Angus Taylor was installed to save the Coalition. But as One Nation rises, is he leading them to disaster?

The opposition leader’s response on multiculturalism prompts concern over how he is managing the party’s biggest challenge

• Get our https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?CMP=cvau_sfl">breaking news email, https://app.adjust.com/w4u7jx3">free app or https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/series/full-story?CMP=cvau_sfl">daily news podcast

In a closed-door meeting of Liberal MPs on Tuesday morning, Angus Taylor tried to spur his colleagues to start actively recruiting members to rebuild the party’s depleted rank and file.

According to five sources, Taylor told MPs to start “stacking” the party with members, a politically loaded term typically used to describe mass recruitment drives for the purpose of influencing candidate preselections.

The sources said there was even a shoutout to the hard-right Liberal senator https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/jul/20/liberal-party-south-australia-power-player-alex-antic-reshaping-conservative-politics-ntwnfb">Alex Antic, who gained effective control of the South Australian division after encouraging churchgoers and anti-government sceptics to join the party in droves.