The newly minted Liberal leader has doubled down on plans for a tough immigration policy, vowing to reduce the number of migrants and focus on those who reject Australian values.
But Angus Taylor has offered few details about how the coalition he now leads will deliver on its pledge to root out those who “reject our way of life.”
The new opposition leader, who overthrew Sussan Ley in a party chamber vote on Friday, has laid out his plan for the Liberals as the Conservative party loses votes to the anti-immigration One Nation.
Taylor and his new deputy, Senator Jane Hume, have quickly pledged to cut taxes, focus on housing affordability and remove “green ideology” from energy policy.
But leaders have also spoken out on immigration, saying migrant numbers must be reduced.
“The standards have been too low, the numbers have been too high and we have not explicitly closed the door to people who reject our way of life, who don’t believe in our core values,” Taylor told Sky News on Sunday.
The high migration puts an emphasis on housing and infrastructure, he added, suggesting intelligence agencies could play a bigger role in assessing prospective residents.
“It’s important … they do assess whether or not these people have shown in the past that they reject our way of life or whether they want to take the hatred and violence from another place,” Taylor said.
Challenges for the Liberals
But even with an injection of new leadership energy, the party is in a difficult position, according to pollster Kos Samaras.
The Liberals faced the same challenges as those present under Ley, including the loss of support among most voter groups.
Samaras said some Generation
“Angus Taylor cannot be ultra-conservative on certain issues and then try to pretend he can speak to progressive Melbourne and Sydney,” he told AAP.
“He’ll be stuck like Sussan Ley was stuck.”
Founder of liberal women’s network resigns
The founder of a major liberal women’s network has quit her organization and the party, two days after its first female leader was targeted in the leadership disaster.
Charlotte Mortlock founded Hilma’s Network in 2021 to boost women’s representation in the Liberal Party.
She worked on the proposal to introduce gender quotas in the party, which was recently dumped by the NSW branch.
“Due to recent events, I have decided there are other ways I can support women and Australia,” Mortlock said.
“I have decided it is time to step down as executive director of Hilma’s Network and I have also renounced my membership of the Liberal Party.”
Taylor rejected Ley by a vote of 34 to 17, ending her term after just nine months.
Shortly after the spill, Ley revealed she would spend the next few weeks in her regional NSW electorate of Farrer before resigning from parliament.
A by-election will then be needed to elect a new MP for Farrer, which will be an important early test for Taylor.
He will have to prove he can stave off challenges from independent parties and One Nation, which ranks above the Coalition.
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