Tag: liberal

australian politics, politics

Top 5 ways to save the Liberal Party #auspol 

Top 5 ways to save the Liberal Party:
1) Acknowledge the next election will be unwinnable. Claim that you are the under dog.

2) Dump Turnbull and replace him with Julie Bishop. Because when she loses the unwinnable election you will dump her and she will never be leader again and hopefully resign from Parliament.

3) Democratise the Party. Rather than making it an expensive social club actually allow all members to discuss policy and pre-select candidates. 

4) After the unnwinable election chose a new fresh leader. I don’t know maybe Angus Taylor, Christian Porter or Andrew Hastie. Fresh blood.

5) Lead by example. If you want to fix the budget don’t go out spending like a drunken sailor.
I have more tips on how the Liberal Party can save itself. But these will do for now. 

australian politics, democracy, elections, free speech, politics

The Three Disciples and the Triangle of Hope

2017 will see the demise the of Liberal Party as we knew it. No longer will it be a centre-right party espousing a broad-church base, instead it will be an extreme centre or mild centre left party with a base that is made up of progressive moderates. Many conservative members of the Liberal Party have resigned. Some have decided to go with another political party and others are waiting to see what progresses so that they can find their new home. As far as I can see, there are three alternatives in our political landscape which could house ex liberal members. Lets call them the three disciples. Together they are The Triangle of Hope.

On the bottom far right side of the Triangle of Hope we see Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. One Nation has proven to be an effective player on the electoral scene. Social policies such as climate change, tough immigration, tough on crime, and tough on welfare attracts conservatives however their economic viewpoints – which historically united the liberals – veers to the left of politics. They do believe in protectionism on industry and they aren’t fond of free trade. This could be a major turn off for conservatives. Many conservatives believe in economic freedom therefore no regulations should interfere with economic progress. On the other hand to give credit where it is due, Pauline Hanson and One Nation have treated many economic issues on merit rather than having a blanket rule approach. For example One Nation does not believe in foreign ownership, however they do support the Adani Coal Mine in Townsville. This shows that One Nation is willing to negotiate for the good of the nation in particularly when it comes to jobs. Organisationally however Pauline Hanson’s One Nation belongs to Pauline Hanson. It is her Party. This will not gel with conservatives. One of the main reasons why many conservatives within the Liberal Party are leaving is because the membership is not allowed a voice. If One Nation wants to pick up these conservative votes then they need to change their organisational structure. Otherwise conservatives will look to others within the Triangle of Hope.

On the bottom far left side of the Triangle of Hope we see the Liberal Democratic Party. The LDP have a libertarian slant to their policies. They stand for low taxes, small government and individual responsibility. This sounds more like a conservative party however whilst they may feel at home with their economic viewpoints they may struggle to comprehend their social policies. The LDP do believe in legalising same sex marriage (but protecting religions from being sued if they refuse to marry same sex couples), legalisation of drugs, prostitution, abortions and euthanasia. At the end of the day they believe that humans should be free to make decisions about their own lives without the nanny state interfering. Whilst conservatives don’t believe in the ‘nanny state’ as such these policies are not something conservatives feel strongly about, many conservatives despise prostitution, abortions and euthanasia. As for the organisational structure of the LDP it is not based on personalities unlike Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. All members have a say and this is a potential win for conservatives.

Is there a better way? Finally on top of the Triangle of Hope we see the Australian Conservatives. A newly formed Conservative Party founded by former Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi. The Party believes in advocating for building a sustainable and prosperous economy and maintaining civil society. What does this mean? Well as the Party has just only been founded there are no exact policies on issues however when you go through Hansard and other media outlets and you read up on Senator Cory Bernardi, you will find that he believes in the free market, limited Government, personal responsibility, and a civil society (traditional Judeo-Christian values). The party also believes in democratic processes therefore according to it’s website, all party members will have a say on party matters. According to Paul Murray Live (3/7/2017) the Australian Conservatives in NSW have already reached 4,000 members, this is impressive hence why it is on top of the Triangle of Hope.

Conservatives in Australia have a choice. They could continue to stick with the Liberal Party and be frustrated with being powerless and support leftist policies such as the folly of renewable energy targets, open borders and gay marriage. Alternatively they could consider the Triangle of Hope. Australian Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. These three disciples have potential to shape our nation. There are options and there is a better way.

