Federal election: Everything to know about Liberal minister Angus Taylor
With the next Federal Election coming soon, Yahoo News Australia addresses the questions people are asking about Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, Angus Taylor.
How old is Angus Taylor?
Angus Taylor was born on 30 September 1966, making him 55 years old.
Where did Angus Taylor grow up?
Mr Taylor was born to Anne and Peter Taylor, who raised him and his three brothers on a sheep farm ‘Bobingah’ close to the Australian alps in NSW.
He was educated at Nimmitabel Public School then, as a boarder, at the prestigious King's School in Parramatta in Sydney.
Who is Angus Taylor married to? Does he have children?
Mr Taylor lives near Goulburn on a farm with his wife, Sydney barrister and law lecturer Louise Clegg, and their four children. They moved to the area from Woollahra six months before Mr Taylor was pre-selected for the seat of Hume in May 2012.
When did Angus Taylor enter politics?
Mr Taylor was elected to the seat of Hume at the 2013 federal election following the retirement of sitting member Alby Shultz.
His wife stepped back from her career to run his election campaign, which he reportedly backed with his own funds. Mr Taylor was elected as Member for Hume with over 61 per cent of the two-party preferred vote and over 54 per cent of the primary vote.
What political positions has Angus Taylor held?
Before the 2016 election Mr Taylor was sworn in as the assistant minister to the prime minister for cities and digital transformation. With the Turnbull government returned to power on a reduced majority, Mr Taylor was brought to the front bench as minister for law enforcement and cybersecurity.
In 2018, Mr Taylor was sworn in as minister for energy, where he attracted criticism for his dismissal of renewable energy due to its cost and lack of accountability for Australia not meeting its obligations under the Paris Agreement.
His performance prompted Labor leader in the senate Penny Wong to say: "I don't think there's been a climate minister, energy minister who's been more anti-renewable than Angus Taylor.”
Mr Taylor, who is a member of the right faction of the Liberal Party, resigned from his ministry in August, 2018 after fellow right member Peter Dutton challenged PM Malcolm Turnbull for the Liberal leadership. He was later reappointed as energy minister by surprise leadership winner Scott Morrison.
What did Angus Taylor do before entering politics?
Mr Taylor graduated with a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney. He later went on to win a Rhodes scholarship to study a Master of Philosophy in Economics at New College, Oxford.
He then started a career in consulting for the next 20 years. He helped create various successful businesses in the agricultural sector such as Fonterra, Growth Farms, Eastern Australia Irrigation (EAI) and digital agribusiness Farmshed. While touted as years ahead if its time, Farmshed went bust with losses of several million dollars.
He was also a director in several companies such as cotton company Eastern Australia Agriculture (EAA) and Australian management consulting firm Port Jackson Partners. EAA was implicated in a water deal in 2019, where the company received a huge boost of cash from a water licence sale. Mr Taylor denied he had benefited from the deal as he had ended his relationship with the company in 2009.
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Who is running against Angus Taylor in the next election?
Semi-retired teacher Penny Ackery has been tipped by former independent heavyweight Tony Windsor as being capable of rolling Angus Taylor in his seat of Hume at the next federal election.
Ms Ackery is among a slew of female independents raising their hand to run in Coalition-held seats.
She is backed by local groups Vote Angus Out and Voices of Hume, who are pitching her as the "community independent for Hume."
Ms Ackery is running on the message of bringing accountability back to government and their local representatives, telling local newspaper The Wollondilly Advertiser that “They (the community) feel their needs are not always being met... They want to talk about it and have action taken. They want change on how they're represented."
This general discontent with government representatives in their local areas, which is apparent right across Australia, added to the scandals Mr Taylor has faced makes him very vulnerable at the next election.
What controversies has Angus Taylor been involved in?
Mr Taylor’s stellar business background attracted praise from former Liberal PM John Howard, who encouraged him to run for parliament. Once elected in 2013 he rose to the higher ranks of the Liberal party, but a series of scandals have taken the shine off a man once tipped to rise even further in the party ranks.
Watergate
Mr Taylor was accused of using $80 million of taxpayers' money to buy water licences from two Queensland properties owned by EAA in 2017.
To add to the murkiness of the deal, $52 million profited from the sale was squirrelled away in EAA’s Cayman Islands account.
While Mr Taylor had ceased dealings with EAA in 2009, the high price the government paid and the unreliability of the water purchased for the environment due to the area from which it was purchased had been in drought for many years made it smell very fishy.
Grassgate
Not long after watergate cooled off Mr Taylor was implicated in another controversy over land that was allegedly illegally cleared by a company part-owned by his family in 2019.
It came to light that about 30 hectares of the critically endangered grassland known as the natural temperate grassland of the south eastern highlands had been allegedly poisoned at a property in Delegate, NSW, in late 2016.
Mr Taylor and members of his family were shareholders in the company that carried out the clearing.
It was then alleged the then environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, quietly canvassed whether protections for grassland of the type in question could be watered down so to keep the illegal clearing a secret.
Clover Moore attack
Mr Taylor again came under fire after he attacked Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore for alleged travel expenses she incurred during her mayoral duties in 2018.
Mr Taylor blasted Ms Moore in a letter sent to The Daily Telegraph after he used figures he claimed were taken from the City of Sydney’s 2017-18 annual report which stated she had spent millions of ratepayer funds on travel despite being a staunch advocate for renewable energy.
The letter was addressed to Ms Moore but made its way to the Telegraph before Ms Moore received it.
Mr Taylor claimed councillors had spent $15.9 million on domestic travel for the financial year. This turned out to be grossly inaccurate as the report stated the 10 councillors spent “$14.2” on domestic travel and “$1.7” on international travel, which Mr Taylor interpreted as millions.
When the Lord Mayor complained the journalist asked for the document from Taylor’s office and then provided it to Ms Moore, however it appeared that it was not the correct version and the numbers had been fudged.
Mr Taylor was later forced to apologise to Ms Moore in parliament but refused to provide details of how he came to the figures he used in the letter.
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