Liberal frontbencher Tim Wilson has revealed he desires to lead the federal Liberal Party in the future and believes most people in the party would be untroubled by a gay man seeking to lead the opposition.
In a long and broad ranging interview for the Politics Now podcast, Wilson — who many years ago delivered an emotional first speech to parliament in which he lamented not being able to marry his fiance Ryan — expressed a desire to seek higher office.
“I think there’s a scenario where that can happen, but I think events will have to turn in my favour,” he told the podcast.
Wilson says while he “didn’t come here to explicitly be the leader”, he believes the country and his party needs “a certain intellectual leadership about where it should be heading and who it should be fighting for”.
“And over the next coming months, you’ll see how I plan to go about doing that, because I think political parties, if they’re just seen as sort of custodians of political values or traditions, it’s not enough,” he says.
“They have to be seen to be out there fighting for people and enlivening people’s sense of ambition and dreams. If people actually then want to connect with them enough they want to fight for them too.”
Tim Wilson rehearses his maiden speech among his colleagues in 2016. (ABC News: Adam Kennedy)
Asked if he believes the Liberal party room could elect a gay man as their federal leader, Wilson says it may affect some people but would not be a dominant issue.
“I’m not going to say that some people won’t factor it in as they look at any calculus in electing a leader, but do I think it’ll be the primary consideration, like it was once, these days? Nah.”
He says the leadership conversation will be “about who is going to be the answer to the problem the party faces at a time, and that’s actually going to be the driver”.
“But I think sometimes these sorts of unique contributions that you can make can sometimes be an asset, but sometimes it’s not revealed until you get there.”
Liberal Party must fight for its values
Sussan Ley’s leadership has been under pressure in recent months, and conservatives Andrew Hastie and Angus Taylor are most often talked about as contenders. Wilson, who says he is not a conservative but struggles with the label “moderate”, argues the party needs to fight for its values around wealth and aspiration unashamedly.
Political analysis that matters
Wilson says his fight on climate policy internally shows where he thinks the party needs to go. He says he’s been vocal about “the binary nature of climate policy”.
“I’ve been very clear with people that I think that we’ve fallen for a false choice on that because I don’t think the choice that people want to set up of pro-net zero, anti-net zero is actually the correct decision in what it is we’re trying to achieve in public policy,” he says.
“But if you just set up debates and accept the terms of the debate, you’ll end up losing, because if you’re responding, the debate by its nature is set up in the first point to be defeated. So, I have an assertive view on liberalism. I’m not afraid to stand up for it.”
He says he’s unafraid to argue “in favour of people making a profit”.
“But you actually don’t hear many people in this building say that anymore. I’m not afraid of standing up for people. I’ve actually believed that people should have aspiration. They should get wealthy. We should build a country where people set their eyes further to the horizon, and that I’m unapologetic in that.”
Wilson also says he accepts “there’s a genuine conversation about inequality”.
“I actually want a society that’s open, where people can get ahead.”
You can hear the full conversation on The Interview, a Politics Now podcast summer special where we bring you the people behind the politics. This interview was recorded before the Bondi terror attack.
