Nearly two months after stepping away from a quarter-century in Australian public life and losing the Liberal Party leadership to Angus Taylor, former opposition leader Sussan Ley has made her first live public television appearance, opening up about the personal reckoning that followed her political exit and her perspective on the nation’s core social values.
Appearing Tuesday night on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s flagship current affairs program *7:30*, Ley spoke with host Sarah Ferguson about the period of transition that began on February 13, when Taylor defeated her to take the opposition leadership, bringing an end to her decades-long political career. For Ley, the end of her time in elected office was not an entirely unexpected turn — she described it as an “inevitable ending” that called for intentional self-reflection rather than resentment.
“When I lost the leadership, and went through, you know, the inevitable ending of 25 years in public life, I knew that I needed to find my own voice,” Ley told Ferguson. “There was a political self-reckoning for me, and I went through that process. It was about finding clarity. And I did find clarity.”
To work through that transition and recover from the burnout that accumulated over her years in office, Ley made an unorthodox choice: she embarked on a multi-week Greyhound bus trip that stretched from the northern tip of Central America all the way through the continental United States to its southern border. Far from a policy research trip, the journey was an intentional retreat from the structured demands of political life, giving Ley space to reconnect with her own voice outside of party talking points.
“I didn’t go to America to become an expert, I went to America to look, to notice, and to quietly write,” she explained. What stuck with her most during the trip was the vulnerability and humanity of the fellow travelers she met, many of whom were also navigating major life transitions and systemic disadvantage. “There was people whose lives were in transition and disarray, and that’s what struck me from the moment I got on the first bus,” she said. “It’s hard to describe the expression on someone’s face that comes from a lifetime of being overlooked.”
That cross-continental bus journey became exactly the reset Ley needed, allowing her to draw a definitive line under her political career and embrace the next stage of her life without lingering bitterness. The burnout she experienced after decades in public life never derailed her, she noted, and the trip helped her process that fatigue and move forward.
“It’s allowed me to draw a line, very conclusively, under those 25 years in public life. And move to this next chapter, where I know that I will have more to say,” Ley said. “While I dealt with the effects of burnout, it didn’t bring me undone. It allowed me to move to the next chapter of my life, which is where I am now.”
Consistent with her focus on looking forward rather than rehashing past political battles, Ley declined to dive into detailed commentary on Australia’s current political landscape or revisit the circumstances of her ousting. “There is no point in relitigating something that happened in the past,” she emphasized. “If I think about my time in politics, I’m proud of what I achieved. I don’t dwell on it, because I’m very much focused on the next chapter of my life. I will leave the political commentary to others.”
When pressed on controversial statements about Australian multiculturalism from the right-wing One Nation party, Ley drew on her U.S. trip observations to voice firm support for Australia’s multicultural model. She argued that Australia’s approach — which accommodates cultural difference rather than demanding people erase their individual backgrounds to fit in — is a rare achievement that all Australians should celebrate.
“I’m a huge supporter of the Australian multicultural project for the simple reason we’ve been able to achieve multicultural Australia not by erasing people’s differences, but giving them space to belong,” Ley said. “I think this is something we should all be incredibly proud of.”