The Voice was rejected by every state and more strongly in suburban and regional seats, while inner-city electorates, including many seats held by teal independents, backed Yes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor addressing the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship Conference in London.<\/span>Credit: <\/span> James Whatling \/ Parsons Media<\/cite><\/p>\n This has triggered an internal debate within the Coalition about whether the Liberals should abandon inner-city supporters to the left and pursue Labor voters living in traditionally working-class areas.<\/p>\n After addressing the conservative Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference in London this week, Taylor told this masthead that good economic policies such as fighting inflation and building more houses were critical to avoiding polarisation.<\/p>\n \u201cThis referendum divided the country and that is not a good thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m deeply concerned about the divisions that we saw in that referendum, they are divisions that we should all be worried about. Anthony Albanese brought forward this referendum and in the process, we saw deep divisions in our country.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor\u2019s address followed speeches from Coalition colleague Jacinta Nampijinpa Price \u2013 who identified transgender issues as her next campaign \u2013 and former Liberal prime ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard.<\/p>\n Abbott told the conference that the \u201cclimate cult\u201d would one day be defeated, while Howard said he had \u201calways had trouble\u201d with the concept of multiculturalism because immigrants should \u201cadopt the values and practices\u201d of the country they move to.<\/p>\n Taylor warned fellow conservatives that if they didn\u2019t focus on national unity, they would struggle to get into power and hold on to it.<\/p>\n \u201cForget electorally successful \u2013 what is right for the country? Australians want to be part of a united country, not a divided country,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re never going to agree on everything and we shouldn\u2019t, but a core set of shared beliefs and values is really important to a successful nation.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor said that conservatives around the world had to return to talking about aspiration and opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cAspiration has to be absolutely at the centre of our agenda if we\u2019re to restore faith in our market-based democracy. It\u2019s the key to making sure that we don\u2019t have economic divisions and cultural divisions across the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cConservatives around the globe need to rediscover the importance of aspiration as the key to bringing their populations along in the debate about our institutions and our cultures because economics does matter so much.<\/p>\n No advocates have claimed the Voice to parliament referendum stoked division in Australia.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Flavio Brancaleone<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, voters want the opportunity to get ahead. And if that\u2019s not the centrepiece of our economic agenda, then I think conservative oppositions or governments or parties across the world will find it very difficult to get into and to stay in power.\u201d<\/p>\n Taylor said it was vital for the Liberals to try and appeal to inner-city voters who had switched their votes to Green, Labor or teal at the last election, but said that would require some compromise from those voters too.<\/p>\n \u201cThat does mean hard decisions for some in metropolitan areas. The mining industry and the agriculture [sector] have been hugely successful for regional areas and yet, there are some in the metropolitan areas that don\u2019t like some or all aspects of those industries \u2013 let\u2019s face it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo this is where we\u2019ve got to find common ground, and I think we can.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n