Angus Taylor makes his pitch for Liberal leadership with five-point election plan

Fresh from the Liberals’ dramatic net zero backflip, conservative heavyweight Angus Taylor has outlined his blueprint for winning the next federal election. Read our exclusive interview.

Conservative frontbencher Angus Taylor says he has “learnt a lot” in the six months since narrowly losing a contest for the Liberal leadership, amid speculation he’s the likeliest candidate to succeed Sussan Ley as Opposition Leader.

Speaking exclusively to News Corp – a day after the Liberals formally abandoned their commitment to net zero – Mr Taylor set out five key priorities for the party to win the next federal election.

He also called for leading conservative women, including Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, to be handed bigger roles to help the Coalition “take the fight to Labor”.

“I’ve learnt a lot in the last six months”, Mr Taylor said. “I’ve spent a lot of time talking to colleagues since then, and I think that’s always incredibly important, and I’ll continue to do that.

“Regardless of who leads, the agenda for me is clear, and I’ll be putting my hand up to keep prosecuting that agenda.”

Angus Taylor says he’s ‘learnt a lot’ in the six months since he lost the leadership vote to Sussan Ley. Pictures: Jonathan Ng

Asked what an election-winning agenda looks like for the Coalition in 2028, Mr Taylor said the party should pick fights with Labor on climate, immigration, family policy, investment and defence.

“Immigration is hugely important to this country … but the numbers have been ridiculously high. It’s got to be super high-quality immigration,” he said.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley announcing the Libs’ decision to dump net zero. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“Forming a family and raising kids is incredibly hard, and I think Labor has focused on this area and we haven’t.

“Getting investment moving. Getting rid of the unnecessary regulation. Getting tax settings that encourage investment … this is incredibly important if we’re going to restore our standard of living and get ahead.

“We’ve got to defend our country in a way we’ve not had to in incredibly uncertain times. The Chinese Communist Party is a militarising at an unprecedented rate, and we should be clear-eyed about that.”

Walking into the Liberals’ party room meeting on net zero on Wednesday, Mr Taylor was joined by more than a dozen fellow conservatives, including Andrew Hastie and Price.

In comments likely to raise eyebrows among colleagues, Mr Taylor called for three “incredibly capable” women in that grouping – Price, Sarah Henderson, and Jess Collins – to be given bigger roles within the Coalition.

“We need every player on the field if we’re going to win”, he said.

“We’ve got to get people like (Price, Henderson and Collins) on the field and playing.”

Jessica Collins (l to r), Angus Taylor, Sarah Henderson, Andrew Hastie and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price arrive at Thursday’s Liberal party room meeting on net zero. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Taylor also said there were lessons for the Liberals in how the National Party finalised its opposition to net zero, which saw the junior Coalition partner work on a comprehensive policy document with the Page Research Centre.

“They have played an important leadership role with a really important contribution that I think has helped to land an outcome which is the right one,” he said.

“There are lessons (for the Liberal Party).

“It’s important we lead on these crucial debates as well. We want the National Party to lead, but we need to lead as well.

“It’s incredibly important that we be doing the work on these big, tough, important issues early and in a way that puts us in a position to lead the arguments.”

Read the full High Steaks interview with Liberal frontbencher and party leadership hopeful Angus Taylor on Sunday

Originally published as Angus Taylor makes his pitch for Liberal leadership with five-point election plan