Angus Taylor appeared unusually cheerful during question time on Thursday, even as Labor MPs spent 75 minutes roasting him over his political record. The aspiring opposition leader, who resigned from shadow cabinet on Wednesday, smiled and chatted from his backbench seat, seemingly unfazed by jokes about his time as shadow treasurer and the forged Clover Moore documents.
Taylor's long-mooted challenge to Sussan Ley's leadership is expected to succeed on Friday, despite his failure to outline a clear policy alternative. Senior Liberal James Paterson backed Taylor as 'the smartest policy brain in the shadow cabinet' but struggled to articulate specific changes, saying simply that changing leaders would demonstrate a change of direction to voters.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese mocked the bid in question time, calling it 'extraordinary' that Taylor had not presented any new ideas. Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy noted that Taylor had asked only three defence questions in question time this term, despite serving as shadow defence minister.
Taylor released two social media videos on Wednesday night, one of which was deleted and replaced. In the surviving clip, he stood in a farm paddock with his shirt sleeves rolled up, promising 'a vision for the future' and 'fighting for our values', but offering no specific policies.
Meanwhile, Ley's office posted seven social media graphics promoting slogans like 'aspiration', 'lower taxes', and 'a better future'—the latter being Labor's 2022 election slogan. The opposition appeared distracted and dishevelled as the leadership spill loomed on Friday morning.
