Angus Taylor has challenged Anthony Albanese to join forces with him on a bipartisan taskforce that would slash government spending, as the opposition leader and key allies hit the phones over the weekend to finalise a revamped frontbench.
On Sunday, Taylor once again attempted to distance himself from the economic policies of former leader Peter Dutton – for whom he served as shadow treasurer – to repair the damage inflicted on the Coalition after the 2025 election wipeout.
Behind closed doors, Taylor, deputy leader Jane Hume and powerbrokers including Senator James Paterson were weighing up which Liberals were best placed to pursue the government and communicate well to voters, while rewarding those who backed the new opposition leader in Friday’s spill.
The new frontbench will also include rehabilitated Nationals, who all resigned from the front bench at the end of January and are due to return in March.
Supporters of Taylor say he made no promises to secure his victory but as one MP, who asked not to be named, said: “He may not have made any deals, but there are a lot of mouths to feed and a lot of people who want something.”
Goldstein MP Tim Wilson is firming as the pick for shadow treasurer, and a multi-cornered contest is brewing for opposition Senate leader and deputy. Some MPs told this masthead that the current pair, senators Michaelia Cash and Anne Ruston, could face a challenge.
Senators Paterson and Jonno Duniam, pivotal players in Taylor’s ascension, could get the senior roles while Hume or even Senator Andrew Bragg could put their hands up for the positions, which are decided by a vote of Liberal senators.
As deputy, Hume also gets to pick her own portfolio. She is unlikely to choose shadow treasurer, a job traditionally held by a lower house MP. On Sunday, the former finance spokeswoman hinted that she still wanted an economic role.
Other likely changes include a return to senior shadow cabinet positions for three Liberals exiled under former leader Sussan Ley: Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Sarah Henderson and Andrew Hastie, who could get industry. Promotions are predicted for Taylor allies including Tony Pasin and Jess Collins.
Ley allies likely to be demoted to backbench or junior roles include her manager of opposition business Alex Hawke, immigration spokesman Paul Scarr, environment spokeswoman Angie Bell, shadow minister for women Maria Kovacic and Melissa Price, who looked after defence industry.
In his first move as leader, Taylor wrote to Albanese on Sunday and said the “Coalition will not consider higher taxes on Australians”, drawing battle lines over potential capital gains tax changes.
But he also proposed a bipartisan spending restraint taskforce that would “identify practical, responsible and jointly supported measures” that both parties could support.
“Record levels of government expenditure are contributing to higher inflation, upward pressure on interest rates and a growing public debt burden that will ultimately fall on future generations of Australians,” Taylor wrote to the prime minister.
The prime minister and Treasurer Jim Chalmers are unlikely to agree, as Labor had accelerated its attacks on Taylor as a bad economic manager as soon as he became opposition leader.
Albanese pilloried the latest Coalition line-up at a press conference on Sunday, saying: “Angus Taylor led the charge to not only oppose [our tax cuts] but to say that he would legislate, if he had been elected treasurer in the election less than a year ago, that he would legislate to actually increase taxes for all 14 million Australians.“
Taylor, as former shadow treasurer, and Hume, as then finance spokeswoman, were the team under Dutton that opposed Labor’s surprise $5 a week tax cut during the last election campaign and suggested the money be spent on defence instead.
The pair, in their first press conference on Friday, said that had been a mistake, acknowledging reports in this masthead that Dutton had nixed their alternative tax cut proposals.
Taylor told Sky News on Sunday when asked about Dutton’s opposition to Labor’s tax cut: “I proposed a way forward with lower personal income taxes, and that is already something I’ve put on the record.”
He went on to say: “Fine, we made a mistake in the election campaign. But let me tell you, when inflation rages – and it goes up as it is under this hopeless treasurer – people pay more taxes as a proportion of their income.”
Hume kept her focus on tax cuts when interviewed on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday, saying: “All Liberals know instinctively that the Liberal Party should always be, and must always be, a party of lower taxes because we know that when taxes are lower, Australians get a chance to get ahead.”
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Brittany Busch is a federal politics reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
James Massola is chief political commentator. He was previously national affairs editor and South-East Asia correspondent. He has won Quill and Kennedy awards and been a Walkley finalist. Connect securely on Signal @jamesmassola.01Connect via X or email.
