Opposition leader slaps down rebel senator’s One Nation plan

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has slapped down his rebel senator Alex Antic after a controversial string of remarks, including a proposal to merge with One Nation.

Antic is angling for the Liberals and One Nation to unite in his home state of South Australia, according to a report by The Sydney Morning Herald, at the same time Taylor ramped up his criticism of Pauline Hanson’s party.

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And while Taylor targeted One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts for his antisemitic and fringe conspiracy theory remarks that resurfaced last week, Antic described Roberts as a “clear thinker” and a “decent bloke”.

Taylor ruled out a deal with One Nation as he fielded questions on Antic at a press conference on Tuesday.

“That that will not be happening; I can assure you of that. The Liberal Party is strong in South Australia, and will remain strong in South Australia, and there won’t be any kind of movement or coalition,” he said.

The opposition leader had formerly left the door open to a potential deal with One Nation as the fringe party recorded an unprecedented surge in popularity in the polls.

He, however, changed his tune when he made his strongest rebuke against One Nation earlier this month and said the party is a “column of smoke” that would “send us broke”.

Taylor on Tuesday was also forced to answer whether it was appropriate that his senator is hosting an event with far-right podcaster Sam Bamford, who raised the idea of a remigration program that would force the deportation of migrants.

Bamford has also criticised Liberal MP Andrew Hastie and came out in support of Hanson after she made remarks about the White Australia policy.

“He’s a Liberal backbencher, he is free to speak to who he wants,” Taylor said.

“But the real point is our plan.”

It is the second time in about a week Taylor has been forced to defend his team for their relationship with Bamford.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who was dumped from the shadow cabinet in September after falsely claiming Labor was prioritising migration from India to skew votes, reposted Bamford’s video that touched on the same claim last week.

Taylor reviewed the post and later said that “a retweet is not an endorsement”.