The wets have won. Now their empire stretches over the remains of Menzies’ Child. Echoing the Great Labor Split of 1955, 70 years on the socialists have all but destroyed the most successful political party in Australian history.
Sussan Ley now leads a divided Liberal Party that is likely to bleed even more members. Ley won 29 votes to Taylor’s 25.
Ted O’Brien has been elected deputy leader, leaving Jacinta Nampijinpa Price out in the cold. It’s not quite the Littleproud-Ley-Wilson nightmare scenario, but it’s still a nightmare for conservatives. O’Brien won 38 votes to 16. Little wonder once Ley was elected.
Today will go down in history as the beginning of the end for the Liberals. Why would you bother voting for them when you can just vote Labor? At least Labor wins elections.
This has nothing to do with gender, and it is all about the dysfunctional NSW Liberals. Indeed, Angus Taylor might be in serious trouble if the last exclusive in the Daily Telegraph is anything to go by.
Conservatives are now starved for choice. There is a clear divide between One Nation and Gerard Rennick supporters. Calls for a conservative unity ticket are misguided – the Liberal Party was that very unity ticket that conservatives are now dreaming of.
When Sir Robert Menzies brought together some 18 non-labour groups to form the Liberal Party of Australia, he did what conservatives are calling for now.
Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison oversaw one of the worst periods in Liberal history. Their lurch to the left and support for energy vandalism is largely responsible for the unravelling of Menzies’ legacy.
While I wish I had an answer for conservatives, all I can say is that yesterday’s and today’s leadership spill results aren’t it.
The moderates/wets/sensible centre have won by using a ‘scorched earth’ policy. Unsurprisingly, this is a tactic of socialists. It is a sad day to be a conservative, but Nigel Farage provides us with a glimmer of hope on the other side of the world.
There is a saying that the weather is always warm if you wait long enough. Regrettably, I don’t have that much time left.
Rather than try to rise from the ashes, I think I’ll take my orange shirt in a XXL.
Dr Michael de Percy @FlaneurPolitiq is The Spectator Australia’s Canberra Press Gallery Correspondent. All opinions in this article are the author’s own.
