‘One person show’: Angus Taylor criticises Pauline Hanson, One Nation as party ‘without direction’

Federal Liberal Leader Angus Taylor says One Nation is a “one-person show”, in a direct dig at Pauline Hanson — the woman who wants to be prime minister.

Addressing the party faithful at a Liberal Party convention in Brisbane, Mr Taylor said One Nation was “without direction and without a team”.

“We’ve all seen the growth of One Nation in recent times,” Mr Taylor said. “But the truth of One Nation is it’s a one-person show, always on the edge of disruption. This is a one-person show, and it’s one without a direction and without a team.”

The Federal Coalition is now, according to polling, the third party of choice for Australians.

Newspoll this week showed support for Labor was 33 per cent, with One Nation at 29 per cent and the Liberal/National Coalition at an historic low of 17 per cent.

Satisfaction with Mr Taylor crashed to its lowest level since replacing Sussan Ley as Liberal leader earlier this year, with 31 per cent of Australians satisfied with his performance compared with 51 per cent dissatisfied and 18 per cent uncommitted.

The Newspoll showed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had extended his lead to 11 points over Mr Taylor on who voters thought would make the better PM.

Ms Hanson has repeatedly said she wants to do a preference deal with the Liberals ahead of the Federal election.

She has also said she was willing to combine with the Liberals/Nationals to help form government at the next poll, scheduled for 2028.

But Mr Taylor is trying to stem the flow of votes from the Liberals to One Nation.

In his speech, Mr Taylor praised the resource-rich States of Queensland and Western Australia for their contribution to the economy.

In WA, the Liberals hold just four out of 16 Federal seats.

“I have long believed that the resources states, Queensland and Western Australia in particular, have made an enormous contribution to this country, which is not always recognised,” Mr Taylor said.

Mr Albanese on Saturday headed to the New South Wales Labor conference, where he had a go at the Liberals’ decision to appoint former prime minister Tony Abbott as national president of the Liberal Party.

“Now, in case you missed it, in Canberra last week, the Liberal Party were also talking about change — changing their name, changing their logo, changing their brand,” Mr Albanese said.

“Because in the words of one shadow minister ‘some people think we are stuck in the past’.

“It’s hard to know precisely what might have created that impression, but I don’t think appointing Tony Abbott as their national president helped.”