LATIKA M BOURKE: Sussan Ley’s leadership has been a disaster so why should Angus Taylor bother?

Angus Taylor quit the frontbench on Wednesday night, setting up a challenge to Sussan Ley for the Liberal leadership, which could see him become the leader by Friday.

Following the last election, where Peter Dutton led the Opposition to its worst-ever electoral position in history, the Coalition is behaving like a chook in the period after it has had its head cut off and before keeling over dead.

The Liberals are fighting for their survival from their weakest-ever position.

But for what? And why? Because what is the point of the Coalition these days, and by extension, what is the point of Angus Taylor?

In the event the Opposition even registers in voters’ minds, these are the questions they will be asking and the ones that Angus Taylor must answer, and well, if, as is expected, he takes on the leadership.

As this column noted when Mr Taylor lost to Ms Ley after last year’s election wipeout, both were mediocre options, and the last nine months will not have dissuaded either’s critics of their views.

Ms Ley’s nine months in the job have not been a total disaster; it is just that, like her two-decades-long political career, she has been a non-entity.

There is every reason to expect that Mr Taylor follows in her footsteps.

His fight is even harder than hers. Having served in government and authored the Coalition’s now dumped net zero policy, and been the shadow treasurer to go to the last election advocating for higher taxes than Labor, the base, which is abandoning the Coalition for One Nation, has little reason to find him a conviction politician. And given he gave Ms Ley nine months to perform or be benched, he should expect to meet the same KPIs.

In truth, the Liberals’ woes suit a cleanskin — someone who was not part of past cabinets and with as much distance from Peter Dutton as possible.

Andrew Hastie, who worries his colleagues with his penchant for a born-again MAGA style of politics, has withdrawn from the contest after failing to secure the numbers.

While Mr Hastie is not the only Liberal who fits the above bill, for now, Mr Taylor is the only contender. He has to answer the same questions Sussan Ley could not, but in an even tougher environment, now that too many of the Coalition’s voters are thinking maybe Pauline Hanson was right all along.

How does Mr Taylor plan to appeal to urban, migrant and women voters (all the ones that don’t really like the Liberals these days but decide elections) whilst staving off the populist One Nation and renegade Nationals to the right?

Just being Angus won’t be enough. His opening shots were lacklustre.

“We can’t mince with words, the Liberal Party is at the worst position it has been since 1944 when the party was born,” he said.

“That is a confronting reality and we cannot ignore it,’ Taylor said.

“We have failed to hold a bad Labor government to account.

“I don’t believe Sussan Ley is in a position to be able to lead the party as it needs to be led, from here.”

Mr Taylor spoke of the need for strong leadership, clear direction and a “courageous focus on our values”. That’s nice.

But platitudes won’t win elections. And he conveniently overlooks his own role in crafting the policies that have led the Coalition to the precipice.

His first offering as leader will have to address this. A little honesty and contrition about his own failures will go a long way.

But what he says about the future is the most important part, specifically about how the Coalition plans to tackle the cost of living and inflation. Whether it has the guts to take on Labor’s welfare spending and possesses the campaigning machinery to combat the formidable ‘Liberals cut your Medicare’ campaign at the next election.

How will they pay to boost defence spending and get the prime minister on the backfoot on national security, a key Coalition strength?

What is the plan to get housing going and fast?

Australian politics has been addicted to bloodlust for more than a decade. It has fed a messiah-complex, that the right leader will absolve all sins past.

But this is wrong. The proof is Anthony Albanese. The Prime Minister doesn’t exactly inspire greatness. He’s a brilliant wedge politician, but policy-wise, a careful incrementalist who defaults to increasing public spending and dressing up expanded welfare as cost-of-living measures.

It’s not political wizardry, but it is electorally effective, as the last election result shows. Additionally, the prime minister fields a strong Cabinet that is highly capable, steady and publicly loyal.

The Liberals, wiped of nearly all of their urban talent, do not have this luxury. If there is to be a reboot and a fightback, fewer hands will have to do more and more effectively.

That’s possible. But Angus Taylor as leader should not be viewed as a salvation. In striking against Sussan Ley, he needs to prove himself within weeks, not months, and show how he can dislodge Anthony Albanese from his glide path of becoming Labor’s longest-serving prime minister.