired of the progressive-conservative debate.

“We are Canberra Liberals. We’ve talked about the broad church all of the time, but we truly are,” she said.

“Menzies started the party with all of the anti-Labor groups. You can bet your bottom dollar they would have had different opinions, and I’m here to bring that together.”

Her focus would be basic issues such as healthcare, education and better policing, rejecting claims that a future Liberal government would change current laws on voluntary assisted dying and abortion access.

Those social issues were settled and would not be part of the party’s conversations.

Mr Hanson said that the numbers were simply not there to change those laws, nor was there any desire in the party to do so, but he would continue to pursue the overturning of drug decriminalisation in the ACT.

Ms Castley said there was a place for Ms Lee on the front bench and she has committed to staying in the Assembly and being part of the team.

But Ms Lee said later that she would not accept a front bench role and would be taking some time to consider her future.

Asked if Ms Lee’s loss of composure when she ‘flipped the bird’ to a journalist in the last days of the campaign had been a factor in her decision to run, Ms Castley said it wasn’t a deal breaker for many people.

“There are lessons to learn, and I’m here willing and ready to learn them,” she said.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr congratulated Ms Castley and Mr Hanson but said this leadership group was a shift to the right for the Canberra Liberals, and highlighted the division and conflict in their party room.

“The behind the scenes machinations of this leadership coup bear an uncanny resemblance to Scott Morrison’s ascension to the Prime Ministership,” he said.

“We acknowledge the contribution Elizabeth Lee has made to the Assembly and extend our best wishes to Elizabeth and her family as she takes time to consider her future.”