THE mood among Liberal Party supporters is darkening as the Party continues its hard lurch to the Left, shedding millions of voters as it does. From this month’s Western Australia debacle – where a radical Liberal opposition was all but wiped out – to recent big losses in Queensland, the Northern Territory and a minority government in Tasmania, there’s little joy among centre-right conservatives.
THE Left’s organisational team that oversaw former Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s 2019 election disaster has controversially been given a second chance to win Warringah. The former Liberal stronghold had never been lost by the Party until its hard Left “moderate” faction grabbed control in 2018.
PANICKED members of WA’s extreme Left Liberal Party have blamed faith-based candidates for their expected wipe-out on Saturday.
After defying the prime minister and committing to net zero carbon emissions a full 20 years earlier than the Greens – and promising to close half the State’s coal power stations while at it – the WA Liberals face an unprecedented routing at the March 13 election.
THE art of politics generally changes with each generation but in the past such changes were fairly slight and were kept from getting out of hand by older and more experienced political practitioners. However, in more recent times the change has been so fast-moving that it brings about a sense of confusion acerbated by the now 24-hour news cycle. What was once the Fourth Estate and a reliable check on political abuse of power now has little understanding of the art of politics and almost no regard for the national interest.
NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean has responded callously to the resignation of Liberal Party colleague Craig Kelly telling him “good riddance”. Mr Kelly is the latest of a string of conservatives who have departed an increasingly radicalised Liberal Party.
MALCOLM Turnbull replacement Dave Sharma has told conservatives to “get over it” as the Liberal Party continues its radical lurch Left. Self-described as a “modern Liberal”, the new member for Wentworth said the Party was a broad church and that green energy was “inevitable”.
WHILE the muddying of NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s public image was a surprise to many, it was far from a shock to close observers. The premier has been confounding people who know her – or thought they did – for some time.
NSW NATIONALS leader John Barilaro started it, by threatening to take his bucket and spade from the sandpit and go play on the cross benches. He made a thorough goose of himself on two counts: tittle-tattling to the public about matters that should have been sorted out behind closed doors and displaying his ignorance of constitutional conventions.
NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean is on a collision course with the State’s powerful Parliamentary Development Committee which has warned renewable energy is incapable of meeting growth demands. Mr Kean, who hopes to reduce State carbon emissions by 35 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2050, is under pressure to back away from his pet project by the cross-Party committee findings.
ULTRA-Left NSW MP Matt Kean has suggested he is the future of the Liberal Party – and not conservatives such as Menzies, Howard or Abbott.
In what could only be described as a self-congratulatory piece in Friday’s Australian Financial Review, the NSW minister spoke of his government-supplied Tesla, his Greens Party agenda as well as his disapproval of former PM Tony Abbott. He also provided a glimpse of his deep dislike for US President Donald Trump.
