Australian news and politics live: Mark Speakman resigns as NSW Liberal leader, endorses Kellie Sloane

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Being too polite was part of his downfall, former NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman reflected to journalists after announcing his resignation.

“Maybe my biggest mistake was not keeping things short and waffling on and being too polite.”

When asked about his conversation with Kellie Slaone and her intentions, Mr Speakman said he reluctantly agreed.

“She indicated that she wished to be the leader, that she thought our prospects were best if she were the leader, and because of the circumstances I’ve described, I have reluctantly agreed that her analysis is correct.”

The Minns government copped a whack from former Liberal leader Mark Speakman as he announced his reisgnation on Thursday afternoon.

“It is a government that is light on the big picture, light on vision, light on ambition when it comes to building things,” Mr Speakman said about the Minns Labor government in NSW.

“They are excellent at cutting ribbons on our projects, but very light on that big vision.

“It’s also been a government that has a putting it as politely as possible, a very modest legislation program and as an active and constructive opposition.

“There are numerous examples where we have introduced legislation that the government has plagiarised, whether it’s dealing with illegal tobacco, deepfake AI, war memorials, nazi symbols, bail and electronic monitoring.

“There’s a whole plethora of legislation which the government has copied and pasted to claim as its own.”

Mark Speakman says his position had become untrenable and he was never going to get ‘clear air’ to make policy announcemments.

“Kellie spoke with me this afternoon and indicated to me that she wished to take the leadership,” Speakman said.

“She believed that the interests of the party would be best served if she took the reins, and I have reluctantly agreed that that is so.

“Notwithstanding my best efforts, it has now reached the point where it is impossible to get clear air no matter what policy announcements I make, no matter how ambitious I am, to make sure that the Liberal Party engages with Gen Z, engages with multicultural community, engages with women, there is just too much white noise that interferes with that message.

“And I will never get the clean air that’s needed.

“Kellie Sloan will be a fantastic leader if selected by the Parliamentary Liberal Party.”

Former Liberal leader Mark Speakman says he will support Kellie Sloane as she takes the reins of the NSW branch.

“I will do whatever I can to help Kelly in a transition,” Mr Speakman said.

“She is someone with enormous, enormous leadership potential. We are so blessed in the Liberal Party to have such enormous talent, whether it’s young MPs who are here for the first time, our five or six MPs who are under 40.

“There is an enormous range of talent in the parliamentary Liberal Party and I’m very confident in the leadership that Kelly will bring.”

Mark Speakman has stood down as the NSW Liberal leader after a tumultuous day in Macquarie Street.

“A few hours are a long time in politics,” Speakman said during a press conference in Sydney on Thursday.

“This morning the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the jacarandas were blooming and I was on breakfast radio and on TV and saying that I would be continuing as Liberal Party leader at that stage.

“By this afternoon it was clear that there was at least one person who had declared to me that she wished to be the leader of the Liberal Party, and a number of colleagues had indicated to me their preference that we have renewal and regeneration.”

Mark Speakman has resigned after a meeting with NSW Liberal leader-elect Kellie Sloane.

Mr Speakman confirmed his resignation at a media conference on Thursday afternoon saying “it has been an enormous privilege for me to have that leadership”.

“I thank my colleagues for bestowing that honour on me. It’s an extraordinary honour and I thank the members of the Liberal Party.”

NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman has decided to resign and will likely be replaced by former television journalist Kellie Sloan, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Mr Speakman will announce his decision at 5pm, the Herald reported. Earlier today Mr Speakman said he would fight for his job, which has been the subject of speculation for days.

“The honourable thing for anyone to do is, if they don’t have confidence in me, and they believe they can do a better job, they should come and knock on my door and tell me,” he told 2GB.

Ms Sloan, the opposition spokesperson for health, represents Vaucluse, one of the wealthiest electorates in the state.

Under pressure as NSW Liberal leader, Mark Speakman has met today with leadership hopeful Kellie Sloane, following the unexpected cancellation of several media interviews.

Mr Speakman was seen leaving Sloane’s office around 4pm, after reportedly remaining confined to his own office earlier in the afternoon, according to the ​Daily Telegraph.​

Mr Speakman abruptly cancelled 10 scheduled interviews on Thursday afternoon, stirring intense speculation about an impending leadership challenge. Speakman participated in talkback radio and appeared on Sky News earlier in the day but reportedly called off the rest of his media engagements

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who led the parliamentary inquiry into the social media ban, said it could be a tough few weeks as the changes take effect.

While she welcomed measures to make Australian children safer online, she criticised the government for still not legislating its long spoken about Digital Duty of Care.

Senator Hanson-Young labelled “big tech bros” as “vultures” and said the Federal Government should have targeted their “nasty algorithms” and profitability business model to “hit them where it hurts”.

“I can’t stand these big tech bros. I think they’re vultures, but what this ban does is let them off the hook, because it doesn’t force them to put in place the safety precautions,” she said.

“What I’m worried about is that these young people are either going to find a way around it or go to even more unsafe spaces.

“What I’m worried about is that the ban that comes in place next month is giving parents false hope, rather than making sure these big platforms have to provide safe spaces for everybody.”