Deputy Says Liberal Party Needs to ‘Rebuild Trust’ After Loss to One Nation

Deputy Liberal Leader Jane Hume has conceded voters are losing trust in her party after One Nation’s historic victory in the Farrer by-election.

One Nation’s David Farley easily won the New South Wales regional seat that the Coalition has held since 1949.

“The community were feeling disillusioned. We’ve heard the message loud and clear. We need to rebuild trust,” Hume said on ABC News Breakfast on May 11.

Hume urged voters to consider Opposition Leader Angus Taylor’s short tenure since taking over the leadership.

“It’s only been 10 weeks that Angus Taylor has been the leader, and fewer than Matt Canavan has been a leader of the National Party. I think that the breaking up of the Coalition twice just in the last 12 months alone has been a pretty devastating breach of trust for the Australian people,” she said.

“They expect a united and strong Coalition. That’s what is in place now, but we pay the price for that breach of trust at the Farrer by-election.”

Resounding Victory

One Nation secured 57.4 percent of the two-party preferred vote after defeating Teal independent Michelle Milthorpe’s 42.6 percent.

On the primary vote, One Nation secured 39.5 percent, ahead of the teal independent on 28.4 percent, while the Liberal Party recorded 12.4 percent and the Nationals 9.7.

The results come amid months of strong polling for the conservative-leaning party, which advocates for capping immigration numbers to 130,000 per year, ending net zero, and opposing strong progressive ideologies.

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce declared his party was coming for the middle-class western Sydney region next.

“This is a dynamic change. And talking to people last night in the western suburbs of Sydney, last night, they’re quite at home with the idea of One Nation being a dominant force in western Sydney. Absolutely 100 percent on board with the idea,” he said on ABC RN Breakfast.

Western Sydney is Australia’s fastest-growing region and is home to a huge multicultural and working class voter base.

Shadow MP Rules Out Formal Alliance

Meanwhile, shadow foreign spokesperson Ted O’Brien ruled out any formal coalition arrangement with One Nation.

“We have no plans for going into a coalition with One Nation. Again, if we focus on the Australian people, if we focus on developing substantive policy, if we focus on removing this very poor Albanese government, that puts us in good stead,” the Liberal MP said on the same program.

O’Brien described One Nation as “a broad movement” doing a “good job of amplifying the problems.”

Albanese Blames Coalition for ‘Legitimising’ One Nation

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese blamed the federal opposition for supporting the conservative party.

“I think the Liberal Party and National Party made a big mistake legitimising One Nation and saying, in adopting many of their policies but a lighter version of them, and then following that up by giving them preferences,” he said on the ABC.

“They were saying effectively that it was okay to vote for One Nation rather than the traditional conservative party. I think also there’s been a great deal of disappointment with the breakup of the Coalition.”