The Coalition is having an existential crisis. With the threat of a Double Dissolution election looming and the Misinformation and Disinformation Bill at the gates, Labor has effectively wedged them into a position they’d rather not be in. What position is that, you ask? Well, having to advocate for the values espoused in the opening statement on their website.
‘We Believe … in the inalienable rights and freedoms of all peoples.’
Pretty emphatic, right? Apparently not. The smell of more surveillance and policing power has proven alluring, especially for Opposition Leader and former policeman, Peter Dutton. You can take the man out of the police, but can you take the police out of the politician?
This cataclysmic betrayal of Liberal ‘values’ has opened up a lane for a new form of politics to move into the mainstream. The ‘Greens on the right’, as some are calling it. In short, the Libertarians are in play. Having sprung onto the scene after a stunning result in the NSW council elections, the Libertarians are a party with freedom as its guiding principle.
This opportunity will not be without its challenges. With an adversarial media landscape, rabid authoritarianism rising on the left, and a conservative Coalition seeking to disrupt any challenge to its majority-building powers, the pitfalls for Libertarian candidates will be plentiful and bad faith attacks numerous. They will be hit from all sides. On the flip side, they will be able to build unexpected legislative partnerships. These predicted adversarial conditions aren’t only external. Perhaps the biggest challenge to the movement will come from within.
Often compared to ‘herding cats’ – if the cats were feral and on the spectrum – Libertarians are unsurprisingly renowned for being horrible collectivists. Fiercely intransigent and principled, they are awful organisers, poor communicators, and are known for being less lawmakers and more law breakers. In short, they are horrible politicians, while their perennial messaging of ‘No Government’ has been a failing policy position in Australian politics for decades and for good reason – it’s not a great bumper sticker. It fails every time to capture the imagination or cultural zeitgeist. It doesn’t unite us in a shared belief or our common traditions. Libertarians understand that it’s sound fiscal policy, but doesn’t inspire anyone – not on a spiritual, cultural, or national level. How can Libertarians translate these philosophies and ideals into a language Australian voters will resonate with and how can we send a message less Ayn Rand or Milton Friedman, and more Crocodile Dundee and Barry Humphries?
One way is to build a suite of policies that are brash, abrasive, and downright antagonistic. Policies that cut through the nonsense and noise and connect with voters in tangible ways. Policies that resonate in the context of their homes, families, and communities. The goal should be to build a new brand of cultural Libertarianism that overcomes the limitations of philosophy and idealism with a set of policies that are rooted in culture and community, not economics and monetary policy. Here are six policy ideas that attempt to do just that.
FOOD
Libertarians should propose tax-free status to independent grocers earning under a million dollars in revenue. This is a policy designed to shake up the Australian grocery market, long dominated by giants like Coles and Woolworths. By giving small grocers a financial free pass, the policy would boost local food production, supporting regional farmers and offering them fairer prices. This locally sourced food would be more sustainable, cutting down on long-distance transport and large-scale farming practices. This move could inject much-needed competition into the sector, benefiting both producers and consumers.
This policy not only promotes Libertarian ideals, it provides a talking point that cuts across politics. From the cost of living crisis to anti-monopolistic practices, this is a policy that even the Australian Greens would struggle to resist. When half the job of being a Libertarian will be pushing through constant bad faith attacks accusing them of racism and misogyny, it is this kind of policy that can neutralise divisive actors, cut through the media machine, and forge unheard-of alliances in Australian politics.
ENERGY
#Repeal140A A policy described in a hashtag. Ironically, this policy should be a no-brainer for the Australian Greens also, but it is highly likely to go down like a solar panel at midnight so no paradigm disrupting alliances here but the policy is very simple – end the ban on Nuclear energy.
As Libertarians our policy should not be to oppose renewables. The Libertarian wet dream should be a power source on every house free from centralised control and climate dictates. Solar panels aren’t just compatible with Libertarian ideals, they are the embodiment of them. This is not a zero-sum game, with one losing or the other. Put Nuclear on a level playing field with renewables and let the market for clean, reliable energy run safe and free.
HOUSING
The Libertarian housing policy should be to dismantle the ABC. You heard that right. To dismantle the already failing ABC and SBS brick by brick. To decommission, privatise, and sell off the national broadcaster and build the future for young Australians with the proceeds. To take the profits from the sale and the 1.5 billion a year spent on the ABC and ‘Build The Rail’. Rail, you say? Yes, high-speed rail. Spend the 1.5 billion a year the ABC uses to lecture us about white privilege and toxic masculinity to roll out high-speed rail infrastructure into regional Australia servicing and supporting families to spread out around the nation and most importantly to prosper. This is a policy designed to bring hope to the young at the expense of the ABCs Boomer viewership; to alleviate the pressures on the capitals and last, but not least, to get people’s attention with its provocative stance. Oh… And end immigration until housing affordability is back to 1990 levels not a moment sooner. Enough is enough!
SPEECH
Let me set the scene. It’s summer 2025, the hot Aussie sun beaming down, Australians stand on their sun-soaked lawns, ready to take a ride on what’s looking more and more like a deeply authoritarian slippery slide. Those who lived through Covid know our elites can’t be trusted with this power and that our ancestors didn’t fight and sacrifice their lives just so a group of kindergarten teachers turned politicians could take away our right just so they could stop young men reading Andrew Tate tweets.
And while the Libertarian approach to this might seem simple, ‘oppose censorship’, a crucial opportunity to win this war on speech is being somewhat overlooked. This is again another chance to join forces with policymakers on the other side. To come together with the flag burners, keffiyeh wearers, and man-haters. To fight for the rights of those whose ideas are also deemed ‘regressive’. Alliances such as these might just be the difference between success and failure.
In the words of the great Ricky Gervais, ‘The point of free speech is that you can say things I don’t like. If you can only say things I do like, then it’s not really free speech.’
PRIVACY AND SURVEILLANCE
With our political class on both sides salivating over the dystopian new tools of tyranny coming online, it is incumbent on us as citizens to put their ambitions for 1984 becoming a nonfiction book on ice. To that effect, Australia should legislate a data policy that would enforce severe penalties on any government employee that uses, stores or shares the personal data of Australian users outside the realm of standard police investigations involving real crimes derived from real laws being broken. If the government wants to mine, store, or archive personal data on its citizens, it should be forced to seek permission first. It should never be granted freely.
WAR & GEOPOLITICS
Anthony Albanese might not be able to ban words like isolationism and non-interventionism, but he sure would struggle to pronounce them. These are the words that have been at the core of Libertarian thinking since its inception. Emphatically pro-peace, and adamantly self-defence, the Libertarian approach is simple. No war. Stop funding it, supporting it, condoning it, or endorsing it. Just stay out of it. We are done sending our young to die in counterproductive attempts to remake the world in our own image. Enough!
In the words of Jeffrey Tucker, President of economic research nonprofit Brownstone, ‘I’ve always believed that libertarian ideology should be to a well-lived life, what scales are to a symphony: essential to know but not the music itself.’
Australian Libertarians, your time has come. Time to stop the doodling and write some tunes.
