Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has come down hard on One Nation, saying the protest party will send Australia backwards. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Angus Taylor has moved to dispel talk he is trying to emulate One Nation policy, delivering a scathing rebuke of Pauline Hanson’s protest party as a step backwards for Australia.
In a speech to the Sydney Institute on Thursday (9 July), the Opposition Leader spent a lot of time criticising One Nation and Senator Hanson for offering nothing good for the country.
“One Nation claims to offer a way out of our national malaise. In reality, they would only make things worse,” Mr Taylor said.
“If you’re considering supporting One Nation, there are at least three reasons to think again.
“First, One Nation is a column of smoke. Long on rhetoric but short on substance.
“One Nation’s offering is a random grab bag of poorly defined, contradictory, and constantly changing positions that leave no clear sense of who they are or what they stand for.
“If you want to vote for a party because it’s clear what they stand for, One Nation isn’t it.
“Second, One Nation does not have the team needed to meet the challenges Australia faces.
“Australia is in the grip of an economic crisis. Fixing it is the single most important job of the next government. It will require a team effort – it is beyond any one person.”
Mr Taylor said a look at One Nation’s team reveals that, when it all boils down, it is just a one-person show with little to offer.
He said it was easy for One Nation to make promises when it is not a party of government.
“Third, One Nation would send us broke,” the Opposition Leader said.
“The root cause of our economic crisis is an explosion in government, and One Nation’s solution is to double down.
“Deep down, their true instincts are toward big government interventionism. But with even less of a concern than Labor about how to make the numbers add up.
“Their top four financial commitments alone could cost the Budget in the order of a trillion dollars over a decade, and they have no clear or credible plan for how they’d pay for these commitments.
“One Nation’s promise to abolish parts of the bureaucracy would cover perhaps just one-fifteenth of these commitments.
“If they found their way into government, they’d learn the lesson the hard way. World history is littered with failed governments that didn’t bother paying for their promises.
“And it’s their citizens who ultimately suffered the consequences … That’s why I warn that an eternity of pain would follow a One Nation government.
“You will not fix our nation’s problems by blowing up the joint.”
On Friday morning, the Opposition Leader bolstered his criticism of One Nation, saying the Coalition isn’t interested in forming a right-wing alliance with the party.
The comments come as the Liberal Party continues its sustained dive in opinion polls at the hands of One Nation.
Speculation is also mounting over the security of Mr Taylor’s leadership in the face of such poor polling.
But the minor party’s polling has taken a turn for the worse too, with recent polls showing One Nation’s popularity – while still better than the Coalition’s – has begun to wane.
Pauline Hanson has hit back at Angus Taylor, saying Labor’s the enemy and that the Coalition should work with One Nation to defeat it. Photo: Wiki.
Senator Hanson, fresh from her meeting with UK far-right activist Tommy Robinson, sent a video message from London directed to Mr Taylor.
In it, she urged the Opposition Leader to work with her instead of against her.
“Angus, I’m not your enemy. We both need to get rid of the Labor, the Greens government,” she said from a car.
“The real enemy — Labor and the Greens — get away with destroying Australia while Taylor obsesses over One Nation, his best potential ally in the fight to win back our country.
“That’s the real fight before us, booting Anthony Albanese. Angus Taylor should sign up to that fight.”
One Nation Senator Sean Bell took to Sky News to criticise Mr Taylor, describing the Opposition leader’s speech as “selfish” and offering no cost-of-living relief.
Senator Bell said Mr Taylor was only concerned with keeping his own job.
“He watched as his colleagues knifed Sussan Ley because her polls were bad, and he sees that his polls are worse,” he said.
“And instead of going harder after the Albanese Labor government, he’s decided to turn around and attack One Nation because he’s terrified he is going to lose his job, and that’s a selfish thing to do.
“That’s why One Nation- we’re a united team, we’re a strong team, and we are fixed solely on ensuring this terrible Albanese Labor government is held to account.”
To be clear, Mr Taylor also devoted much of his Sydney Institute speech to attacking Labor’s credentials and the Federal Government.
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
