Angus Taylor wants Australia to be aspirational again
In a wide-ranging interview with Capital Brief, the shadow treasurer lays out plans to fix productivity and housing affordability and reignite aspiration.
The wool industry is deeply woven into Angus Taylor’s economic values. The shadow treasurer grew up on a sheep and cattle farm in NSW and has maintained personal and financial connections to the agricultural industry throughout his life.
The enduring impact of the relationships between farmers and labourers on Taylor is one of the major takeaways from an hour-long interview with Capital Brief at his electorate office in Goulburn. He describes his philosophy, hopes to contribute to the future of Australia and the growing concerns he has about the economy’s impact on young people.
But it’s a gruelling fight between farmers and the shearer’s union 40 years ago that has a particularly dramatic effect on his thinking today.
It was the 1980s and New Zealand sheep shearers had come to Australia with a new type of wide comb, allowing them to get their job done 30% faster. This pleased the National Farmers Federation, which supported altering the industry award to allow the use of this innovative new equipment.
