Every now and then, a complete balls-up can work in one’s favour.

Yesterday’s leaked Shadow Cabinet document marked ‘Shadow Cabinet-In-Confidence’ outlining the Coalition’s immigration policy did just that. While the document states the planned reduction in net immigration to 175,000 in the Coalition’s first year in government is far from adequate (most Australians who are not Labor Party members want it reduced to zero, at least for a while), it is a good start and a far cry from Labor’s explosion in immigration numbers.

The document itself is pretty straightforward. It outlines plans to ensure that adherence to Australian values are requirements for visa holders. So many leftist academics smugly claim that there is nothing unique about Australian values except for mateship, which it is claimed is an old-fashioned and masculine concept.

Those same leftist academics have no answer to the perpetrators of the Bondi massacre where terrorists who had no interest in Australia or Australian values allegedly killed and wounded too many people at Australia’s iconic Bondi Beach.

It is timely that the Shadow Cabinet document’s ‘hardline’ policy developed by the Liberal Party while Sussan Ley was Opposition leader, outlines the plan for:

‘Operation Gatekeeper – Protecting Australia’s Borders from Terrorists and Extremists … as a dedicated border screening taskforce … Operation Gatekeeper will implement a higher security posture at Australia’s borders by strengthening intelligence-led screening of non-citizens.’

For Ms Ley, however, perhaps a case of too little, too late.

The document goes on to outline plans to reduce international student numbers (especially where they fall outside of Australia’s skills requirements), increasing requirements for foreign ownership, and, in particular, to:

‘Designate regions known to be under the sustained territorial control of Islamist terrorist organisations as “Declared Terrorist Areas”… and suspend visa processing for applications from people in Declared Terrorist Areas from coming to Australia.’

The leaked document was prepared with signature blocks for Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, Senator Jonathon Duniam, and Shadow Immigration Minister, Senator Paul Scarr.

The tragedy that manifested at Bondi was, in my opinion, due to a two-pronged assault on our country. First, through a sustained domestic attack on Australian values and culture by our own political and cultural institutions, backed by Woke ideology. Second, by the federal and state governments and police by being actively weak on policing antisemitism and radical Islamist activism (which is still going on largely unchecked).

Sometimes in politics it is expedient to leak important documents.

The tactics can include softening up the public for an inevitable increase in taxes (where taxpayers breathe a sigh of relief when tax isn’t increased as much as the initial leak). Public servants can leak documents when they disagree with the government of the day and want to embarrass them, or party members can leak embarrassing details when they want to spill the leadership (like the infamous Kirribilli affair that ended Bob Hawke’s premiership).

In this case, Angus Taylor has taken a leaf out of the movie Clear and Present Danger, where Jack Ryan advises the US President not to lie about his friendship with a persona non grata:

TV Reporter: The New York Times is reporting that you and Hardin were good friends. Is that true?

The President: No, not quite.

Jack Ryan: [watching on TV] Shh, shh. Hey, hey, hey.

The President: We weren’t good friends, we were lifelong friends.

Jack Ryan: I said that. I said that. I told him to say that.

Such frank advice is rarely taken by politicians. Usually, politicians just want a big name to state they agree with the politician’s policy. That way, politicians don’t have to think about efficacious policy, they just regurgitate the Uniparty line and Bob’s your mother’s brother. Until now.

Some were gleeful that the leak showed internal division within the Liberal Party. Taylor denied knowledge of the document. But then just as we were about to witness the old Liberal Party’s spinelessness, Taylor used the moment to signal continuity on a tougher approach without committing to the leaked draft’s specifics, promising more detailed Coalition policies in the coming weeks or months.

Taylor navigated the fallout while hinting at adopting refined elements that align with his ‘bad immigration’ rhetoric.

I’m convinced that Angus Taylor was gagged during the 2025 election campaign. As one major masthead stated today in response to the Treasurer denouncing Taylor’s economic credentials:

‘…despite the fact Mr Taylor has a Rhodes Scholarship in economics and Mr Chalmers has a PhD about Paul Keating.’

Let’s hope this is a sign of things to come. Labor’s plan to ‘fake it until you make it’ may not cut it if Angus Taylor cuts loose.

Senator Scarr said on Monday that he opposed the ban on designated regions. Further, both he and Duniam denied knowledge of the document.

Dr Michael de Percy @FlaneurPolitiq is the Spectator Australia’s Canberra Press Gallery Correspondent. If you would like to support his writing, or read more of Michael, please visit his website.