Angus Taylor

On 1 January 2020, the investigation was referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP). On 6 February 2020, the AFP announced that they would not continue to pursue an investigation into the origin of the document as it was determined there was no further incriminating evidence to be found. The AFP had found no proof that Taylor had been involved in falsifying information.

Taylor made headlines during the 2019 election campaign when, on 1 May, he posted a congratulatory comment on his own Facebook post. In response to an article Taylor shared regarding his commitment to building car parks in his electorate, Taylor posted a comment saying "Fantastic. Great move. Well done Angus." Taylor was mocked on social media for the act, and it was suggested Taylor or one of his staff were deliberately making positive remarks using false accounts. Hundreds of people responded to subsequent Taylor posts on Facebook and Twitter using the same words. Taylor evidently deleted the original comment, and has not spoken about the incident.

In July 2019, Taylor was accused of misleading the Australian Parliament regarding his involvement in the #Grassgate scandal, involving: "An investigation into illegal land clearing against a company part-owned by the family of federal minister Angus Taylor was dropped by the New South Wales government, and a separate investigation under federal environmental laws has taken more than two years. Both actions relate to allegations of clearing of endangered native grassland, in October 2016, near Delegate in southern NSW shortly after a company, Jam Land Pty Ltd, purchased the property. A NSW government briefing document alleged about 200 hectares were illegally cleared." On 29 July 2019, when questioned concerning his involvement in the illegal land clearing and the origins of the investigation, Taylor informed the Parliament that he was discussing "long & detailed concerns" on native grass legislation with a farmer in Yass on 21 February 2017, whereas the Parliamentary Records instead show that Taylor was in Sydney participating in a High Value Data Roundtable discussion.

In October 2019, Taylor was found to be making repeated misleading claims about the Coalition government's record on carbon emissions.

In October 2019, Taylor was accused of forging a City of Sydney Council document and providing that document to The Daily Telegraph. The incident stemmed from an attempt by the Liberal MP to attack the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, over her departmental travel, claiming that the City of Sydney Council spent $15.9 million on travel for the 2017–18 period. Moore responded publicly claiming The City of Sydney spent less than $6,000 in travel expenses in the 2017–18 financial year. The attack and alleged forgery was in response to a letter to the government from Moore suggesting it treat climate change as a “national emergency” and drive down emissions.

Taylor said that the figures he used were sourced from an annual report document available on the council's website, but The City of Sydney council stated that no such document with these figures had existed. The matter was referred to NSW Police for investigation by the Australian Labor Party. In October 2019, Taylor apologised to Moore for the incorrect figures, though he and his representatives continued to insist the document was obtained from the Council website, despite evidence to the contrary from archived versions of it on Trove. On 26 November 2019, NSW Police announced that they had commenced an investigation into the fraudulent documentation. Despite calls from the opposition for Taylor to be stood down during the investigation, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison refused to do so and stated there was "no action required" on his behalf.

In early December 2019, US author Naomi Wolf disputed a claim made by Taylor in his maiden speech in December 2013, Taylor asserted that Wolf lived a few doors away from him at Oxford University in 1991, and they clashed over Wolf's attempt to cancel Christmas trees at the college. Wolf described Taylor's anecdote as being entirely false as she was at Oxford during 1985–88, while in 1991, she was living in New York City and loves Christmas and other festivities. His reference to "elites" led Wolf to call Taylor's accusations "antisemitic dogwhistling." Friends have backed up her account.

From 2008 to 2009, Taylor was director and secretary of Eastern Australia Agriculture (EAA). In 2017, the company sold water licences from two of its agricultural properties back to the Australian government at an unusually high price—$79 million—at a profit to the company of $52 million. In 2018 EAA appears to have paid its Cayman Islands-registered holding company, Eastern Australia Irrigation, $14 million in interest at the extraordinarily high interest rate of around 20%. On 18 April 2019, on his Australian government webpage, Taylor declared he is "Co-founder and director, Eastern Australia Irrigation from 2007". Taylor now says he is no longer part of that corporation. Taylor has denied that he received any financial benefit from the water purchase.

Following the 21 August 2018 leadership spill in which Peter Dutton unsuccessfully challenged Malcolm Turnbull for leadership of the Liberal Party, Taylor was one of several frontbenchers to announce his resignation. Taylor wrote in a letter to Turnbull that he was resigning due to his support for Dutton, and expressing opposition to the more moderate policies espoused by Turnbull: "I have previously relayed to you my concerns about the direction of this Government, and my views on the policies that should characterise a traditional centre-right Liberal Party." After a second spill later in the week, Turnbull resigned as Prime Minister, with Scott Morrison being elected leader. Taylor was subsequently appointed as Minister for Energy, characterised by Morrison as "Minister for reducing electricity prices". His appointment prompted strong criticism from renewable energy advocates.

