Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor may have held onto his seat with a safe margin, but criticism over his failure to deliver a clear economic agenda for the federal election is growing louder.
Now considered a possible contender to replace Peter Dutton, who lost his seat of Dickson to Labor’s Ali France, Taylor finds himself at the centre of a leadership debate.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers became the latest to publicly question Taylor’s record, following what he called a “diabolical contribution” to the Coalition’s historic defeat.
“I think it will be extraordinary if Angus Taylor was rewarded for one of the worst performances that I have ever seen. It would be very strange if Angus Taylor escaped the blame for the Liberal Party debacle on Saturday,” Chalmers told reporters.
He criticised Taylor for not accepting responsibility for the Coalition’s poor election showing.
“Peter Dutton has stood up and taken some responsibility for that outcome. It is time for Angus Taylor to do the same,” Chalmers added.
According to the latest Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) results, Labor has secured 81 seats, while the Coalition trails with just 39—its weakest showing in decades.
Internal Party Criticism Mounts
Senior Liberal figures have also voiced deep dissatisfaction with Taylor’s performance and questioned his suitability to lead.
NSW Senator Hollie Hughes pointed to the absence of a clear economic policy as a key factor in the Coalition’s election loss.
“I feel that we have zero economic policy to sell. I don’t know what he’s been doing for three years. There was no tax policy, there was no economic narrative, and the fact that we’re in a massive cost of living crisis, and [Treasurer] Jim Chalmers has basically skated through unscathed,” Hughes told ABC Radio.
She dismissed Taylor as a leadership candidate.
“I’ve said it before. I have concerns about his capability,” she said, adding that even Labor MPs were questioning his performance.
Senator Andrew Bragg also weighed in, blaming the party’s defeat on a vacuum of policy ideas rather than campaign tactics.
“You can’t blame a campaign when you don’t have enough policies to offer the community,” he said. “We didn’t do enough on the economy or to capture the centre of Australian public support.”
With Dutton out of the picture, several names are being floated in the race to lead the Liberal Party. Alongside Taylor, Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley, Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie, and Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan are all reportedly in the mix.
