Angus Taylor's CPAC debut: a test of conservative waters

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor received a lukewarm reception from a room of conservative faithful in Brisbane this weekend, despite being the first sitting Liberal leader to attend the Australian Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

When Mr Taylor finished speaking, about 50 people stood to applaud him. In contrast, hundreds rose to their feet to give One Nation leader Pauline Hanson a standing ovation simply because she had walked out onto the stage.

The audience was clearly more enthusiastic about Ms Hanson's presence, and her speech hit many of the same points as Mr Taylor's address. However, it was clear the audience was giving all the credit to the latter.

Ms Hanson showed no qualms about criticizing Mr Taylor, delivering a sharp jab in his direction as she noted while voters did not want Anthony Albanese as prime minister, neither were they keen on a "smarmy management consultant".

"smarmy management consultant"

When speaking to the media later, Ms Hanson denied her words were aimed at Mr Taylor, but she may as well have winked as she said so.

Despite not winning hearts and minds, Mr Taylor's willingness to participate had a notable effect on the tenor of the proceedings.

United by a common enemy

Protesters were seen outside the conference, while inside, the audience sat through an introductory video urging them to back "Angus", "Pauline", and "Matt" (Nationals leader Matt Canavan).

The organisers made no secret of their desire to emphasise what united the three parties rather than what divided them. Mr Taylor's presence made that possible, even if Ms Hanson remained the undisputed favourite.

Throughout the day, the audience oscillated between rapt attention and listlessness, with heckles generally targeted not at the speakers, but the subjects of their shared ire.

Net zero, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant (the "Karen of the internet" according to Ms Hanson), Anthony Albanese, "woke" school curriculums and Welcome to Country were among the topics most likely to elicit a boo.

"My mate had to grab me to say, 'It doesn't go well on your CV if you murder a federal minister,'"

CPAC chair Warren Mundine revealed Chris Bowen's name alone gave him "chills" and recounted his visceral reaction when the pair once crossed paths in the street.

The fight for the right

A shared opposition to Labor does not entirely resolve the Coalition's electoral woes.

The question hanging over the conference was whether the Liberals were witnessing the consolidation of a broader conservative movement or the gradual erosion of their own place at the centre of it.

One unsurprising absence from the CPAC line-up was Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie.

Rather than compete with One Nation on its own turf, Mr Hastie has increasingly sought to make the conservative case to voters beyond the Coalition's traditional base.

Last week, he appeared on a live episode of the Brine & Biff, a podcast billed as a place for thoughtful political debate, albeit where one host is portrayed as a cartoon gherkin.

Mr Hastie argued "chasing One Nation down the rabbit hole" was not going to win his side government.

His willingness to confront One Nation, rather than accommodate it, puts him at odds with the political future CPAC's organisers are trying to build.

The Australian event's founder Andrew Cooper closed day one by painting a vision for a future "Coalition of the willing" between the country's three conservative political parties.

In the meantime, he urged the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation to "share" preferences at the next election.

He warned "ego" and infighting over "minor differences" would only "hand power" back to Labor.