In 2017, $80 million of taxpayers' money was used to purchase water licences from two Queensland properties owned by Eastern Australia Agriculture (EAA), a company Mr Taylor was once director of but never had a financial interest in. The buyback occurred without an open tender process.

On 18 February 2016 Taylor was sworn in as the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation following a rearrangement in the First Turnbull Ministry.

The former environment minister Josh Frydenberg sought urgent information about an investigation for land clearing brought by his department against a company in which fellow minister Angus Taylor and his relatives held an interest. Jam Land, part owned by Taylor and his family, was under investigation for alleged illegal clearing of grasslands at the time. About 30 hectares of the critically endangered grassland known as the natural temperate grassland of the south eastern highlands had been allegedly poisoned at a property in Delegate, New South Wales, in late 2016. The then environment and energy minister, Frydenberg, canvassed whether protections for a critically endangered grassland at the centre of the compliance action could be watered down and if it could be kept secret.

Speaking about the Renewable Energy Target in June 2014, Taylor said "religious belief is based on faith not facts. The new climate religion, recruiting disciples every day, has little basis on fact and everything to do with blind faith."

During his tenure at Port Jackson Partners, Taylor was a member of the Victorian government taskforce to investigate the development of a coal seam gas industry in the state. Reporting in November 2013, the taskforce recommended that the State of Victoria should promote the production of additional and largely on-shore gas supply.

On renewable energy, Taylor was a speaker at the "Wind Power Fraud Rally" organised by the anonymous anti-wind blog StopTheseThings.com and hosted by Alan Jones on 18 June 2013 in Canberra.

In a 2013 letter to the editor of the Crookwell Gazette, Taylor stated that he became engaged in "the wind farm debate" in approximately 2003 when a plan was announced to build turbines on a ridge behind his boyhood home, referring to the Boco Rock Wind Farm approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from Nimmitabel, which commenced construction in August 2013.

I am not a climate sceptic. For 25 years, I have been concerned about how rising carbon dioxide emissions might have an impact on our climate. It remains a concern of mine today. I do not have a vendetta against renewables. My grandfather was William Hudson – he was the first Commissioner and Chief Engineer of the Snowy Scheme, Australia's greatest ever renewable scheme. He believed in renewables and renewables have been in my blood since the day I was born.

Taylor has published reports as part of the ANZ Bank Insight series. The first of these, Earth, Fire, Wind and Water – Economic Opportunity and the Australian Commodities Cycle, focused on the opportunities and challenges faced by Australia's commodity exporters in the face of the commodities boom, and was described as a "landmark report" by The Australian. The second report was Greener Pastures – The Soft Commodity Opportunity for Australia and New Zealand, arguing that a soft commodity boom was taking over from the hard commodity boom. Other reports and articles include The Future for Freight, focused on reform in the freight transport sector, and "More to Nation Building than Big Bucks", critiquing the Labor Government's comparison between its National Broadband Network and the Snowy Mountain Scheme.

In February 2013, Taylor authored the report "A proposal to reduce the cost of electricity to Australian electricity users" while a director at Port Jackson Partners. The report said that the Coalition could immediately drop the renewable energy target entirely and save up to A$ 3.2 billion by 2020 and still meet emissions reduction targets.

Taylor was a member of a taskforce asked by the Victorian Government to investigate the development of a coal seam gas industry in the state. Reporting in November 2013, the report found that Victoria should promote the production of additional and largely on-shore gas supply. The taskforce was headed by former federal Liberal minister Peter Reith with other members representing energy companies, associated industries and lobby groups.

Following an April 2012 decision by Alby Schultz, the Liberal Member for Hume, that he would not recontest the seat at the 2013 federal election, Taylor sought and gained Liberal endorsement. Under Coalition rules, the Nationals were also entitled to run a candidate against Taylor, but decided not to. Taylor was elected as Member for Hume with over 61% of the two-party preferred vote and over 54% of the primary vote.

Taylor was also a major donor to the Liberal Party, significantly exceeding amounts donated to the party by other candidates and members of parliament during 2012–2013.

He lives near Goulburn on a farm with his wife, Sydney barrister Louise Clegg and their four children, moving to the area from Sydney six months before winning pre-selection for the seat of Hume in May 2012.

Taylor competed in the 2009 ITU Triathlon Age Group World Championship on the Gold Coast representing Australia where he finished 36th in the male 40 to 44 age bracket.

After leaving university, Taylor worked for global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. He was made a partner in 1999.

Angus Taylor (born 30 September 1966) is an Australian politician serving as Energy Minister in the Morrison Government since August 2018. He served as Minister for Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity in the Turnbull Government from 20 December 2017 to 23 August 2018. Taylor is a Liberal Member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the Division of Hume in New South Wales, since 7 September 2013.

His father was heavily involved in agricultural politics, as a President of the NSW Farmers and Vice President of the National Farmers Federation. From 1949 to 1967, his maternal grandfather, Sir William Hudson, headed construction of the Snowy Mountains Scheme for hydroelectricity and irrigation in Australia.