Former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in the Senate Courtyard at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on Feb. 23, 2021. Sam Mooy/Getty Images
A former Liberal heavyweight has used an interview to slam his party’s work, while gearing up to make his own political return.
Ex-treasurer Josh Frydenberg used a 60 Minutes interview on Oct. 11 to criticise Angus Taylor’s leadership, which he said had contributed to Liberal polling being at an “all-time low.”
“Things have to change, because there’s something existential about the threat that I think the party now faces,” he said.
Asked whether Taylor would be upset by the criticism, he said: “He’s getting that from lots of corners. People are saying that the Liberal Party needs to do better.”
Excerpts from Frydenberg’s memoir, which is likely to contain policy suggestions, have fuelled rumours that he is planning to make a political comeback.
“Look, I certainly haven’t closed the door, but I don’t need to rush to a decision. The next election is 18 months away,” he told 60 Minutes.
Frydenberg held the seat of Kooyong for 12 years from 2010 and was the Treasurer in the Morrison government, including through COVID-19.
He lost the seat to independent MP Monique Ryan at the 2022 election, in which she won almost 53 percent of the two-party preferred vote.
Ryan appeared unfazed by her competition’s possible return.
“I’m not bothered either way,” she told Nine’s Today Show on Oct. 12.
“Josh does have a track record with the Kooyong community.
“He was the member for that seat for 12 years, and in 2022, our community rejected him because they were so frustrated with his inability to affect any change to government policy on climate change.
“People were unhappy with his economic management.”
Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson encouraged people to “put themselves forward” as candidates to create a stronger Liberal Party.
“I encourage them to do so, so they can be part of a winning team. So we can have an Angus Taylor-led government,” he told ABC Radio National.
“What we need is people who’ve got courage in their hearts and are prepared to make the sacrifices necessary for public office.”
But Taylor will need considerable swings in polling to win. Redbridge polling, released on Oct. 11, showed just 22 percent of those surveyed wanted him as prime minister, compared to 32 percent wanting Anthony Albanese and 26 percent in favour of Pauline Hanson.
By Lucinda Garbutt-Young in Canberra
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