As he surveys the degraded and demoralised Liberal Party he presides over, Angus Taylor has two major problems \u2013 and that\u2019s leaving aside One Nation. <\/p>\n
The first is that his own performance is often cack-handed. The second is he is not, as the saying goes, meeting the voters where they are. He should \u2013 in theory \u2013 be able to tackle the former. The latter is more fundamental. <\/p>\n
It always surprises how often Taylor comes out with the wrong line, or is caught out without an answer to an obvious question. Like, after his robust attack last week on One Nation, saying this week that he\u2019d made it \u201cwith a heavy heart\u201d. Or recently when, quizzed to the point of embarrassment, he couldn\u2019t say whether he embraced multiculturalism. (Obvious answer: yes, but I want to improve it.)<\/p>\n
Taylor struggles to engage properly in media encounters, appearing to think his \u201clines\u201d, often slogans or cliches, will get him through. (Contrast NSW Premier Chris Minns, or Liberal senator James Paterson, who engage with questions, answer directly where they can, or make it clear if they won\u2019t.) <\/p>\n
But Taylor is also trying not to say anything that will put him further offside with the \u201cbase\u201d, and that leads him into verbal mazes. <\/p>\n
He should be able to be fully prepped and prepared for media appearances. That\u2019s what staff are for. Those around him remark on his intelligence, and despair of his lack of political deftness. <\/p>\n
The mismatch between where the public are and what the Liberals are expounding is a much deeper challenge \u2013 a gulf perhaps unable to be bridged, at least in the short term. <\/p>\n
This came through in Taylor\u2019s major economic address last week that, in addition to its attack on One Nation, critiqued Labor and set out the opposition\u2019s alternative in broad terms. It was traditional Liberal fare of smaller government, lower taxes, and \u201cempowering\u201d people, and reflected the hand of respected economist Steven Hamilton, now on Taylor\u2019s staff. <\/p>\n
But the trouble for the Liberals is that these days the public want more from government than they did a few decades ago. They want activist government to find ways to make their lives better. They are not preoccupied with getting government out of their lives. COVID changed thinking about government spending. The threat posed by debt and deficits doesn\u2019t strike the chord it once did. People are preoccupied with their own circumstances, rather than the bigger picture. <\/p>\n