Andrew Bragg urges Liberal Party pivot with bold tax and migration proposals

Senator Andrew Bragg has called for the Liberal Party to adopt a more aggressive policy stance to reverse Australia's political fragmentation and economic malaise. Speaking at the National Press Club on August 12, 2026, the Liberal frontbencher and Shadow Housing Minister urged his party to move beyond traditional frameworks and embrace risk-taking alternatives to regain voter trust.

Bragg's wide-ranging proposals include a significant crackdown on multinational corporations, specifically targeting big tech firms such as Facebook and Netflix. He proposed taxing these companies at the point of revenue generation, claiming the move could extract billions of dollars for the public purse. On the housing front, Bragg suggested reducing net overseas migration to under 180,000 annually to alleviate pressure on the housing market. He further proposed a drastic overhaul of the National Construction Code, suggesting it be slashed from over 2,000 pages to approximately 80 pages to focus strictly on safety standards and "basic amenity."

A party in transition

These proposals come as the Liberal Party struggles with its internal identity and direction. Bragg was candid about the party's recent history, stating that Liberal leaders over the past two decades contributed to the country's "malaise" and "buggered it up" by failing to develop genuine alternative policies. He expressed personal regret over this period, stating, "I wish I'd done more to stop the madness."

Industry and political fallout

The proposals have sparked immediate pushback from both tax experts and the government. Michael Kobetsky, a professor of tax law at the Australian National University, dismissed the notion that billions more in tax could be extracted from big tech, stating it was "not going to happen."

Government officials have also questioned the coherence of the plan. Housing Minister Clare O'Neil acknowledged Bragg's intentions to reform a "broken Liberal Party" but expressed concern that his proposals were being framed as housing policy. To offset the revenue losses associated with his broader vision, Bragg suggested freezing the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

The road ahead

Whether these proposals will be formally adopted by the Coalition remains unclear, as the speech was viewed by some as a "freelanced" effort beyond Bragg's specific housing portfolio. However, the address signals a growing internal pressure within the Liberal Party to differentiate itself from the Labor government through populist-leaning policies. Observers will be watching to see if the party leadership embraces this pivot toward targeting vested interests or maintains its current strategic trajectory.