Reality is coming fast for Angus Taylor. The next step for the Liberals is extinction

June 11, 2026 — 5:00am

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Time flies when you’re not having fun. On Friday, Angus Taylor will have notched up four months as Liberal leader. How’s he going? Not so well. The highly educated Taylor appears to have believed he was making a serious point about declining trust in politicians when he said earlier this week that the Coalition was suffering a loss of support to One Nation because the Albanese government had broken promises on tax in the budget.

“That’s damaging both sides of politics. We are paying part of the price for it,” he said. OK, but what about the freefall in Coalition support and One Nation’s corresponding rise in the polls before the May 12 budget? Or the 3.9 per cent fall in the Coalition’s primary vote at last year’s election? And the 5.7 per cent drop at the election before that in 2022?

Surely Taylor, as a senior minister in the Morrison government, shadow treasurer for three years leading up to last year’s election and then opposition defence minister until taking over as leader in February, might have had a role in some of that.

The truth is that the Coalition parties and the Liberals in particular have been undermining themselves for quite a while. They are now in the departure lounge after driving themselves to the airport. The drive took close to 20 years. They might find a way to remain on the ground, but it will take courage, hard work and a fair amount of luck.

A key reason the drift to One Nation is hurting the Coalition more than........

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