The BGA Australia team, led by Managing Director Michael McNeill, wrote an update to clients regarding Angus Taylor’s ascension to leader of Australia’s Liberal Party.

Context

  • The opposition Liberal Party has changed leaders following dire polls, a split with the Nationals Party and a loss of support from the right-wing One Nation party. After only nine months in the job and following a devastating election defeat, Sussan Ley has been removed as leader by the Liberal Party caucus. She has been replaced by Taylor, a former energy minister backed by the right-wing of the Liberal Party.
  • Taylor has long seen himself as a potential prime minister, believing he has appeal across urban and regional Australia by virtue of his farming background and professional career. A Rhodes scholar, he entered Parliament in 2013 after working for McKinsey and Co and founding an agriculture fund management firm. He was a minister in the Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison Liberal-Nationals government between 2016 and 2022, including in the energy portfolio from 2019-2022.

Significance

  • An important early step for Taylor will be signing a coalition agreement with Nationals leader David Littleproud. Following this, Shadow Ministry positions will be allocated. During Ley’s leadership, the Nationals twice split from the Liberal-Nationals coalition following. disagreements over energy policy and hate speech laws following the Bondi beach attack in December. The Nationals are particularly sensitive to the rise of One Nation, following the defection of former Nationals member of Parliament Barnaby Joyce, a former deputy prime minister, to One Nation.
  • Taylor’s right-wing backers will demand policies that claw back support from One Nation, which is polling strongly in the outer suburbs of capital cities, regional Australia and among young men. However, the Liberal party was decimated in metropolitan electorates in 2025, partly due to collapse in support from multicultural communities, women and younger voters. Taylor will need to balance policies that appeal to One Nation supporters with those that appeal to the aspirations of professional, socially liberal voters in the cities.

Implications

  • Taylor has indicated that he will take a harder line on economic and “culture wars” issues than his predecessor. He will heavily oppose the government’s energy transition agenda, pointing to the level of taxpayer support and the impact on power prices. Taylor will be a strong proponent of Australia’s traditional export powerhouses: energy, resources and agriculture. Taylor, who was shadow defense minister under Ley, has been a strong supporter of increased defense spending, the Australia-United Kingdom-United States submarine partnership and the Australia-U.S. alliance. Taylor is expected to make a strong early statement on immigration.
  • With Taylor’s ascension, business should look for opportunities to shape the national economic debate and legislative outcomes. With economic challenges mounting – notably sluggish productivity and renewed inflationary pressure – there are signs the Labor government is beginning to realize that traditional supply-side measures will be needed. The support of the Taylor-led opposition could be important in building public acceptance for such measures.

We will continue to keep you updated on developments in Australia. If you have any comments or questions, please contact BGA Australia Managing Director Michael “Mick” McNeill at mmcneill@bowergroupasia.com.

Best regards,

BGA Australia Team

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Managing Director

Mick is a highly-experienced government relations expert and trusted advisor on consensus building, conflict resolution and legislative developments. He has played an integral role in helping parties achieve desired outcomes in areas of national security, health policy, foreign policy and reputational crisis management, as well as media relations, communications campaigns, immigration and human rights. Mick has two decades’ experience working with government as a media analyst, political adviser and NGO advocacy manager. After a stint serving as an adviser to an Australian senator, Mick took on the role of the locally engaged senior political specialist at the U.S. Embassy in ... Read More