The Liberals have chosen Angus Taylor, a proven liar who is opposed to net zero policies, as the man to lead the parliamentary party.
With that background, it would seem he is more likely to lead them further into oblivion than to victory at the ballot box.
In 2019, Taylor lied repeatedly about a forged document he used to attack Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore.
Taylor also remains dogged by the 2017 $80 million Murray-Darling Basin water buyback from a company he had previously co-founded — a deal widely criticised as overpriced, non-transparent and yielding no environmental water. (Read more about IA's investigative series on Taylor's water rorts here.)
And let's not forget the moment that became a minor internet legend, when Taylor once inadvertently commented ‘Fantastic. Great move. Well done Angus’ on his own social media post – apparently forgetting to switch accounts – before the comment was swiftly deleted.
Taylor and his right-wing colleagues oppose the science-based attempt by Australia to try to reach net zero by 2050.
But a Guardian Essential poll in October 2025 found:
‘Liberal voters want the party to pursue more progressive policies and not spiral further into right-wing positions, according to a new poll that shows far more Australians back a net zero climate target than oppose it.’
And a November YouGov poll found that only ‘13% of Australians think the government should do less to limit the impacts of climate-fuelled extreme weather events’, while 61% ‘think the Federal Government should do more on climate change’.
Taylor was shown to be a liar in 2019 when he was Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction.
He alleged in a letter to the Lord Mayor that the council's annual report showed the council had spent $1.7 million on international travel and $14.2 million on domestic travel. The letter was also given to the Daily Telegraph, which published the figures.
The Lord Mayor checked the report, which showed the council had actually spent less than $6,000 on international and domestic travel.
In Parliament, Mark Butler asked Taylor:
“I refer to his provision of a forged City of Sydney document to The Daily Telegraph in an attempt to influence the Lord Mayor of Sydney in the exercise of her public duty. Will the minister assure the House that this forgery was not made by him or his office?”
To which Taylor answered
“Yes.”
In a press release that was tabled in Parliament on 25 October 2019, Taylor denied that a staffer in his office had altered the document.
On 25 November 2019, the Minister tabled a statement in Parliament stating that neither he nor any of his staff had altered the annual report.
In apologising to the Lord Mayor, Taylor said in a media release:
“The Labor Party has, in typical fashion, dramatically overreached by claiming the documents were forged or altered. There is absolutely no basis for these assertions.”
In December, it was revealed:
‘Liberal staffer Josh Manuatu was on Wednesday identified as the person who obtained the false figures that were used in a Daily Telegraph article that criticised Clover Moore.’
Senator Murray Watt was counting Taylor's lies.
“He has misled the parliament six times, claiming the doctored documents were sourced from the City of Sydney's website.”
Both men have since prospered. Despite the scandal, Manuatu was not sacked and in February 2020 became the Liberals Canberra divisional director. He is now assistant federal director at Liberal Party of Australia.
Steve Bishop is a journalist and author. You can read more from Steve at stevebishop.net.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
Support independent journalism Subscribe to IA.
Related Articles
- Hollie Hughes praises Angus Taylor on ‘absolutely reprehensible’ job: 'Well done, Angus!'
- 'Lame-stream' media lets Angus Taylor's lies go unchecked
- Angus Taylor admits emissions policy was misleading
- Angus Taylor's capacity markets a win for coal industry
- ANDREW P STREET: Questioning Angus Taylor’s sci-fi emissions plan
