Nationals MP David Littleproud has said the election of former prime minister Tony Abbott as the new federal president of the Liberals is a “good thing” for Angus Taylor, as the Coalition stares down the task of winning back popularity with voters amid record low polling.
Speaking to Sky News this morning, Littleproud said: “I think what Tony Abbott does is give a starch to Angus Taylor, and that cover and support, that structural support within the Liberal Party, and I think this is a good thing, to have that for Angus, to be able to have a party president that will be there shoulder to shoulder with him.”
Nationals MP David Littleproud.Alex Ellinghausen
Littleproud, who resigned as leader of the National Party in March, also responded to new polling by The Australian Financial Review that showed One Nation surging ahead of the Coalition – and overtaking Labor – in popularity.
Asked whether he thought the shift to One Nation would be temporary, Littleproud said it would depend on how well the Coalition sold their policies to the Australian public in the lead-up to the next election.
“I think it depends on what we do … Australians [are] lashing out because they’ve lost hope, they’re going broke, and they’re looking for something, they don’t know what it is at the moment.”