Angus Taylor, who lost the Liberal party’s leadership ballot to Sussan Ley in March, also defended Hastie. “Good on Andrew for making a contribution,” Taylor said on 2GB today.
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Asked about his own leadership ambitions, Taylor said: “We all play leadership roles all the time, and I’ll continue to do that right now. It’s focusing on that defence portfolio, and I think it’s an incredibly important area for our country … That’s my focus right now.”
Vanstone, who was a senator for South Australia from 1984 to 2007, said the Coalition should focus on retaking inner city metropolitan seats. Those seats, such as Wentworth in Sydney and Kooyong in Melbourne, were once strongholds of Vanstone’s moderate faction but are now held by teal MPs.
“I understand Mr Hastie is extraordinarily popular in his own seat,” Vanstone said. “But … if you want to get into government, you cannot get there without winning that middle ground.”
“I have seen quite a few leadership aspirants over my time. And my own experience was that [I] and other colleagues were never impressed with people who went out and shot their mouth off,” the former South Australian senator said.
Asked about the internal issues within the Liberal Party, following recent comments by Hastie criticising his colleagues, Defence Minister Richard Marles said on ABC News Breakfast: “Whatever Andrew Hastie is doing is a matter for the Liberal Party. I mean, we are watching them be very focused on themselves.”
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