Tony Abbott says Australia is Judaeo-Christian but warns Angus Taylor about being One Nation-lite
Former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott has implored newly minted Coalition leader Angus Taylor to ensure the Liberal Party does not become One Nation-lite, but also to be strong on immigration.
Mr Taylor took the Liberal leadership in a Friday morning partyroom meeting — which he won by 34 votes to 17 — before Ms Ley announced she would soon leave parliament entirely.
In the lead-up to the spill, polls showed the Coalition was lagging not only behind the governing Labor Party, but also One Nation.
Mr Abbott backed Mr Taylor to arrest that slide but warned him against becoming a watered-down version of the party led by Pauline Hanson and bolstered by the recruitment of former National Party leader Barnaby Joyce.
Pauline Hanson and One Nation have enjoyed a rise in popularity of late. (ABC News: Kenji Sato)
"I think it's a quite different One Nation today than it was in the late 1990s," Mr Abbott told 7.30.
"I think that Pauline Hanson is a much mellower person now than she was then.
"I want to make this very clear, the Liberal Party should not be Labor-lite. We should not be teal-lite. We should not be One Nation-lite.
"We should be strongly liberal, the Liberal Party of Menzies and Howard.
"I think that's the best way to deal with the challenge from all the various parties, including One Nation."
'Door shut' but how?
Senator Hanson has claimed no party will be as strong on immigration policy as hers, but on Friday morning Mr Taylor made it a key note in his first press conference as party leader.
Angus Taylor is the new leader of the Coalition. (ABC News: Stuart Carnegie)
"Our borders have been opened to people who hate our way of life, people who don't want to embrace Australia and want Australia to change for them," Mr Taylor said.
"As Australians we're less free. It shouldn't be this way … if someone doesn't subscribe to our core beliefs, the door must be shut."
Mr Abbott, who campaigned to "stop the boats" when he successfully ran for prime minister in 2013 and whose policy was effectively adopted by former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak in 2024, believes Mr Taylor must act on that.
"I want the Liberal Party to have the best possible immigration policy and that will mean smaller numbers and it will also mean a much bigger emphasis on Australian values," Mr Abbott, told 7.30.
"I think we need to put far more emphasis on our unity and not nearly as much on our diversity and by encouraging national pride and respecting national symbols like the flag."
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that net migration was 306,000 in 2024-25, down from 429,000 the year before.
Mr Abbott asserted that number had to drop further.
"I spoke about this in detail and I thought that we should go back to the average of the Howard years, which was about 100,000 a year," he said.
"In the last few years, it's averaged close to half a million, that's far too many.
"It's put downward pressure on wages, upward pressure on housing costs, massive strain on infrastructure, and there have been issues with social cohesion."
That message echoed Mr Taylor's but Mr Abbott said they had not spoken about it.
Abbott's Australia is 'Anglo-Celtic and Judaeo-Christian'
Asked about limiting immigration from predominantly Muslim countries, Mr Abbott said there needed to be a commitment to values.
Angus Taylor and Jane Hume have swept to the top of the Coalition. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
"I certainly think that we ought to make it crystal clear that everyone coming to Australia as a long-term resident has got to accept Australian values," Mr Abbott said.
"There are many people who happen to be Muslim who absolutely accept Australian values and are wonderful Australians but if you are deeply committed to a caliphate, if you are deeply committed to Sharia law, if on the other hand you are deeply committed to the leading role of the Communist Party of China, well it's going to be very hard for you to fit in.
"The important thing is to make sure that our immigration program is working not just in the best interests of migrants, but in the best interests of Australians.
"Every country has a right to keep its character.
"Our character is essentially Anglo-Celtic and Judaeo-Christian. That's what has made our country attractive to migrants, and we should keep it that way."
Mr Abbott said in his view Australia needed to look to its past immigration policies, including assimilation, which he was a fan of.
Sussan Ley has announced she will leave parliament after losing the Liberal leadership. (ABC News: Callum Flinn)
"I think there are serious concerns about multiculturalism that's run off the rails," he said.
"I quite liked the way our immigration policy was run in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, where there was an expectation on integration from day one and ultimately assimilation."
Asked on 7.30 if he agreed with Mr Abbott, Coalition MP Dan Tehan parried the question.
"We always get plenty of free advice in politics, but ultimately in the end, the people who set the policy agenda are the parliamentary party," Mr Tehan said.
"It'll be Angus as the leader who will set the direction of our immigration policy."
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