Given that the Liberal Party has already lost every government in mainland Australia, it seems to sense that their members and supporters are downcast. But, they might take heart in the knowledge that politics operates in cycles and that cycles turn.
“The ideals of a time are like the clothing of a season,” the author Wyndham Lewis famously penned.
Hysteria over COVID-19 and climate change has successfully persuaded the populace, particularly the young, to reject ideas like sound money, individual liberty and responsibility, and competitive markets.
No matter how much money it spends, the state always has the correct answer. That epitomizes the current zeitgeist.
This trend will eventually give way to another. The Liberal Party must consider the future. The growing burden of rules and regulations will make the public tired of politicians and bureaucrats telling them how to live their lives.
In terms of money, the general public will soon realize that excessive and massive public expenditure results in inflation, which raises interest rates and lowers absolute living standards.
We are still experiencing adverse effects of the Great COVID Panic, including children’s mental health, educational disruption, especially for underprivileged children, hospital waiting lists, labour shortages, enormous public debt, inflation, and more.
And most importantly, the mortality rate was 8.2% higher than anticipated for 2020, 2021, and 2022. Remember that Australia’s excess mortality rate was substantially higher despite Sweden not having lockdowns!
There will be more. Eye-watering costs, declining productivity, and a stagnant economy will all contribute to the anguish of achieving net zero by 2050. All of our politicians currently support net zero, but they have no idea how to get there without lowering our standard of living.
Hence, the Liberals must begin reshaping the narrative to address these and other challenges and have the political fortitude to take on their opponents. They will need to ensure that we contribute appropriately and proportionately to decreasing CO2 emissions while also providing the public a better route to higher wealth and more individual agency.
The Liberal Party needs to begin the process of rebuilding as soon as the NSW election is completed. Recriminations, faction warfare, and other self-serving notions won’t cut it. The party needs to start thinking about the future because the polls from this year and last year won’t be held again.
It faces its first significant test today: the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Let’s not forget that the Liberal Party has long backed the idea of including Native Australians in the constitution. In 1999, the Howard administration suggested changing the constitution’s preamble to reflect this. Anthony Albanese voted against it, while I supported it.
The Labor Party has a fresh idea now. It’s not just about acknowledgement but fundamentally altering how Australia’s government operates. Labour is asking Australians to approve a whole new section of the Australian Constitution that would mandate consultation with the representatives of one race of Australians on any decision that even the slightest possibility could be interpreted as affecting them.
These representatives would need to be consulted by both the executive and the parliament. That means public employees working on policy suggestions must contact the Voice before advising ministers or implementing specific policies.
Just consider how much time this consultative process would require. Imagine how much more complicated and delayed policymaking will be in Australia due to this consultation procedure.
Just picture the litigation if there isn’t any consultation because a public official or a minister doesn’t believe the pertinent policy applies to Indigenous people! The odd question of whether a certain policy affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will be decided by the courts.
Consider how long and expensive that procedure would be. Or the public service will conclude that every executive policy proposal should be the subject of consultation to avoid such legal action. Each year, the Voice will be referred to thousands of initiatives. Consider the delays this will bring about.
Others who support the current approach, however, assert that this is irrelevant because the Voice can only offer recommendations and not make choices. As the prime minister noted, it will be a brave government confronting the Voice.
How much will the Voice turn into another tool of political polarization, given that its members will have all the traits we are accustomed to seeing in people?
I would never have thought to support a racist organization. I have long fought racial prejudice and laws based on race, having campaigned against apartheid in South Africa.
So for me, it’s a straightforward proposition. I would never accept a system created to completely exclude people based on race. Remember that Indigenous Australians are represented in the Voice, the Parliament, the Judiciary, and the Public Service. Yet every other race is barred from The Voice. How is that liberal, fair, or “progressive”?
This is an excellent example of how good intentions may lead to bad outcomes. Recognizing Indigenous Australians in the constitution and honouring their contribution to Australia’s development are beautiful ideas. However, the model being put out to the Australian people will be a constitutional disaster.
Now let’s return to the Liberal Party. The federal Liberals must choose their Voice within days of the electoral setback in the state with the most population in Australia. The government is moving forward despite needing to accept the Labor model. It appears to believe that doesn’t matter. History demonstrates that it does.
I would have thought that conduct to be both arrogant and foolish. Constitutional amendments shouldn’t be a partisan political issue. At the very least, any changes should be discussed and approved by the principal parties.
The Liberals can position themselves as the party of sound and stable governance by rejecting meaningless gestures, virtue signalling, and political stunts, all of which can have unintended repercussions.
When the Liberals take back power, they ought to grant constitutional recognition to Indigenous Australians but reject the catastrophic Voice of Albanese and his Labor Party.
