Anthony Albanese announces AI strategy; Trump abandons Strait of Hormuz toll as US-Iran war peace deal collapses; Angus Taylor rules out Liberal Party, One Nation coalition
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has ruled out forming a coalition with Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party after being asked whether he would go further than repeatedly saying there were no plans for a deal.
Appearing on the ABC’s 730 Report on Tuesday for the first time since saying the rival party’s policies would cause “endless suffering”, Taylor was asked four times by host Sarah Ferguson if she could categorically rule out the possibility of forming a government with One Nation.
Taylor, who initially insisted that the Coalition had “absolutely no plans to strike a deal with One Nation to form a government”, was asked again: “Isn’t ignoring that, leaving it on the table?”
“I ignore that,” Taylor replied. “There is no plan,” he said, adding: “The reason for this is simple: One Nation has a whole suite of policies that will leave us in pain as a government forever, and even a small subset of them could send this country into financial crisis.”
Last month Taylor was forced to intervene and turn down an offer from South Australian Liberal leader Tony Pasin, who said the party should work “hand in hand” with One Nation to defeat Labor, even going so far as to agree not to compete with the same voters through a form of “seat swap”.
While Taylor and many senior Opposition MPs have, until recently, been careful not to alienate voters drawn to One Nation by being too harsh, many in the party have sharpened their attacks, including West Australian MP Andrew Hastie, whose own seat is under direct threat.
