Leader admits lost trust as by-election struggle looms
Andrew Brown |
The federal opposition leader admits the coalition holding on to Farrer will be a tough ask as voters head to the polls in a crucial by-election.
Voters are casting ballots on Saturday to replace former opposition leader Sussan Ley in parliament following her resignation.
While the southwest NSW electorate has been held by coalition parties since the seat’s creation in 1949, the contest is looming as a showdown between One Nation’s David Farley and independent Michelle Milthorpe.
Should One Nation win, it will be the first time the minor party has taken a seat in the lower house at an election, while Ms Milthorpe is seeking to win after coming close to unseating Ms Ley at the 2025 poll.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said it would still take time for the Liberal Party to regain standing with the broader community.
“(Winning) was always going to be a hard task, but we’ve got an absolutely brilliant candidate in Raissa (Butkowski),” he told reporters in Albury on Friday.
“There’s no question that there has been some lost trust with the Liberal Party and the National Party here and across Australia in recent times.”
Mr Farley said he was confident of a One Nation victory.
“Australia is ready for change. And what does that change they want? They want accountability from government,” he told reporters.
“They want responsibility from government. But more importantly, they want aspiration back.”
The comments came after a video emerged of Liberal senator James Paterson in a scuffle outside a pre-poll centre in Albury with a One Nation volunteer.
The Liberals have been running campaign ads on Mr Farley’s political past in Farrer following revelations he had previously tried to run for Labor.
Mr Farley said the Liberal senator had goaded the volunteer into the reaction and was a “mongrel dog” for doing so.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson said Mr Farley had not been a member of Labor.
“Regardless of it, everyone out there who’s voting this election, a lot of people never voted for One Nation before. They’ve been associated with some other political party before One Nation,” she told Sky News.
“I’m sick of the dirty games constantly being directed at One Nation all the time because they know they’re losing their support.
“They know they’re losing the votes and they can’t handle it.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Farrer by-election would be a critical test for the Liberals and Nationals.
Labor is not running a candidate.
“What we’re really seeing though here is the demise of the Liberal and National parties,” he told reporters in Melbourne.
“This is a seat where the Liberal Party was formed when Robert Menzies went and had the meeting in Albury.
“If the Liberal Party can’t win a seat held by its leader at the beginning of the year … then that would be extraordinary.”
AAP