What started as a clumsy statement from Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in a TV interview last week has, through political mismanagement, spiralled into a test of Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s authority.

Ley had little choice but to sack the darling of conservative Australia. The Coalition was losing support each day the Indian migrants saga went on. Until an unusually late snap press conference in Tasmania at 6.30pm on Wednesday, Ley was reluctant to be too hard on Price.

Since becoming leader, Ley has tried to correct the excesses of the previous era, chiefly the command-and-control model that vested near-total authority in former leader Peter Dutton and his office.

The new Coalition leader’s more collaborative style looked good on paper but made it hard to keep the troops in line.

See Full Page