Sussan Ley confronted with net zero challenge while dealing with personal issues in her first week

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Newly elected faces a challenging first week in the job, as she seeks to unite a fractured Opposition while being at her dying mother’s bedside.

The Liberal and National parties are divided over their policy offerings following their , including whether or not to ditch the proposal to build seven nuclear reactors.

Ley met with at her home in Albury, NSW, on Thursday to negotiate the Coalition’s agreement on policies as well as frontbench responsibilities.

She said their first meeting was “productive and respectful” but that no decision had been made in regards to “nuking nuclear”.

David Littleproud standing underneath red trees.

Sussan Ley met with Nationals leader David Littleproud on Thursday to negotiate the Coalition’s agreement on policies as well as frontbench responsibilities. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

“I’m not here to talk about individual policies. Nothing’s been adopted, nothing has been abandoned,” she told Nine’s Today program on Friday morning.

“But what I made very clear early on was that my approach would be a consultative one … We would work together to meet the Australian people where they are in terms of our agenda.”

Ley expressed appreciation for Littleproud travelling to her for the first of their meetings so that she could be with her mother, Angela Braybrooks.

Braybrooks reportedly went into end-of-life care the night before Ley faced former Treasury spokesperson Angus Taylor in the Liberals’ leadership spill, which s.

Ley has spoken of the 93-year-old’s resilience and strength throughout the week, thanking those who have offered good wishes to the family.

Sussan Ley in a floral shirt smiling, next to an older woman in a pink cardigan, who is also smiling.

Sussan Ley pictured with her mother Angela. Credit: Supplied by Sussan Ley’s office

Coalition alliance risks split over net-zero target

There are some within the Coalition, like Senator Matt Canavan, who believe aspirations to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 need to be “dumped”.

The Coalition as the pathway to achieving this, offering them as an alternative to Labor’s renewable strategy.

However, there were swings against the Coalition in nearly every seat where it proposed a nuclear plant, except for Flynn in Queensland, according to Australian Electoral Commission data.

Meanwhile, Labor recorded positive swings in every seat where offshore wind projects have been announced.

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie said net-zero targets would have an impact on regional areas.

“Our job is to mitigate and make sure that our communities aren’t bearing the brunt, the negative impact of those decisions,” she told Sky News on Friday.

“Our party has been very clear that we have always had concerns about how net zero will impact those of us that live in rural and regional communities.”

However, if it were to completely scrap net-zero targets, the Coalition risks further disenfranchising metro suburban Australia, which Redbridge Group director Simon Welsh told SBS News had “repudiated” the Liberals.

Ley will have to find a consensus with Littleproud on how to win back these voters to ensure success in upcoming elections while appeasing a National Party that has been emboldened after only losing one senator.

In comparison, the Liberals have lost at least 13 seats in the lower house.

— With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press and Cameron Carr