Outgoing Coalition frontbencher Jonno Duniam has implored his Liberal colleagues to return to their roots and stay the course against an ascendent One Nation, cautioning them against mimicking other people or ceding defeat in his final speech to parliament.
The Tasmanian senator said no one could deny the difficult position facing the Liberals, who have sunk in the polls after losing dozens of seats across two successive elections, but that he believed they would form government again.
“This challenge is not insurmountable. We have a history and we should be proud of it,” Duniam said in the Senate on Wednesday afternoon.
“My party can give Australians what they need. Not by pretending to be someone else or seeking to appease certain actors, but by returning to our roots, by backing [our values] in with conviction … and explaining why it is better than the alternative.”
Coalition MPs have diverged over how to approach the rising popularity of One Nation. While some have urged the party to take up the fight – in particular MP Andrew Hastie, described by Duniam as his Canberra family – others have talked up preference deals or forming government with Pauline Hanson’s party.
Duniam said the Liberals needed to put forward their plan and make the case to voters. “We should never wave the white flag,” he said.
“My party has been around for decades. It isn’t populist. It isn’t flash in the pan. It is here to stay. And sure, we may have spent some time in the wilderness, but we have our bearings now and I know we will be able to get back over there into government.”
Duniam made particular mention of Labor’s finance minister, Katy Gallagher, as he paid tribute to friends across the political spectrum.
“You wouldn’t read about it. A left-wing Labor lady and a right-wing Liberal bloke striking up a great relationship when difficult discussions were to be had between warring parties,” he said.
“Our adversarial system of politics is a breeding ground for division, where points of difference and argument are increasingly the only way to cut through.
“Australians are looking for mature debate where Australia’s best interests come first.”
The most important example of that was artificial intelligence, Duniam said, which needed to be a priority of the parliament.
“It is coming, whether we like it or not, and to some extent it is already here. The choice we have is whether we take the opportunity that AI is presenting on our terms or have those terms dictated to us,” he said.
“We as a nation must chart our course this year, lay down the rules and structures, the policies and arrangements to facilitate the best possible outcome for AI take-up in our country.”
Duniam cited his work as deputy chair of the parliamentary committee examining AI, which wrote to Albanese this week calling for the government to invest in data centres and requesting independent assessors to monitor the firms. Independent Senator David Pocock has claimed that when he received the letter, it contained edits from a member of the prime minister’s staff.
“I do want to thank the Prime Minister’s Office for spell checking my work and for leaving track changes on,” Duniam said, in a light-hearted nod to the saga.
Duniam, 43, joined the Senate in 2016, after working as a staffer to politicians since 2003. He was an assistant minister in the Morrison government and served in frontbench positions since the Coalition’s 2022 election loss. For the last year he has been shadow home affairs minister, under both former Liberal leader Sussan Ley and current leader Angus Taylor.
The conservative factional heavyweight was given the prominent home affairs portfolio under Ley, following Hastie’s resignation from her frontbench one year ago. Those responsibilities grew to include direct control over immigration policy under Taylor, a priority issue for the opposition.
He and Taylor announced the Coalition’s long-anticipated immigration policy this month. Duniam said he was proud of the product, even if not everybody agreed with the approach or outcome.
But the father-of-three announced in June he was leaving his 10-year parliamentary career to spend more time with his family. At the time, he said the Coalition’s February leadership spill – which Duniam was involved in — had been a tipping point for his personal priorities.
On Wednesday, he cited an adage attributed to United States prosecutor Roy Cohn – never apologise, never admit defeat, never back down – and described it as the worst advice for a time when trust in politics was low.
“There is nothing wrong with admitting when we get something wrong, and in fact I think it should be applauded,” Duniam said.
“I say this from opposition where, of course, it’s an art form to seize on admissions of failure and defeat. But I believe it is in the country’s interest to admit when things don’t work and change course if needed.”
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