Angus Taylor would welcome return of Josh Frydenberg to politics but rejects GST increase
In short:
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor says he would welcome back former colleague Josh Frydenberg to the Liberals, if he were to contest a seat at the next federal election.
Mr Taylor has also defended the Coalition's proposed cuts to migration, arguing that more skilled migrants with a higher average income would achieve budget neutrality.
What's next?
The Coalition says it will release more details of its migration plan closer to the election.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor says he would welcome the return of former Liberal treasurer Josh Frydenberg to politics, as he continues to defend the Coalition's newly released migration policy.
On Saturday, Mr Frydenberg released excerpts of his upcoming memoir A Grateful Son, published in The Australian, which included details of his election defeat four years ago.
The former Kooyong MP, who was a leadership frontrunner, fuelled speculation he may contest a seat in the next election as he outlined his vision for Australia.
He urged the Liberal Party to "reclaim" the centre of politics, arguing there was a lack of political courage in Canberra.
Mr Frydenberg proposed several policy changes across energy and AI and a pitch to leverage a portion of state GST revenue based on how many homes were built.
Josh Frydenberg says Canberra lacks political courage. (AAP: James Ross)
When asked whether he would welcome or fear his former colleague's return, Mr Taylor said he needed "every good leader" heading into the next federal election.
"People will play different roles … whether it's just liking Facebook and Instagram posts all the way through to being a candidate," he told Insiders on Sunday.
"But we've all got to mobilise, and I welcome Josh playing whatever role he's able to play."
Mr Taylor immediately added that the Coalition would not adopt Mr Frydenberg's suggestion of raising the GST.
"We will not be raising the GST in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. That we won't do," he said.
"We'll put Australia and Australians first, but we won't be raising taxes.
"I'm a fiscal conservative. I believe in lower taxes, and that's why we'll be giving the tax-back guarantee, lower income taxes for Australians without raising the GST."
Taylor defends budget neutrality of Coalition's migration cuts
Despite economic concerns raised by the business, aged care, education and construction sectors about the Coalition's migration policy, the opposition leader maintained it would be "budget neutral".
Mr Taylor said the policy had not been officially costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office, due to "constraints".
"In terms of analysis, there are limitations on what the parliamentary office can do because of its legislation. It cannot model directly on Labor's policies so we had to give it assumptions to work with," he said.
"That is a constraint, but as we approach the election, we won't have that constraint."
The policy proposes slashing temporary migration by 650,000 places over four years and offsetting the lost tax revenue with 100,000 additional skilled migrants, who would be higher-paid and therefore pay more tax.
He reiterated that aged care, which heavily relies on temporary visas, would be subject to a transitional arrangement that allowed these workers to stay on existing visas for a longer period of time.
"If you cut numbers and raise standards, you can maintain budget neutrality. And you can strengthen the economy because the average income, the average productivity of the person coming into this country rises," he said.
"What's happening under Labor is they are driving economic growth through population growth alone."
Australia's net overseas migration, or NOM, fell to 292,100 people in the year to March, with Labor pursuing a target of 245,000 for this financial year and 225,000 the year after.
Tanya Plibersek says the Coalition needs to go back to the drawing board with its migration policy. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek labelled Mr Taylor's interview a "car crash" and questioned why he could not provide full economic modelling.
"It's disappointing that a once major party of government can't answer basic questions about the economic impact of their policies," she said.
"If you can unite big business and small businesses and farmers and unions, saying your policy will smash the economy, maybe it's time to go back to the drawing board."
Meanwhile, Immigration Minister Tony Burke has warned that bridging visa cuts at the scale proposed by the Coalition would require billions of dollars in infrastructure and workforce investment.
"They need to let us know how many beds, how many compliance officers, and where the new detention centres are going," Mr Burke told News24.
"The numbers they are talking about, we are talking billions and billions of dollars I suspect."