Opposition leader blames Labor’s budget for Coalition’s struggle against One Nation surge
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has blamed Labour’s broken budget promises for the Coalition’s worsening poll woes and the stubborn rise of One Nation as he prepares to paint new campaign chief Pauline Hanson as a gift to Labor that will lock out left-wing governments.
After the fourth poll showed One Nation moving ahead of Labor in First Preference votes, Taylor told this imprint that Labor’s budget had “further eroded trust in the political system”, or what One Nation called “one party”.
“This is damaging to both sides of politics,” Taylor said in an interview. “We’re paying some of the price for that. This is the new political world we’re in. We’ll take some time over the winter break to talk more about our positive plan.”
The Coalition primary vote has failed to be revived since Taylor ousted Sussan Ley in February in a moment described as “change or die”. The Coalition was then hovering at record lows of 18 to 20 per cent of the initial vote in the polls following the disastrous split in January.
Coalition MPs had predicted Labour’s tax rises would drive voters back to the opposition but instead voters continue to abandon them for One Nation. Despite recent primary polls dropping below 20 percent, lawmakers are yet to blame Taylor, instead desperately searching for answers in the face of a tectonic political realignment.
Labor is concerned about Hanson’s rise, but for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese the issue is not as pressing as it is for Taylor. If an election were held today, Labor would still win the election decisively, according to current poll figures.
Government sources said Labour’s internal research showed One Nation supporters did not believe in the idea of Hanson actually running the country, dissuading Albanese from the idea of ”Pauline as Prime Minister” when asked.
“I vote Labour, so that’s my stance,” Albanese said. “It is up to others to decide which way they vote in our great democracy.”
Liberal leader Tony Abbott appealed for calm, saying: “This is likely to be a long and difficult road, but the Coalition is already putting forward strong positions to address the economic stagnation and social fragmentation that led to the ‘no’ vote.”
The Prime Minister framed Labour’s U-turn on negative gearing and capital gains taxes as a response to growing left and right populist anger over living standards and the social contract. But various polls have shown the budget is unpopular and Albanese hopes to rush through his bills with minimal scrutiny to avoid a messy debate over the details and get back to talking about hosting.
Taylor said the budget response speech, which included a popular move to index tax brackets and a more controversial measure to deny benefits to permanent residents, might have been seen as “completely revolutionary” in an earlier era.
“Our strength should be our economic credibility; that’s my strength,” Taylor said.
“I’ve turned industries around, I’ve turned businesses around, I’ve reshaped the growth of industries throughout my career. I understand how to do that, and you know where I’m coming from, and I don’t think One Nation or Pauline is economically sound.”
Taylor said it was becoming increasingly clear that Hanson was targeting Coalition seats rather than Labor seats. “If you want to get rid of a rotten Labor government you will have to vote Coalition because Pauline is targeting Coalition seats.”
Taylor’s new criticism of Hanson’s economic credentials follows a week of policy failures and confusion over Hanson’s decision to become prime minister.
Opposition sources familiar with the Liberal Party’s high-level thinking said Taylor’s team had decided to go tougher on One Nation by appointing MPs such as Andrew Hastie and possibly Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Hastie said on Monday that Hanson was the “First MAGA,” but the Coalition’s reluctance to deploy him for much of the year may have cemented his position as the dominant force on the right.
Lincoln Folo, a former National Party executive, was put in charge of the Liberal Party’s campaign machine last week after Abbott and other party figures decided Folo offered the clearest vision of how to fight Labor and One Nation on two fronts.
Sources said Folo recently floated three ideas with colleagues: pushing MPs to be more active in their communities to address distrust of the party brand; stronger presentation of a positive economic vision; and to send the message to conservative voters that Hanson’s rise would reduce the chances of unseating Labor because the right-wing vote would be divided.
“You don’t buy a plane to fly to Yeppoon to beat Labor. Flying to Yeppoon doesn’t change the government,” Folo told colleagues, referring to the regional town where Hanson hoped to set up his new office. Yeppoon sits in the lower house of Capricornia’s National House of Representatives.
One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce said on Seven’s: Sunrise “Polls are a reflection of public sentiment.”
Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson said: “They may be stark contrasts in presentation and ideology, but the challenge of beating One Nation is the same as beating the teal or a true independent. The ‘outsiders’ all have a similar fundamental equality that the major political parties do not: trust. Labor has destroyed any remaining trust, the Liberals are on a journey to rebuild their own trust.”
“There is certainly a way forward for the Liberal Party to take back the government. That starts with listening and understanding where voters are and understanding their concerns. Then it involves understanding that ideas don’t vote, people vote. You have to understand who you are for. What you are for, not who you are for.”
“Finally, you can’t play small target; you need a refreshing vision of where you want to take the country and tell a compelling story.”
“We have to keep fighting,” nationals frontrunner Matt Canavan said.
“People are very angry at the state of the country, at the lying of this government, and they rightly need a tool. We need to channel that into a productive form of anger that will build something better.”
“I won’t die wondering.”
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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.
