Opposition Leader Angus Taylor blasted over claims in leaked audio

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has suggested overhauling the public service and falsely claimed migrants receive help to buy a home as soon as they arrive in Australia in an explosive hour-long leaked audio.

In remarks made to small businesses at a closed-door event in Queensland on Thursday, Taylor spoke broadly about “bureaucratic waste” and suggested honing in on the Australian Public Service.

“We have agencies across government right now that do not serve the Australian people the way they should. They serve themselves,” he said in the audio leaked from the event and obtained by nine.com.au.

“The number one thing [government agencies] have to focus on is the national interest, is having an economy that works for Australians, a country that works for Australians.

“And if the bureaucracy’s getting in the way of that, they shouldn’t be there. It’s that simple.

“This is a business-like approach to government that we desperately need.”

They are Taylor’s strongest remarks on public service cuts, which was a policy ousted former opposition leader Peter Dutton had to walk back after widespread criticism during the last federal election.

Taylor also made the false claim that the federal government allows migrants to access programs like the 5 per cent home deposit scheme on “the day they arrive in the country”.

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“That does mean we need to make sure that citizenship is rewarded, and it should be Australian citizens who get access to programs like the 5 per cent home deposit scheme,” he said.

“Labor changed this and said, ‘No, no, that’s available to anyone the day they arrive in the country’.”

The 5 per cent home deposit scheme is only available to Australian citizens and permanent residents.

It takes about nine months to several years for new arrivals to achieve permanent residency.

Elsewhere in his address, the opposition leader stated he would ensure the legal definition of a woman is a biological woman, that he only wants to stand in front of Australian flags, and that he would remove the moratorium on nuclear energy.

Nuclear energy was another failed Dutton policy that partly led to the Coalition’s historic election loss.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers criticised Taylor’s remarks, saying: “He invited small business people for breakfast then served them up a buffet of BS.

“Apparently it was a long and boring partisan speech, and by the sounds of it he told a new lie every 10 minutes or so on average.

“No wonder somebody was pissed off enough to leak us a recording.

“This sort of rubbish is exactly why the Liberal Party is dying in his arms.”

Nine.com.au has contacted the opposition leader’s office for further comment.