Angus Taylor claims he is ‘going to fight for Australians’ in first day as new Liberal leader
Angus Taylor answered questions about the country’s biggest economic challenges on his first official day as the new leader of the Liberal Party.
After months of speculation, on Friday Angus Taylor was named the next Liberal leader, beating out Sussan Ley by 34 votes to 17.
This came just days after Mr Taylor resigned from the front bench to allow him to run.
At a press conference alongside Senator Jane Hume in Goulburn on Saturday, Mr Taylor told reporters there needed to be downward pressure on inflation and interest rates.
“That means we need to be prudent in government spending, we don’t need waste… and we’ve seen waste from this government and we continue to see waste from this government,” he said.
“We may need to make it easier for builders and others across Australia to do their jobs. If we’re going to have more homes, we need to make it easier to build homes.”
The 59-year-old man claims that the Albanian government is making it harder to build a house with “more bureaucracy” and “more regulations”.
“This is not what we need right now,” he said.
“What we need is an economy where people can go out and do things, invest in building homes, invest in starting their own business.
“And if we make it easier for them to do that, it will make it easier for them to win a home…that’s the key.”
A reporter later asked Mr Taylor whether capital gains tax would help property investors who own 10-20 homes rather than first-home buyers, and Mr Taylor said we shouldn’t “overcomplicate” the issue.
The debate comes after Chancellor of the Exchequer Jim Chalmers last week gave another hint that he was looking at next steps in reining in capital gains tax relief for property investors.
There will be no new crackdown on owners of family homes who are already exempt.
However, the changes could be huge for property investors in Australia and will also affect those with modest incomes, such as nurses, teachers and police, who are dabbling in the property market.
The one-off hit to income taxes already applies under existing CGT rules and would be greater if the relief was reduced.
But Mr Taylor said on Saturday that “if you tax something extra, you get less of it… and we need more houses, not less.”
“If we’re going to have more affordability, we need more supply, more homes. That’s the key. Jim Chalmers doesn’t understand that… it’s getting harder and harder to pay the bills,” he said.
“It’s getting harder to buy a house. It’s getting harder to run a business, and it’s getting harder and harder to make a living. And we’re going to fight. Jane and I and our team will fight every day for hard-working Australians trying to get ahead.”
Mr Taylor becomes the fourth Liberal to lead the party since Mr Albanese became Labor leader.
