Angus Taylor is aiming to use parliament’s winter break to turn around dire polling for the Liberals with an election-style sales pitch across the country.
As MPs prepare to leave Canberra for a five-week break, the opposition is seeking to gain ground on One Nation, which has been outpolling the coalition in recent surveys.
The opposition leader is hopeful a cut through will come from a campaign-style blitz across every state and territory, which will include community and business forums in marginal electorates.
The coalition ends the first half of the parliamentary year trailing Labor and One Nation on a record low 17 per cent of the primary vote, according to Newspoll, causing some MPs behind the scenes to question Mr Taylor’s long-term leadership prospects.
Coalition frontbencher Andrew Hastie, who has been touted as a potential future party leader, denied suggestions he could soon be leaving the Liberals.
He was prepared to take the fight to One Nation, he said.
“I am here to stay and I will recontest the next election. It’s as simple as that,” Mr Hastie told Sydney radio station 2GB on Thursday.
“I’ve decided that I need to fight for the Liberal Party, and if I’m getting attacked by Pauline Hanson and (her chief of staff) James Ashby and Barnaby Joyce, then it looks weak to not respond.”
Mr Hastie has faced online abuse after giving evidence against accused war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith, triggering security upgrades for his house.
The frontbencher said the coalition needed to point out flaws in Labor policies as well as those by One Nation.
“We need to deliver centre-right government for the Australian people. We need to focus on the Australian people’s challenges and problems,” he said.
Liberal MPs also needed to focus on building a narrative voters could relate to, opposition treasury spokesman Tim Wilson told AAP.
“What should our focus be? It should be building out the policy frameworks, to have a story to tell Australians about how we’re going to build a more bright and hopeful Liberal future,” he said.
Labor is also set to use the upcoming break to spruik its budget changes, with housing measures proving to be controversial among business sectors.
The federal government had received a small bounce in the polls after the measures curbing negative gearing and reducing the capital gains tax discount passed parliament with the help of the Greens.
It’s also hoping for similar success for gambling reforms, which were introduced to parliament on Thursday, despite the crossbench coming out against the measures for not going far enough to reduce harm.
Parliament’s final sitting week before the break coincided with the annual Midwinter Ball, where MPs and senators dressed up in their finest.
The black-tie affair raised $370,000 for charity.