‘Not being talked about’: Dan Tehan not keen for Coalition with One Nation
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The news: Opposition energy spokesman Dan Tehan has pushed back on suggestions the Liberals could form a Coalition with One Nation.
Speaking to ABC Insiders on Sunday morning AEST, Tehan said he wants to be “part of a Liberal Party and a National Party that, in Coalition, runs this country again”.
Pressed on whether that means he would rule out a tie-up with One Nation in the future, he said Liberal Leader Angus Taylor is “a very strong Liberal and he wants us to govern with the National Party and so what I’m saying is, no, we do not want to be part of a Coalition with One Nation. We want to be part of a Coalition with the Liberal Party and the National Party”.
“I can say I’m very happy being a Coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. That’s all we’re focused on ... it’s not even being talked about,” he said, after being asked several times whether he would rule it out in future.
“We’re not entertaining, we’re not discussing, we’re not thinking about being part of a Coalition with One Nation.”
The context: Tehan was also asked about a speech from former prime minister and current Liberal Party of Australia president Tony Abbott in London, where he raised concerns about the dilution and extinguishing of Ango-Celtic culture through mass migration.
Tehan appeared to distance himself from the remarks, saying he hadn’t heard about the speech until Sunday morning ahead of the interview, but he said it is the “Coalition party room that sets the migration policies of this nation going forward and that’s something that Tony Abbott respects”.
He said Taylor had previously announced migration levels would be kept in line with housing being built to rebalance the migration policy “to make sure that we’re looking after Australians first”.
“There are people who have a lot of views about this, but it is the party room which always has and always will set the policy agenda and that’s what we will continue to do.”
He said that what he thinks Abbott was trying to say is that “migration has to be underpinned by the values which have worked for us so well”.
He said Australia is a “country of diverse backgrounds, many cultures, but we’ve got to make sure that we do not lose those values that have made us such a great nation, we’re a great multicultural country”.
The source: ABC Insiders
