Getting down in the mud with Pauline Hanson won’t help Angus Taylor – but principled policy could

‘The opposition leader might argue his new stances are politically popular – but most are the lowest common denominator stuff of populist politics.’ Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

In the hours after Angus Taylor delivered his budget reply on Thursday night, Labor figures shared a grainy photo of the opposition leader shaking hands with Pauline Hanson.

If Hanson’s shock of red hair looked out of place in the House of Representatives, the rest of the photo was just as confusing. Behind Taylor on the opposition frontbench are Barnaby Joyce, who quit the Coalition months ago, as well as Sussan Ley, Michael Sukkar and David Coleman – all Liberals no longer in parliament.