Updated ,first published
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has dismissed frontbencher Andrew Hastie’s call to keep an open mind about Labor’s proposed tax hikes, putting two of the opposition’s most senior members at odds and handing Prime Minister Albanese an opportunity to wedge them.
Two Liberal sources, who asked for anonymity to address internal conversations, said Taylor spoke to Hastie on Monday about the frontbencher’s remarks in an interview on Sunday, and the perception of disunity they provoked.
Hastie, the party’s deputy in the House of Representatives, called for a step change in the Coalition’s economic posture on Sunday, breaking with Taylor’s firm line opposing Labor tax hikes. The debate fuelled chatter among Liberal MPs about how many months it might take until they looked to Hastie as a leadership alternative.
Taylor, who has an economics background and beat Hastie to the leadership in February, pushed back, dismissing the call to examine revenue measures put up by Labor before the May budget.
Taylor declared on Monday that any moves to ditch property tax breaks and create a windfall tax for gas firms would slash housing supply and hurt the economy.
“If you whack a tax on something, you get less of it. And right now, I want to see more crude oil. I want to see more gas. I want to see more houses,” Taylor said.
Without directly mentioning Hastie’s remarks, Taylor responded to a series of questions about Hastie by rubbishing the economic thinking underpinning the tax hike proposals.
Taylor added: “You don’t get more of those things by raising taxes, so it’s pretty straightforward for me.”
Taylor has been unequivocal in his public statements on Labor’s tax changes, telling this masthead last month that the suite of proposed measures would represent an “assault on aspiration”.
The tough line meant that Hastie’s comments were perceived as a diversion from the leader’s stance, although it was not a clear breach of party policy when formal policies have not been endorsed.
Arguing the era of neoliberal politics was dead on Sunday, Hastie said his party should show humility as it made decisions on intergenerational inequality at a time when many voters were struggling to break into the housing market.
“We got smashed in 2022; we got smashed in 2025 … So I think adopting a posture of humility and being open-minded is important,” he said.
One MP said Hastie’s honesty in the interview was refreshing and should not be confused for an attempt to cause trouble for Taylor, but another MP who likes Hastie said the episode had diminished the 43-year-old because very few colleagues were open to supporting Labor’s tax moves. Taylor and Hastie remain on good terms despite the tensions.
Hastie was keen to run as leader last month, but Taylor and other right-wingers convinced the former soldier to step out of the race to give the more experienced MP a clear run.
Albanese weaponised Hastie’s interview in question time, citing the West Australian’s supported in principle for Labor’s new legislation to help companies buy expensive shipments of fuel.
“In principle, this makes sense. We’ll look at the bill; these are big and extraordinary powers, but we are in extraordinary times, and we’ll just make sure that it’s fit for purpose,” Hastie said.
Albanese, under pressure from the opposition in question time on Monday, used Hastie’s measured remarks to portray the rest of the opposition as unreasonable in blaming the government for the fuel crisis.
“I welcome the fact there is someone over there who does recognise these are extraordinary times,” Albanese said.
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Paul Sakkal is Chief Political Correspondent. He previously covered Victorian politics and won a Walkley award and the 2025 Press Gallery Journalist of the Year. Contact him securely on Signal @paulsakkal.14.Connect via X or email.