‘Smarmy management consultant’: Pauline Hanson slams Angus Taylor during CPAC

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has acknowledged the Coalition let conservative voters down as he and Pauline Hanson made competing pitches for support at a conference in Brisbane.

Taylor used his address to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday to confront the Coalition’s recent record, as One Nation continues to eat into its supporter base.

“Your frustrations about where we let you down in the recent past are understandable and reasonable,” Taylor said.

One Nation has become an increasingly serious electoral threat to both major parties, with a recent RedBridge Group/Accent Research poll putting it on 29 per cent of the primary vote, ahead of Labor on 28 per cent.

Hanson used her own appearance at CPAC to argue voters should ditch the Coalition, while also signalling she would work alongside the Liberals and Nationals to oust Labor.

She took aim at both men during her speech.

“Australians despise Albanese and his corrupt labour government [but] they don’t want some smarmy management consultant taking his place either.”

Taylor rejected the focus on individual leaders, amid Hanson’s growing popularity, arguing the Coalition’s case to voters would rest on the wider team.

“Good government isn’t built around one figure. You need a strong team,” he said.

Nationals Leader Matt Canavan also urged conservative parties to keep their attention on shunning Labor rather than in-fighting.

“Let’s not get distracted on side quests. Let’s focus on the main game of removing Labor members of parliament.”

Energy Minister Chris Bowen seized on the contest between the Coalition and One Nation, accusing the parties of competing for the same conservative voters.

“We’re gonna see a whole bunch of crazy over the next few days as the Liberal Party and the One Nation Party try to outdo each other on the race to the right.”

While conservative parties locked horns for votes at CPAC, Anthony Albanese took a different approach.

The Prime Minister appeared in a comedy sketch with social media duo Swag on the Beat, playing the father of a young woman introducing her boyfriend.

“Hello darling! Dad!” the pair said in the video.

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Albanese then joked about the government’s changes to student debt, telling the boyfriend: “IF you hurt her, I’ll reinstate your HECS debt”.

The video attracted criticism from Liberal MP Phil Thompson.

“What a little weirdo… I thought it was AI when I first saw it,” Thompson said.

Bowen defended politicians appearing in less traditional formats as part of communicating with voters in 2026.