 

politics

Repost – Why do minor parties fail to sustain their electoral success?

In Australian politics we have seen minor party’s come and go. In the early 90’s we saw the Australian Democrats gain significant power in the Senate, in the late 90’s we saw the rise of Pauline Hansons One Nation Party which gained a large number of seats in Qld State Parliament and then in the noughties we have seen the Australian Greens gain some momentum. The big question is, why do these party’s continually fail to sustain their electoral success?

As a former member of a minor party in the past, it has been observed that the support base of minor party’s are a result of a number of factors. Many people join, or vote for minor party’s because they are disillusioned by the major party’s; they believe strongly in a particular ideology or issue and or peoples ego’s are satisfied when involved in a political party, and by joining a minor party they can fulfil this easier than if they joined an established party.

At the 2013 Federal Election the Australian Greens lost some of their support. The Australian Greens, which support base is strong on extreme socialism, decided to do deals with the Australian Labor Party, in particular when it came to the Carbon Tax, one could make an educated guess that this relationship was a probable cause for their diminished vote.

Party’s such as Palmers United Party, the Motorist Enthusiast Party and the Liberal Democrat Party all gained parliamentary representation for the first time. If history serves us anything, it can be assumed these parties will not sustain their electoral success.

Starting with the Liberal Democrat Party. In NSW this party gained 9.50% of the vote in the senate, and lucky for them they gained a senate seat. This has been a controversial gain as they were given the number one position on the senate paper, and many individuals voted for the Liberal Democrat Party by mistake as they were confused and thought they were voting for the Liberal Party of Australia; with a swing of 7.19% from the previous 2010 federal election this was not due to the party campaigning hard, in fact many people did not think this party existed. The Liberal Democrat Party is based on hardcore liberalism, they believe in policies such as gay marriage, no gun control, legalisation of drugs and laissez-faire capitalism. Due to having a strong ideological belief, such party’s attract people with this viewpoint and with this in mind the party most probably cannot appeal to the wider community, as Australian voters are a mixed bag. Once you analyse these factors such as the party gaining a senator by mistake and being focussed on ideology, it is a recipe for failure.

The Australian Motor Enthusiast Party gained a senate seat in Victoria, they only received 0.51% of the vote however was elected in by preferences, too confusing to divulge in this blog. According to it’s website the party has policies that revolves around motoring. Recent news reports however stated that infighting within the party was occurring, a split between the party in Queensland and Victoria were rife, and the Queensland division terminated its Victorian leadership. This party is built on a single issue and clearly there are ego’s within the party that need to be satisfied, this party will probably not succeed electorally due to this.

Finally Palmers United Party, this party founded by Clive Palmer early 2013, a larger than life (Due to his outgoing nature of course) businessman who once was a member of the Liberal National Party in Qld. Palmers United Party has gained 2 senate seats and Clive Palmer himself is now the member for Fairfax. The electoral success for PUP is somewhat unremarkable considering they don’t have any solid policies, and the fact his candidates were unknown in most electorates. In Qld, PUP received 9.89% of the vote in the senate and in Tasmania 6.58% therefore gaining 2 senators. The interesting notion with PUP is this party thrives on peoples dissatisfaction of the major parties, Palmer himself appears to have a vendetta with the Liberal Party which appeals to these voters, and with Palmer being a man with money he can capitalise on this.

All in all, minor parties serve only to those who support them, they generally don’t look at the bigger picture of governing, this is why minor party’s fail to sustain their electoral success. Political party’s such as the ALP and LNP have been established for decades, they have seen the ups and downs of party politics and aim to govern for all Australians regardless of ideology. Of course generally speaking both major party’s lean a particular way but not to the extremes of some minor party’s. As mentioned before in regards to my observations being a former member of a minor party, the three things that create a minor party can also be viewed as detrimental such as;

Dissatisfaction of the major party’s – Voters vote for minor party’s in protest, usually unsustainable and people tend to go back to the established party’s.
Ideology – Many minor party’s as mentioned, base their policies and objectives through strong hardcore ideology, therefore only appealing to a small percentage of population.
Ego’s – Minor party’s are an avenue for people with big ego’s therefore creating a magnitude of infighting amongst party members.
In conclusion, minor party’s come and go, the major political party’s will be around for some time, they focus on Governing not on holding Government to ransom, it will take a lot to destabilise a major party in Australia regardless of circumstances.