Angus Taylor launches campaign against adding 40 MPs
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has launched a populist campaign against moves to add at least 40 MPs to the federal parliament after pressure from his own MPs to launch a Voice of Parliament-style campaign calling Prime Minister Anthony Albanese out of touch.
At a party room meeting last week, Taylor and MPs discussed the potential political benefit of running a public campaign against a proposal to expand the size of parliament; This comes a month after it was revealed that Secretary of State Don Farrell had spoken to the National Party about adding dozens of new seats in time for the next election.
Opposition MPs at that meeting compared the proposal to a 2023 referendum, which former leader Peter Dutton portrayed as an elitist idea that would consolidate power in Canberra.
On Tuesday, Taylor said the opposition had commissioned modeling from the Parliamentary Budget Office showing the change would cost $620 million. In determining the cost of the proposal, the opposition conducted more detailed scrutiny than Labor, which was still in the early planning stages of the idea. Albanese had not yet committed to this policy.
The coalition initially thought Farrell was considering increasing the number of MPs after the next election, but in recent months it has emerged that Farrell was trying to introduce legislation as early as this year.
On Tuesday, Taylor, along with Nationals leader Matt Canavan, spoke out strongly against the proposal. Under previous leader David Littleproud, the National Party was open to working with Labor because the plan would reduce the number of regional voters.
“Australians are facing a cost of living crisis. They are facing a fuel crisis. We have an economy that is not working for hard-working Australians. And this government’s priority is clearly to increase the size of parliament,” Taylor said.
“We don’t need more politicians. We need a government focused on the Australian people.”
At last week’s party room meeting MPs decided it was important to include the National Party so the Coalition could mount a co-ordinated offensive campaign.
Some Liberal MPs are in favor of increasing the number of MPs, which has remained unchanged since the 1980s despite Australia’s population growing, as this would allow the Liberal Party to be revitalized with fresh blood.
But as one shadow minister, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “We were so desperate for a fight that we had to oppose it for political reasons.”
The Institute of Public Affairs, an influential right-wing think tank, is one of many civil society groups advocating expanding parliament.
In a submission to the parliamentary inquiry, the IPA said not sending more MPs to Canberra “will have significant consequences for the health of our democracy”.
“With Australia’s population now exceeding 27 million, the electorate is becoming increasingly overcrowded and geographically expanding,” his presentation said. “[MPs] They are becoming increasingly distant from the communities they represent.”
“This also weakens the effectiveness of parliament because there are relatively few members.
representatives are expected to examine the ever-expanding executive government.”
Bob Hawke was the last prime minister to enlarge parliament, and he did so in 1984, less than a year after his election.
“With democracy under threat around the world, strengthening our institutions has never been more important,” Farrell said last month.
The reason for expanding the parliament is that MPs have difficulty adequately representing their voters.
Last year, on average, there were 177,000 people in each electorate. The last time the number of MPs was increased was 105 thousand in 1984. In terms of electorates, which exclude children and non-citizens, lower house members represent an average of more than 120,000, down from 66,000 during the Hawke amendments.
The coalition opposes the move, making it difficult for Labor to pass any legislation in the Senate. Albanese and Farrell could still reach an agreement with the Greens, who are open to change, but the prospect of a scare campaign could dampen Albanese’s enthusiasm.
Farrell is exploring options, this imprint reported last month, but is narrowing down his view on increasing the number of senators for each state from 12 to 14; That’s an overall increase of 12 in the size of the Senate. The House of Representatives will add 24 seats because the Constitution requires the House of Representatives to have roughly twice as many lawmakers as the Senate.
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Paul Sakkal is the Chief Political Correspondent. He has previously covered Victorian politics and won the Walkley award as well as the 2025 Press Gallery Journalist of the Year award. Contact him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14.Connect with: X or email.
