If the Liberals stop trying to pander to the wealthy Woke electorates and focus on what most Australians want they can reinvent themselves to speak for mainstream Australia by the next election.
The dismal election result for the Liberals and Nationals in Australia may yet set them free. By shifting to the left on issues like Climate Change the Liberals were hobbled. They tried to be Labor -lite, but then couldn’t point out the sheer stupidity of trying to change the weather. Net Zero was a good goal they said, and so the voters voted for people who would do more of it sooner. By adopting Labor-Green ideas and just trying to be better managers of bad programs they lost their mojo. There were no battles on principles in this election, just personalities.
The Right have been bullied into submission — afraid of being called climate deniers, racists, sexist or anti-vaxxer, they fought for nothing much. And so the voters voted for nothing much — splitting every which way. Astonishingly a new government will be formed that nearly 70% of Australians didn’t vote for. The Labor Party won with the lowest primary vote ever recorded in Australian history.
The great realignment of politics bit the Liberals
Waleed Aly, surprisingly, captured it better than anyone, pointing out that voters in wealthy electorates shifted left, while those in less wealthy seats moved right. The Liberals lost the traditional well heeled blue-ribbon seats to the renewables industry candidates in the Teal Party (the Sneaky Greens). But climate change is a fashion contest, and not only does it make no sense, but by definition, the sensible-option never wins on the cat-walk. Once one half of politics gave up fighting the intrinsic silliness of it, and stopped talking hard numbers, the only contest left was the fashionable one.
And popping the fashion bubble may yet even win those wealthy seats back. When everyone else is trying to outdo the Emperor, there’s nothing like pointing out the Emperor wears no clothes.
So much better than winning a pointless contest is to speak the truth and destroy the contest.
The loss of the Woke part of the party would be a blessing in disguise
Australian voters are fracturing into different party groups because the major parties are not serving their original bases. The Labor-Green Party was the party of the workers but has become the paired-party of the rich and fashionable, and the welfare dependent. The Liberal-National parties were still trying to win the inner city blue-ribbon seats while also appealing to the suburbs, small business and rural areas. But that was an impossible deal. Something had to give.
If the Liberal Party can regroup against political correctness, they could storm back in just as Tony Abbott did. If they don’t, the minor parties on the Right will fill that space and do it for them.
I’m gearing up for the battle ahead. The bank balance is on the rocks though.
Please, I need your support.
