Senator Jacinta Price has defected to the Liberal Party to join Angus Taylor’s leadership team, as he battles Sussan Ley, the current deputy, to replace Peter Dutton as opposition leader.

Price is a Country Liberal Party senator who has previously chosen to sit with the National Party. She can sit in whichever party room she chooses. She will now sit with the Liberal Party in Canberra.

Sources close to Taylor, unable to speak publicly, said she may run as Taylor’s deputy when the party room meets on Tuesday to elect a new leader.

“I am eager to fight for the best interests of all Australians as part of the Coalition,” she said in a statement.

“I believe I will be more effective in this regard if I am a member of the Liberal Party, especially as the party faces a significant rebuild after Saturday. A rebuild I feel obliged to play a robust part in.”

“I want to bring back our core values of liberty, individual freedom and responsibility, the rule of law, free market and economic prosperity, minimal government intervention, a fair go and most of all, love for our nation, Australia.“

More to come...

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