Liberal Party leader Angus Taylor and new deputy leader Jane Hume address the media after ousting Sussan Ley and Ted O’Brien. Photo: Chris Johnson.
New Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has promised to crack down on immigration and restore Australians’ standard of living.
Just hours after he toppled Sussan Ley to seize the Liberal leadership in a partyroom vote on Friday (13 February), Mr Taylor delivered his first address to the media.
Standing alongside the party’s new deputy leader, Jane Hume, Mr Taylor acknowledged that the Coalition was in trouble, with dire polling results and voters deserting it for One Nation.
He said the party had to “change or die”, but he won’t be trying to turn the Liberals into One Nation.
“It is clear we are running out of time. I won’t mince words,” Mr Taylor said.
“The Liberal Party is in the worst position that it has been since it was founded in 1944. I don’t shy away from this, and I know that many of our supporters are angry.
“The choice is simple for the Liberal Party – change or die, and I choose change.
“If we’re united and focused, and put the Australian people first, we can confront the challenges of the times, and there are many.”
In outlining his vision for the party, immigration was high on his list of priorities.
He said intake numbers were too high and suggested vetting processes were not good enough.
“We’ll stand for an immigration policy that puts the interests of Australians first and puts Australian values at the centre of that policy,” the Opposition Leader said.
“If someone doesn’t subscribe to our core beliefs, the door must be shut. If someone were to import the hatred and violence of another place to Australia, the door must be shut.”
Mr Taylor also focused on the standard of living and said he was putting the Federal Government on notice that he would be fighting “every bad tax and every reckless spending policy”.
Home ownership is also high on the agenda, with promises to support young Australians in achieving it.
“All Australians, especially young Australians, did deserve the stability and the opportunity to own a home,” he said.
“We’ll reestablish home ownership as the centrepiece of the Australian dream.”
Under questioning, the Opposition Leader admitted it was a mistake for the Coalition to have opposed tax cuts at the last election.
There was scant detail on any of his policy positions, and he refused to outline where and how he would be different from Ms Ley.
Neither would he name his frontbench yet, nor even say if the party’s former deputy leader, Ted O’Brien, would remain as shadow treasurer.
Senator Hume said she was honoured to have been elected deputy leader to serve with Mr Taylor at the helm of the party.
“The Liberal party is a party of hope, and it is a party of aspiration. But most importantly, it is a party for all Australians,” she said.
“Together with Angus as our leader, we will be talking about that every day and taking that message across the country.
“Under Angus Taylor, Australians will see a Liberal Party that focuses on them – a party that listens and responds to the issues that matter.”
Senator Hume, also under questioning, conceded that her election promise last year to put an end to work-from-home was a bad idea and a failed policy.
The Liberal Party dumped Ms Ley, its first-ever federal female leader, on Friday morning after just nine months in the job.
The partyroom ballot returned a vote of 34 to 17 in Mr Taylor’s favour.
Ms Ley addressed the media soon after and thanked her supporters while stressing she held no hard feelings against those who voted against her.
She also signalled that she would soon leave parliament and politics, which would necessitate a by-election in her NSW seat of Farrer.
The Labor Party has begun a campaign of advertisements attacking Mr Taylor’s policy record.
Anthony Albanese said he had spoken to Ms Ley following her demise and thanked her for her service and her “grace and dignity” on a “very difficult day”.
“She can take pride in the years of dedicated service she has given to her community, our parliament and our nation,” the Prime Minister said.
