The greatest honor of my life, elected as the leader of the Liberal Party.

Today, I am reminded of my great parents who taught me and my three brothers from a very early age that two of the most important attributes in life were courage and service. That’s what life is about, and that’s why I’m absolutely determined to fight for our nation.

I thank my colleagues for giving me this opportunity to take up the fight, and I want to congratulate Jane Hume, my deputy, who has, of course, been elected as deputy leader today. I also want to acknowledge Sussan Ley for her extraordinary contribution to the Liberal Party and to this country.

She took on an incredibly difficult task after a humbling election defeat back in May last year. Her work ethic has been absolutely relentless, and her commitment to the Liberal Party and this nation has extended over a long period of time as a minister in four governments and, of course, as opposition leader over the last eight months. I thank her for that and for her gracious remarks earlier as well.

She is a great person and a great Liberal.

We must look ahead and put the disagreements of the recent past behind us and, most importantly, hold a bad Labor government to account by putting Australians first. I’m looking forward to working with David Littleproud in a coalition which has served us so well over such an extended period of time. And I spoke with David just a few hours ago.

It is clear we are running out of time. I won’t mince words, the Liberal Party is in the worst position that it has been in since it was founded in 1944.

I don’t shy away from this, and I know that many of our supporters are angry. They wanted to see change at the last election, and they didn’t see the change that they wanted.

I’m particularly conscious that we got some big calls wrong, especially on personal income tax, and it won’t happen again.

We were attracted to the politics of convenience rather than focusing on the politics of conviction.

This ends today. There is much work to be done to win back supporters among everyday Australians. But just as Australians have put faith in us before, I’m confident we can restore their faith in us again. It’s on us to regain that trust and earn it. But the choice is simple for the Liberal Party: change or die. And I choose change.

If we’re united and focused and put the Australian people first, we can confront the challenges of the times, and there are many. So many Australians can’t afford to buy a home. Australians who are working two jobs are juggling whether they can feed their families or pay their electricity bills.

Record immigration has added pressures to infrastructure, services and housing in this country. Our borders have been open to people who hate our way of life, people who don’t want to embrace Australia and who want Australia to change for them. We’ve had the worst terrorist attack on our soil in our history, perpetrated by Islamist extremists. And as Australians, we’re less free.

It shouldn’t be this way. Labor has undermined our standard of living and has failed to protect our way of life. And I say to Australians, the first priority of the Liberal Party now, under my leadership, will be to restore our standard of living and protect our way of life.

Bigger government isn’t the solution to Australia’s problems. Australians are the solution to Australia’s problems, and that means putting faith back in you.

I want our country to once again be one of opportunity and aspiration. We must restore Australia to a country where life is affordable, where our kids can buy a home, where you can raise a family, and where there’s a fair go once again, where we’re a nation of strength and unity, where we unapologetically, unapologetically defend Australian values.

Many of us have known that Australia before. I want all Australians to experience it now.

So let me be clear about my resolve as leader and what the Liberal Party will stand for under my leadership: all Australians, especially young Australians, deserve the stability and the opportunity to own a home.

We’ll re-establish home ownership as the centrepiece of the Australian dream. We’ll stand for an immigration policy that puts the interests of Australians first and puts Australian values at the centre of that policy.

If someone doesn’t subscribe to our core beliefs, the door must be shut. If someone were to import the hatred and violence of another place to Australia, the door must be shut.

As Liberals, we stand for lower inflation, lower interest rates and lower taxes. The Liberal Party must always be the party of lower taxes. We will ferociously fight Labor’s bad taxes – taxes on homes, taxes on superannuation, taxes on our children’s future.

We know that government must live within its means so Australians have the means to live. Moreover, our goal is to grow the economy so that it delivers for you, and that means giving confidence for Australian businesses to invest.

Australia needs an energy policy that is based on common sense, not Labor’s Net Zero ideology. We will get rid of Labor’s bad carbon taxes on the family vehicle, on manufacturing and food in this country, and, of course, on electricity. We’ll reduce financial pressures for families, expand childcare choice and give children the best start in life, not force every family into a universal system, and we’ll properly fund our defence force to deter threats and aggression in these uncertain times.

Our nation must be defended because our history, our culture, our values are worth celebrating and defending. Under my leadership, the Liberals will nurture national confidence and love for our country. We’ll focus on the things that unite us – family, community and nation – and that revitalisation starts today.

So let me finish by saying that my message to Anthony Albanese is this: we will fight every bad tax, every reckless spending initiative, every policy that drives up inflation and keeps interest rates higher for longer. The Liberal Party is under new leadership, and with that new leadership will come change, because our country needs change for the better.

I stand before you today determined and ready to serve Australians with courage and with conviction. Our team will fight the worst Labor government in Australian history, because Australia is worth fighting for.