Opposition leader seeks John Howard’s advice amid One Nation’s rise
Like Howard did when Hanson burst onto the scene in the late 1990s, Ley plans to bring a hard-line approach to the core of his message over the summer while also pushing back against Hanson’s racist tone.
Senior MPs said they hoped they could win back around half of voters who have shifted to Hanson this term by campaigning against immigration and net zero. Although the strategy risks exploding if it proves correct, after Foreign Minister Penny Wong warned the Coalition on Sunday that “you can’t be more Pauline than Pauline”.
Asked Monday how he would manage to reduce immigration levels without isolating or disrupting groups of voters, Ley said he would do so by “always reminding our wonderful immigrant communities of the value they bring to this country.”
“I have my own immigrant story. I deeply admire the communities and individuals who choose to come to Australia, build their homes, start their families, build their futures, work hard, take risks and give back,” he said on Nine’s channel. Today to show.
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price welcomed the decision on Monday, saying in a social media post that “it’s time for the Liberals to stop pandering to sectional interests like elite metropolitan universities and big business lobbies.”
He said this should include significant cuts to certain parts of the immigration program, even if it requires a temporary freeze on certain classes of visas.
Hastie said last Friday that immigration “will be the next debate.”
But given that Price and Hastie have made offensive statements in recent months, Ley’s biggest challenge in this area will be to engage in a debate without leaving multicultural and immigrant voters offside.
Net migration to Australia increased following the reopening of borders following the pandemic, and while immigration levels have fallen significantly, they remain above pre-pandemic levels.
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Repeated polls show voters are increasingly concerned about the pace of migration to Australia; but the Coalition failed to capitalize on this during the May election, despite Peter Dutton promising to reduce net migration by 100,000 people a year more than Labor.
Ley said on Monday that immigration spokesman Paul Scarr and home affairs shadow Jonno Duniam were working on a policy that would reduce immigration but had not yet worked out details about which visa classes or immigration flows should be cut.
“Across the different migration flows coming into this country, we have working holidaymakers, we have skilled visas, we have humanitarian intake, we have family reunification intake and we have a variety of visas for different purposes,” he said.
“We will work out the details of the different flows.”
Amid speculation about Ley’s political future, two MPs who backed Hastie as the next party leader and asked to remain anonymous said the former soldier was not planning to challenge Ley in the final sitting week of the year. He is about to undergo shoulder surgery due to a jujutsu injury.
One of these two MPs said, “Andrew is of course interested, but he is not ready yet. We also need a program, a plan that we can talk about.”
Frontman Angus Taylor is also keen to become a leader. There is no consensus on the right as to which candidate should take over from Ley.
a report Australian The claim that the moderates had shifted their support from Ley to Hastie was denied by Kovacic and Ruston, who said that all MPs he spoke to supported Ley. However, it is known that if Ley falls, at least two Central Party MPs will prefer Hastie to Taylor.
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