Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has issued a fiery response to her former colleague Hollie Hughes, accusing Hughes of being "bitter" and rejecting the suggestion she was being "used" by the party's conservative faction.
It comes after former federal senator Hughes announced she was quitting the Liberal Party, saying it has strayed from its values and accusing some former colleagues of being "lazy" and "inept".
Hughes also accused the conservative faction of using women to undermine Opposition leader Sussan Ley, singling out Price and Sarah Henderson.
"It's pretty disappointing to hear that sort of commentary from a woman ... it's just a ridiculous notion," Price told Sydney's 2GB.
"She's clearly bitter, and that's her issue to deal with herself."
Former Liberal senator Hollie Hughes quit the party on live radio on Tuesday, six months after she left parliament. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
"It is absolutely a rabble," she said.
"I have all the support in the world for Sussan Ley, I think she is doing an outstanding job.
"But there are some people who are completely inept, who are lazy, who are not across the details."
Hughes said the direction some members wanted to take the party no longer reflected the values of the founder and former prime minister Robert Menzies.
"I don't think they reflect what a lot of Australians feel anymore," she said.
Hughes said Ley had done a "great job" as leader, including on net zero, by allowing members a chance to voice their views at a party room meeting.
But she questioned how the federal division could be at odds with the NSW branch, which has backed a net zero by 2050 target.
"I don't know how it works," she said.
Hughes said she wanted to speak freely and would not stay in the party and "snipe from the sidelines" like some former parliamentarians had done.
"I've always put [the party] first," Hughes said.
"But when I look at the undermining that is going on, and I see some of the people doing it, I want to be able to give you absolute home truths about it without the hypocrisy of being a paid-up member of the Liberal Party."
Ley faced a barrage of questions about her former colleague's resignation during media interviews on Wednesday morning.
"Hollie is a dear friend," Ley told Nine's Today program.
"Her statement clearly speaks to the warmth of our friendship," she said, while refusing to be drawn on Hughes' criticisms of her colleagues.
Hughes served as an NSW senator from 2019 to 2025 and was a shadow assistant minister under former Opposition leader Peter Dutton.
She left parliament after being placed in an unwinnable Senate position following a preselection loss.
Since leaving office, Hughes has bought a pub at Rydal in the NSW central tablelands.
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