In the spirit of the Liberal Party’s ‘listening’ exercise to find out what Australians are looking for from the (modern?) Opposition, I opened the floor to our Facebook followers.
The unfiltered opinion of Spectator Australian fans may be harsh, but the truth is more useful than the sanitised advice of focus group or self-interested whispers from the Canberra lobbyists.
What did I learn?
Conservative voters know exactly what they want from the Liberal leadership.
There is no confusion amongst the masses. No philosophical crisis experienced in the choppy waters between Labor-lite and Teal-esque.
‘I’ll help you,’ said one respondent. ‘Whatever Labor say, do the opposite.’
Which is not bad advice for the Opposition.
‘Look up the definition of Opposition,’ said another.
Simplicity, as some replied, is often the best place to start. No one elects the government’s ‘me too’ cheer squad to power.
Many advised the Liberal Party to dig up the ghost of Robert Menzies, or more correctly, open a book and read his words. Not the famous fragments of his speeches deceitfully recited by desperate politicians trying to justify their mistakes as ‘Menzian’, but rather to understand the underlying rationale behind the birth of the Liberal Party.
Why does the Liberal Party exist?
What is its ideological purpose?
If it is a conservation movement of cherished Western principles, why have its leaders developed an obsession with modernity?
Modernity being defined as a fatal attraction toward socialism…
The modern world of politics is ruining the Australian Dream.
I asked if people would give up the modern world to return to the Australia of the 1960s. People said, ‘In a heartbeat!’
There is a rising nostalgia for the Australia that has been lost, so why is the party championing a set of policies that have had a negative impact?
Let us hope the answer is not a superficial desire to appear ‘modern’.
The Liberal Party was created as a solution to a conservative movement that had lost its way. Now, the Liberal Party is a listless ideology, sodden and pulled apart like a piece of bread floating in a duck pond. Yes, it is visible on the surface, but it has become unappetising, even to the ducks.
No one wants this.
That much is clear from the hundreds of exasperated responses.
If the Liberal Party was truly beyond redemption, these people would not have bothered to reply with sincere advice.
The overwhelming demand of the Blue Ribbon faithful was to drop Net Zero, pull out of the Paris Agreement, and stop giving lip service to the fabricated Climate Change movement.
It is hard to know if the Liberal Party believes in the fire and brimstone preachings of Climate Change, if they have too many connections with individuals associated with green projects, or if they simply do not think they’ll survive the admission that they took utter nonsense to several elections…
Perhaps it is a little of all three.
The problem is that their voters smell a rat.
They want the cheap energy they were promised and they are not convinced that bulldozing rainforests, destroying beaches, and smothering farmland is ‘environmental’.
No doubt the Liberal Party will smugly ignore this advice, but they have to pick a lane and it would be advisable to make sure that choice is founded in truth, not political convenience.
Considering the fortunes of money changing hands from the Treasury to the renewable industry, the Liberal Party will almost certainly have to make a sacrifice but if they do so, it will be for the benefit of the nation and that is how they should sell it to the people.
Use the Labor Party’s wealth against it.
Imagine what the Liberals could expose about Labor and its cosy relationship with the renewable industry if they were prepared to get their hands dirty…
The path to victory is a conservative movement that takes no prisoners.
There is good news. On the topic of gender quotas, the feedback is clear: absolutely not!
As one person suggested, why doesn’t the party ‘use the strong women [they] already have rather than sidelining them’?
They could go one step further and use the platform of gender quotas to ridicule Labor for having to rely on discriminatory policies to stack its ranks for a ‘vibe’ rather than selecting the best people for the job. What does that make their party? A soulless ‘representation’ of a superficial Australia? There is plenty of scope to launch an attack.
By far the response repeated most often was a desire for strength.
Conservatives are looking for leaders.
For saviours.
For strong policy.
Clear thinking.
Genuine solutions.
They want what they were promised in the Liberal Party mission statement: a small government, reduced taxes, increased freedom, safety, cultural coherency, transparency, and responsibility.
As an example, one person said, ‘Learn to lead and inspire the nation with real Liberal policies to reduce the size of government and increase freedoms and safety.’ Another added, ‘We need real and meaningful tax reform. Not just code for higher taxes. We want small government, less regulations, more personal responsibility, and incentives for Australians to work hard and earn to stimulate an economy that has been in recession for over three years.’
At this point, the Liberals could storm to victory promising to halve the tax rate, ditch renewable contracts, reform the Indigenous welfare state, and stop the monstrous NDIS from feasting off the Treasury.
The ABC would hate it.
The public would vote for it in droves.
Just like they came out to reject the Voice to Parliament.
There were also plenty of people who wanted to see defence spending increased and migration reversed. A few simply advised, ‘Become like Trump and adopt One Nation policies.’
‘Maybe just ask Nigel Farage…’
Unfortunately, the overall faith in the current leadership could be summed up by one comment: ‘They couldn’t lead a cockroach to crumbs.’
None of these revelations will be news to the party.
Which makes us wonder, what if the problem is not listening … it’s accepting that conservative voters disagree with the moderate position?
