Government drowning not waving in loon pond

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The epic Andrew Bolt weekend dummy spit is worth another look today:

It is not just the entertainment value that makes this video valuable. It captures perfectly the attitude of the Liberal Party’s uber-conservative rump, a tail that now spectacularly wags the dog through the sheer extremity of its passions. Witness, did Malcolm Turnbull destroy the Coalition or rescue it from far worse?

Capture

When Tony Abbott was dumped he was trailing Labor by 14 points. Turnbull reversed that to a 10 point gain. He subsequently lost half of it owing to a shocking display of chaotic policy deliberation, in part owing to the failure of the uber-conservatives to embrace reform, but the evidence is clearly that Turnbull still prevented a Coalition drubbing.

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But evidence is not what matters to the Coalition uber-conservatives A.K.A. “loon pond”. They are not attached to the reality of polls or centrist politics in what is probably the most pragmatically centrist Western electorate on earth. They are interested in something else, captured perfectly yesterday by one of its doyens, Cory Bernardi:

South Australian Liberal senator Cory Bernardi has called the election a “disaster” and warns that the Liberal Party has alienated its base and risks triggering what he calls a conservative revolution.

In comments clearly directed at Malcolm Turnbull, Senator Bernardi told The Australian the disappointing result for the government was brought on by “hubris” and an “arrogant contempt” for the founding principles of the Liberal Party.

He argued for those in charge of the campaign to be held to account for the poor result and warned that conservative voters would abandon the party unless it stayed true to conservative values. “However you look at it, it’s a disaster for the Liberal Party. The brand has been damaged substantially by hubris, by an arrogant contempt for our traditional base and the abandonment of any founding principle,” he said.

“The conservative revolution needs to either start within the Liberal Party or it will start outside of it and I think we’ve just seen a taste of that on the weekend.

I don’t know about you but that’s precisely the kind of evangelical language that sends me running for cover. I’d be willing to bet a lot that I represent the vast majority of Australians as well, who’d be quite happy to tell Mr Bernardi to stick his “revolution” where the sun don’t shine.

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Australians generally can be patient with eccentricity by they do not like revolutionaries of any stripe, as we saw through the decades long reign of Robert Menzies, when it was the Left that was pre-occupied with religious zeal for its chosen utopia. I put it to you that that is what killed Tony Abbott above all else: commitment to an openly troglodyte ideology and its expression through policy that scared the willies off your average Aussie.

So, when I read the following today at The Australian, I despair of hope for the Liberal Party:

Malcolm Turnbull is facing a ­partyroom revolt from Coalition colleagues who are demanding a say in what he can offer independent MPs in order to secure power, setting the first major test of his leadership in the wake of the shock election result.

Ministers and backbenchers have held talks on plans for a ­partyroom meeting as soon as next week to ensure they are consulted on the crossbench negotiations and are not presented with a “fait accompli” if Mr Turnbull needs to strike a deal.

…Bruised from its electoral battering last Saturday, the Coalition is at risk of descending into rancour and division over the conduct of the campaign, the mistakes made by key ministers and Mr Turnbull’s judgment in calling the double dissolution election.

Former defence minister David Johnston slammed the “shocking” campaign and its “trite” message about jobs and growth, while Queensland MP Michelle Landry, who is struggling to hold her seat of Capricornia, said the Coalition’s brand was damaged by the leadership change last September that toppled Tony Abbott.

…Conservative South Australian senator Cory Bernardi said he would be “absolutely on board” if Mr Turnbull led the Coalition government and it acted in the best interest of Australia.

Mr Turnbull has made a standing offer to Tony Abbott of the plum diplomatic post of London High Commissioner but if he were to accept it would force a byelection in a fragile parliament.

Others are pressuring Mr Turnbull to re-instate the former prime minister to a front bench position as well as senior Tasmanian Eric Abetz and returning Peter Dutton to the national security committee.

…Former Liberal MP and Speaker Brownyn Bishop last night said Mr Turnbull should elevate ­conservatives to cabinet, predicting “mayhem” if he was not able to form government.

Peta Credlin, the former chief of staff to Mr Abbott, lashed the “hapless group of bedwetters” that advised Mr Turnbull and said some ministers should stand “condemned” for the election result.

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How can independents even negotiate with this rabble? They’ll be handing Australia an openly broken government, conflicted to its core and inherently unstable, with a shelf life that might last weeks. That the loon pond can’t pretend to basic unity even as negotiations take place that will determine its fate tells you all you need to know.

The Liberal Party needs time in the wilderness to drain its loon pond, for the nation and for itself.

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.