Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has savaged One Nation as “a column of smoke” without substance and warned its unfunded policies would send Australia broke and create “an eternity of pain”.
In a strongly worded speech to the Sydney Institute last night, Taylor defended the Coalition’s economic record and accused Labor of trying to radically restructure Australian society through a “command and control” model of administration that had failed to improve people’s lives.
The address was Taylor’s strongest attack on Pauline Hanson and One Nation since he took the Liberal leadership in February. It came as opinion polls showed One Nation catching (and later overtaking) the Coalition and Labor.
While he has generally steered clear of direct attacks on the minor party, last night he came out with all guns blazing, signaling a tough new approach that questioned One Nation’s record, its depth of talent and its ability to run an economy.
