Angus Taylor accuses Anthony Albanese of lies as mentor Tony Abbott returns to Liberal Party
A day after Tony Abbott declared the party was in existential crisis and should become Australia’s “patriot party”, Angus Taylor will call for a rallying call for the fractured Liberal Party and accuse Anthony Albanese seven times in one speech of lying to Australians about tax rises.
Abbott, who was elected president unopposed on the first day of the Liberal Party’s federal council meeting in Melbourne, said he was returning to public life because “I owe a great debt to the Liberal Party and therefore I consider it my duty to serve the party at this time of existential crisis.”
“As the last successful federal leader of the opposition, I believe I have the ability to help Angus Taylor become the next successful federal leader of the opposition and our 32nd prime minister,” Abbott said.
“We are the party of freedom, we are the party of tradition, but above all we are the patriotic party, so we must be absolutely invincible by doing our best.”
The former prime minister, who was long Taylor’s mentor, is considered one of the most effective opposition leaders in Australian history, but his premiership ended after less than two years due to a prolonged decline in the polls and a divisive 2014 budget.
He is seen by some within the Liberals as a divisive figure, and his rise to the chairmanship, the most senior position in the party’s organizational wing, is a boost for the conservative faction and another sign of the leverage the group has over future direction.
Abbott was visibly emotional as he spoke, lamenting the fact that the party would be “lucky to have 50,000 members across the country” and noting that Canada’s conservative party has about 400,000 members.
He slammed the Labor government for breaking promises not to change capital gains or negatively impact taxes, using a series of three-word slogans strikingly similar to those he used when he was opposition leader more than a decade ago.
“Angus has announced an agenda for our country to stop toxic taxes, end mass immigration, put Australia first, eliminate net zero and permanently restrict big government by indexing tax thresholds forever,” he said.
The former prime minister’s harsh speech comes as the Coalition secured primary support from just 23 per cent of Australians in the latest Political Monitor, trailing Labor on 29 per cent and One Nation on 24 per cent.
Abbott also reignited the culture war over Australia’s national flag – both Abbott and former leader Peter Dutton refused to stand in front of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags along with the Australian flag at certain official events – and criticized Albanese for his “failure to stand in front of just one national flag, to recognize that this country belongs equally to all Australians”.
Some Liberal MPs are concerned about Abbott’s rise to the presidency, given his frequent and sometimes controversial interventions in public debate. A moderate MP, who asked to remain anonymous so they could speak freely, suggested that Abbott’s outspokenness could create a major headache for Taylor.
But a Conservative MP, who wished to remain anonymous, welcomed Abbott’s election and hoped the former prime minister would continue to make “strong” contributions to public debate.
“Tony is trying to support Gus, and his election also sends a message to One Nation voters that perhaps we are finally getting our act together.”
According to speech excerpts presented in this byline, Taylor will tell Saturday’s council meeting that party members must do everything they can to defeat the “socialist” prime minister and declare that the Coalition is the only party that can remove the Labor government from power – a thinly veiled reference to One Nation.
“The Labor Party has opened a battlefield [over tax] that you already regret it. Anthony Albanese has waged a war on desire. A war against the very essence of being Australian. A war for the soul of our nation… We will fight like hell and we will win this war. We will fight like hell and beat this rotten Labor government,” Taylor will say in a speech that echoes both Abbott’s style and his criticism of the Albanian government.
The federal opposition leader accused Albanese of breaking his promises after the government introduced changes to capital gains tax and negative adjustments to the budget, vowed to end “mass immigration” allowed by Labor and highlighted the opposition’s plan to index income tax rates; this plan would end bracket creep and give more money back to taxpayers.
“The justified public reaction to this budget is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The Prime Minister is already talking about cuts. But the cuts are not enough. Labour’s toxic taxes need an ax to grind.”
“We will give Australians a bigger tax cut without tax increases. Jim Chalmers has given away his vote. When the Treasurer says indexation will cost ‘a quarter of a trillion dollars over ten years’, that is the figure he wants to steal from Australians through bracket shifting. Jim plans to charge Australians an extra $250 billion in income tax.”
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James Massola is the chief political commentator. He was previously national affairs editor and Southeast Asia correspondent. He won the Quill and Kennedy awards and was a Walkley finalist. Connect securely to Signal @jamesmassola.01Connect with: X or email.
Daniella White is The Age’s state political correspondent. Contact her at da.white@nine.com.auConnect with: X or email.
