A former Liberal senator has lashed out at her own party following the leak of an email from a newly elected colleague.
The email, sent by Senator Jess Collins and made public on Thursday, reveals her staunch opposition to gender quotas and her frustrations with internal party divisions.
In the message, Collins argues quotas are unnecessary, insisting that candidates should be chosen on merit.
She pointed to the NSW State Liberals who achieved gender parity without any formal mandates.
Collins also took aim at ‘factional hacks’ she claims are clinging to power within the party.
Appearing on Sky News, former Senator Hollie Hughes, who lost her seat to Collins in the 2024 preselection, did not hold back.
Hughes said she received a flurry of messages that morning about Collins’ leaked email – in which she specifically told her colleagues ‘please don’t leak’ – and most of them were mocking in tone.
Hughes said she was ‘surprised’ that the message focused on internal divisions rather than what Collins hoped to get done in office and holding the Albanese Government to account.
Hollie Hughes (pictured) criticised a new Liberal MP, after her email leaked to the media
Hughes mentioned that it was peculiar that Collins ran on a platform of foreign affairs expertise, but made no mention foreign policy in the email.
Listing her own work on Senate committees and shadow portfolios, Hughes questioned how Collins’ campaign for ‘merit-based’ selection stacked up.
‘I’m not sure how I missed out on that when it came to merit’ Hughes said.
Hughes then slammed Collins over her role in unseating her during the preselection battle.
‘What gave me a chuckle, when a woman knocks off a sitting female Senator in shadow portfolios and claims, A. Merit, and B. ‘I’m supporting women’,’ she said.
During a panel discussion, journalist Joe Hildebrand asked how Collins was preselected, and whether factional support played a role.
Hughes responded with a sarcastic jab, ‘How did she get there?’ she said, before bursting out laughing.
‘Honey, so what happens is, everyone else is a big bad faction. But my faction isn’t a faction. I got elected because I was amazing,’ Hughes said, mimicking Collins in a mocking tone.
Senator Jess Collins (pictured) unseated Hollie Hughes in a tense preselection battle in 2024
Collins (left) is the only new Liberal Senator following the party’s drubbing by Labor on May 3
Collins had the backing of the Liberal Party’s Right faction, led federally by former Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor, who unsuccessfully challenged Sussan Ley for the leadership.
Hughes, who supported Ley in the leadership vote, was backed by the Centre-Right faction led by NSW powerbroker Alex Hawke.
Hughes wished Collins well in the future, and said she hoped Collins learned from the email debacle.
‘I know that you don’t send an email with please don’t leak this, that’s like flagging a red rag to a bull’.
A review into the Liberal Party’s devastating election loss is underway, with a second probe ordered by leader Sussan Ley to confront the deeper challenges weighing on the party’s future.
Parliament will sit for the first time since the election on July 22.
