Liberal minister calling for Coalition shake-up
The Coalition has seen its worst polling numbers in decades; with one party frontbencher saying a complete rebrand of the party is necessary.
Angus Taylor insists he just needs more time to turn the party around, but Shadow Minister for Women Melissa McIntosh told Today she has spoken to the people in her electorate and they are not impressed.
Liberal minister Melissa McIntosh is calling for a Coalition shake-up. Today
“I was out with my community on the weekend and we’re pretty blunt in Penrith, out in Western Sydney, and I guess I was being a bit blunt when I made that statement, but people have asked me ‘what’s the Liberal party doing?’” she told Today.
“They’re feeling a lot of pressure and one of the values of the Liberal party is equal opportunity and I really believe in that people in Western Sydney are feeling like they’re not getting any opportunity to get ahead.
“They’re getting pushed down by the government’s policies and I thought, well, if things aren’t resonating and if people are actually latching on to our policies and believing in that, but they’re not wanting to vote for us, then maybe we need to do something about the brand.”
Melissa told Today she believes in the Liberal party’s values, particularly the way they stick up for small businesses and individuals, but there are certain policies she wants to be reassessed.
“One of the big issues in my patch out in Western Sydney is that immigration levels are just too high and we can’t get enough housing,” she said.
“And Angus announced a policy that will match housing and immigration, so will only bring people into this country if we’ve got enough housing and that actually really resonates with people.
“So I want us to have more cut through on our policies, I worked for John Howard back in the day, and my patch, we were the Howard battlers, we were the Menzies forgotten people, so we are pretty much the heartland of Australia and when the heartland of Australia tells you that you need to get more cut through to get more voters on your side, then you need to listen to the people.”
Where the big players stand with current polling figures
Angus Taylor’s popularity following Sussan Ley’s ousting has dwindled in recent weeks, with the Coalition dropping another two points to 18 per cent.
Labor has regained some ground, juming two percentage points to claim 30 per cent of the primary vote as One Nation fell two points back to 29 per cent.
All of the shifts were within the margin of error of 3.5 per cent.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor during question time at Parliament House in Canberra Alex Ellinghausen
The big movements were seen in the popularity of party leaders, particularly Hanson, whose net approval rating fell 10 points to minus 10 per cent. Taylor fell another five points to minus nine and Albanese gained one point to sit at minus 18.
The poll had Labor comfortably leading the Coalition on a two-party-preferred basis but didn’t compare the government and One Nation.
Albanese’s status as preferred prime minister increased by two percentage points to 33 per cent while just 23 per cent wanted Hanson and 11 per cent opted for Taylor.
We’d love to hear from you
