Getting down in the mud with Pauline Hanson won’t help Angus Taylor – but principled policy could | Tom McIlroy

The Coalition should seek differentiation from One Nation with policies like the indexation proposal rather than the crass convenience of grievance politics Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast In the hours after Angus Taylor delivered his budget reply on Thursday night, Labor figures shared a grainy photo of the opposition leader shaking hands with Pauline Hanson. If Hanson’s shock of red hair looked out of place in the House of Representatives, the rest of the photo was just as confusing. Behind Taylor on the opposition frontbench are Barnaby Joyce, who quit the Coalition months ago, as well as Sussan Ley, Michael Sukkar and David Coleman – all Liberals no longer in parliament. An AI fever dream, the image was created and shared on social media to reinforce the idea that Hanson is the real opposition leader in Australia today. The not subtle message was that Taylor’s proposals to cut migration, restrict welfare payments for permanent residents and wind back net zero policies are all about stopping the One Nation rot currently afflicting the Coalition. Taylor might argue his new – and forcefully put – stances will be politically popular, but most a