Coalition banks on economy to win back One Nation votes

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor will seek to position the coalition as the better economic managers in a major speech as voters flee from the two major parties.

Addressing the Sydney Institute on Thursday night, Mr Taylor will present analysis arguing Labor’s policies are driving lower productivity and poorer living standards which are worsening cost of living pressures for Australians.

The speech comes as the coalition has crashed to record lows in opinion polls, losing ground to One Nation.

Mr Taylor is aiming to return to the traditional stronghold for the coalition of the economy, as Liberals aim to tackle the surge in support for Pauline Hanson’s party, as well as catch up to the government in the polls.

“Under Labor, government has gotten bigger and Australians have gotten poorer, that is the brutal truth,” he said ahead of the speech.

“More spending, more bureaucracy and more public sector workers have not delivered better services or higher living standards.

“Instead the prime minister has delivered the biggest fall in living standards in the developed world.”

Mr Taylor will say the opposition will reduce government spending, end mass migration by capping it below the number of homes being built, and deliver automatic tax cuts each year through its plan to index tax rates to inflation.

“The coalition has a plan for a fairer, freer and better Australia where we will restore Australians’ standard of living and protect our way of life,” he says.

Mr Taylor will say federal government spending has risen from 24.3 per cent of GDP in 2022/23, to 26.6 per cent of GDP in 2025/26, the highest level outside the COVID pandemic since 1986/87.

While the coalition acknowledges weak productivity growth remains a challenge for many advanced economies, they argue Australia’s almost five per cent fall since March 2022 is a nation-unique failure.

The economic pitch comes amid dire opinion polling showing support for the coalition is continuing to fall to record lows.

Meanwhile, support for One Nation has surged, at one point snagging a higher primary vote than Labor, and Senator Hanson polling as the preferred prime minister.

But One Nation has seen a softening in its support following Senator Hanson’s first address to the National Press Club in Canberra in June, where she called for Australia to become a monoculture.