The old Latin saying goes “he falls trying to sit on two seats.” We saw a real world example in New South Wales last week.
The NSW Liberal-National Government were seeking re-election for a 4th term, which is always a difficult ask. But things were made more difficult as the Liberal party shape-shifted into a fake green party in a desperate attempt to save its inner city seats.
The NSW Liberals committed to cut carbon emissions by 70 per cent by 2035 – a larger cut than the Federal Labor party has promised. The NSW Liberals failed to get the Narrabri gas project going after more than a decade of delays. The NSW Labor leader raised the prospect of keeping a large coal fired power station to keep the lights on. The Liberals promptly ruled that out.
The Liberals were successful in keeping its city centre strongholds. But it was a case of my kingdom for a horse, as large swings against the Liberals caused them to lose seats in suburban Sydney and hence lose government.
It was another example of how Australian voters have more good sense than we give them credit for. Liberals have tried to out-green the Greens party in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, at the Federal level (we adopted a net zero target) and, now, New South Wales, they have all been spectacular failures.
I have had many conversations with “moderates” who claim we have to adopt radical climate policies so that we can win seats. Their argument is not that a carbon tax would be best for Australia, or even best to create Australian jobs, but that we need to change our values to keep our jobs as politicians.
Inauthenticity is death in politics. People can smell it. As the old joke goes “the secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you have got it made.”
Because we have not been able to fake sincerity, the Labor party now holds every state and federal government in mainland Australia. This last happened just after Kevin Rudd was elected. But within a few years almost all of these Labor governments were thrown out.
The way back is not complicated. The LNP must rediscover the courage of its convictions. We are a party that stands to protect and promote families, including through the ability for them to own their own home. To keep government as small as necessary so that it does not punish you with taxes or red tape. And, we believe in the development of our nation’s natural resources, manufacturing industry and defence capability so that we can protect the sovereignty of our borders.
This agenda remains the basis for all successful centre right parties. It is not rocket science but strongly advocating for these policies will see you uninvited to some dinner parties in inner city suburbs.
The LNP does not sit comfortably on the stools provided at these dinner parties anyway. So instead of falling between those two stools we need pull up a stool at a country pub, listen to real Australians and fearlessly fight for their values.
