Angus Taylor talks immigration, tax policy in first TV interview since becoming federal Liberal leader

New federal Opposition Leader Angus Taylor believes in lower personal income taxes, he says, ahead of intense speculation on the Liberal Party’s approach to tax reform under his stewardship. Mr Taylor, who served as shadow treasurer under Peter Dutton, has previously come under fire for lacklustre economic policies taken by the Liberals to the last election. This includes his opposition to Labor’s income tax reforms, which Mr Taylor has since labelled as the wrong call, after it clashed with the Liberal Party’s foundational principle of being the party of lower taxes. While Mr Taylor on Sunday, declined to go into an analysis of the election campaign, he pointed to media reports of his support for lower personal income taxes. “We made a mistake in the election campaign … Now, we do need to be the party of lower taxes,” he told Sky News Sunday Agenda. “We need to convince Australians that we will be the party of lower taxes, and we will take a strong, strong policy package to the next (election),” he said. That package would focus on reducing inflation and interest rates, “restoring Australian standard of living”, alongside reining in government spending, he said. When asked how he would curb spending, Mr Taylor did not rule out culling public service jobs – one of Mr Dutton’s most controversial proposals during the federal election. “Well, look, I’m not going to announce all our policies today, but what I will say is government has to be fit for purpose,” he said. “It has to be effective. It has to be able to deliver the services that Australians want and deserve, and that will be our focus.” Immigration about values, not race, religion: Taylor Earlier, he refused to single out Australian Muslims after being grilled on immigration policy and reiterated Australia was a “great immigrant nation”. Immigration has become a flashpoint in the debate over Australia’s national security following the worst terrorist attack on Australian soil, despite one of the alleged Bondi gunmen being Australian-born, while the other, an Indian national, who arrived more than two decades ago with no history of radicalisation or violence. Asked if the Liberals would introduce a discriminatory policy against Muslim immigrants, Mr Taylor said: “Well, I think there’s no doubt that Australians reject Islamist extremism. There’s no question about that.” “But right here, where I am, in Oran Park (in Western Sydney), we have many moderate, sensible Muslims who absolutely reject what happened at Bondi,” he said. “They think it is appalling, and they want to be part of the Australian way of life.” He added: “But look more generally, I would say that this is not about any particular race or religion. “It is about people who accept our way of life. And this is what I firmly believe Australians want to see. Peak Islamic bodies, including the Australian National Imams Council, have repeatedly warned the conflation of Australian Muslims with the Bondi massacre, and similar divisive political rhetoric, has led to a sharp rise in violent anti-Muslim hatred towards the community. Earlier, Mr Taylor was grilled on details of the Liberals’ immigration proposal. “Our focus is on bringing people to this country who believe in our values, who come here because they know this is the greatest nation on Earth,” he said. “They want to contribute, and they want to be part of our way of life. “Now, if they reject our core beliefs, if they reject our focus on democracy, the rule of law, obeying the law, our basic freedoms, freedom of speech, freedom of religion. If they reject those things, the door must be shut.” But the importance of skilled migrants, in particular, was emphasised by Senator Hume in a later interview with ABC’s Insiders. Asked about the Coalition’s previous promise to cull migration by 100,000 and whether Australia needed fewer or more skilled workers, she said: “Well, we know that skilled workers have add so much to our way of life.” “They’ve contributed so much to our society and to our economy. We know we need skilled migrants,” she said. “This is not about shutting the door to everybody. That’s a simple slogan for parties of grievance. Instead, a Liberal immigration agenda would focus on a “well-managed migration program” that brings in the required skills, while lowering the total number of immigrants in Australia. The latter was required to “allow our infrastructure, our health care, our roads and housing, to have a breather, to catch up to where we to where we are,” she said. Criticism of immigration comes despite the Australian Bureau of Statistics reporting net overseas migration had fallen by 124,000 in 2024-25, for the second time since a peak in 2022-23. The ABS attributes this fall to both a 14 per cent decrease in migrant arrivals, particularly temporary visa holders, and a 13 per cent increase in migrant departures.