Taylor deflects questions on Liberals’ poor result for WA seat predominately in Hastie’s electorate

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor deflected questions about the Liberals’ poor by-election result in Secret Harbour — a WA seat which predominately sits in his frontbencher Andrew Hastie’s federal electorate of Canning.

One Nation’s Luke Herdegen comfortably won with 57 per cent of the two-candidate preferred count to Labor’s 42 per cent for candidate Georgia Tree.

It had been a clear Labor-One Nation contest for the coastal, outer-suburban electorate with the Liberal candidate in the State race claimed just 17 per cent of the primary vote.

But fielding his first questions at a press conference in Canberra on the by-election result, Mr Taylor on Thursday deflected to his Coalition junior party leader Matt Canavan.

Mr Taylor had been asked what the underwhelming result said about the Liberal party federally, especially in seats like Secret Harbour — a classic outer-suburban mortgage belt dominated by young families, tradies, and a largely Anglo residents.

But instead, the Liberal leader sidestepped for Senator Canavan to answer — whose Nationals party didn’t have a candidate in the seat and hasn’t had a federal member in WA since 2013.

“I accept results. That’s what I do,” Senator Canavan said.

“Like we had an election last year. What have we done? We’ve accepted it, and we’ve tried to change tack, and we’re trying to get better. And look, ultimately, I have to be up to the Australian people to decide that.

“I don’t blame the people for election results, and that’s effectively what the Labor Party has done here.”

Senator Canavan has also accused Labor of blaming populist-driven social media algorithms for the by-election loss in WA.

When Mr Taylor was prompted to respond directly because the issue concerned a Liberal candidate, he deflected, saying, “Let’s keep it moving.”

It comes as his Liberal colleague Mr Hastie has intensify his fight against Pauline Hanson in the fortnight since the Secret Harbour poll, which took place on August 29.

While the Canning MP has previously expressed strong criticism for One Nation, the rift deepened this week as he publicly voiced claims the party called him a “traitor.”

The former SAS captain has labelled Senator Hanson and her MP Barnaby Joyce “lying cowards” after they denied calling him a “traitor” in the party’s satirical Please Explain cartoon.

When asked in the press conference on Thursday about the video, Mr Taylor came to Mr Hastie’s defence and said it should be “taken down”.

While his leader ignored questions about the party’s standing in the WA, Mr Hastie told ABC Perth radio on Thursday that he was “not spooked” by One Nation’s sweeping victory in his patch.

“I’m not spooked. I could lose it to them, absolutely,” Mr Hastie conceded.

“But that’s not what I’m worried about. I’m worried about my reputation, my family’s name, and the veterans without a voice who have – by connection with me – been called traitors to their country.

“Politics comes and goes. I’m very glad to represent Canning.

“I’ve got a wonderful community, and I’ll serve as long as they ask me to.

“But this isn’t about political point scoring. This is an issue of principle.”

Mr Hastie said he was “hugely sympathetic” to people in his area who made a protest vote in the by-election, acknowledging people were struggling with cost-of-living and infrastructure issues under Labor.

“I’m not surprised because people in the outer metropolitan parts of Australia have been overlooked for a long time,” he said.

“They want a better deal, and the parties of government need to get a better plan for the Australian people.”

WA Liberal Senator Dean Smith defended Mr Hastie as a “very strong and effective local member” on Wednesday, adding it was premature to predict how these results would play out across the country.

“Even Andrew’s opponents would agree that Andrew is a very, very strong and effective local member,” he told ABC.

“The election is not today. It can be held as early as August next year and as late as May the following year.

“I think Andrew Hastie’s track record speaks volumes, and we can have a high level of confidence that he’ll be working hard to win his seat.

“I’ve got every confidence of the West Australian Liberal Party, not just in a seat like Canning, but in seats like Pearce and other seats across the state.

“We’ll be working very, very hard to make sure that we can build the trust of the West Australian electorate so that we can perform well at the next poll.”

Western Australian Electoral Commission on Wednesday officially declared the results of the Secret Harbour poll, which had been sparked when veteran Labor minister Paul Papalia resigned.

While the electorate has changed name and shape over the years, Secret Harbour was considered a Labor heartland after holding it since at least 1989.