TRANSCRIPT:
Opposition leader Sussan Ley has begun the long progress of assessing the damage and rebuilding the Liberal Party after the Coalition's catastrophic defeat in the federal election.
"We didn’t just lose. We got smashed. Totally smashed. What we as the Liberal Party presented to the Australian people was comprehensively rejected."
The Nigeria-born politician who came to Australia as a child used an address at the National Press Club to outline her origin story.
"I worked my share of tough jobs: cleaner, waitress, short order cook, rouseabout – and outback pilot. I was not taken seriously in pilot training. I was nearly always the only woman in the group. The privileged boys, whose parents bankrolled their lessons, attracted more street cred than me."
Being able to fly her own plane was a massive help in traversing the sprawling regional electorate of Farrer.
She also used her address to distance herself from the last three years of her predecessor, Peter Dutton, starting her speech with an acknowledgment of country.
Even appearing at the Press Club in and of itself was a departure from Mr Dutton, who refused every invitation to speak there and was known for lashing out at media critical of his leadership ...
"Forget about what you've been told by the ABC, the Guardian and other hate media…"
... Sussan Ley is taking a different approach.
"With many freedoms under assault around the world, I appreciate and understand the important role our media plays in protecting the robust democracy we have in Australia. Sometimes we will agree, sometimes we will disagree. But as long as you hold both the Government and the Opposition to account, then our democracy and our freedoms will be well served."
While Sussan Ley only secured the leadership of the Liberal Party by a handful of votes, many of her party members were in attendance - with her former leadership opponent Angus Taylor a notable absence.
Ms Ley, the first woman elected to lead the Liberals, is promising to increase the number of women in the party.
As it stands, one third of the Liberal Party’s MPs are women, compared to more than half (56 per cent) of Labor MPs.
The Liberal leader says she won't rule out introducing gender quotas to ensure this, which would be a sharp left turn from former party leaders including Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull, who rejected any such proposal.
"With respect to quotas and people say the word quotas, what I think to myself is, come on, it's time to get serious about women in the Liberal Party. You can describe it how you want in terms of mandatory, voluntary state divisions, whatever. I want to work proactively, passionately with our state divisions to achieve more women in the Liberal Party. What we have now is completely unacceptable."
She says another focus of her leadership will be on addressing the issue of domestic violence and coercive control, revealing the topics holds a deep personal connection to her.
"I understand the pain that comes with coercion and control. Because I have felt that pain too. I understand what it is like when you blame yourself for the actions of others, because I have blamed myself too. I will take this perspective to every decision that I make. I will never let domestic and family violence fall down the list of priorities."
