Contrary to the gibbering conspiracy theories of the left, the “Murdoch press” in Australia offers far more diversity of opinion than any right-on lefty publication. The Australian regularly features the likes of pontificating old commo Phillip Adams and strident feminist Nikki Gemmell. Name one conservative regular at the ABC or the Guardian.
The Oz has also been resolutely never-Trump. Since the November election, the never-Trumpers at the Oz have fallen over themselves in the rush to pile-on the Donald. In one of their sillier op-eds, The Australian heaped praise on the likes of the despised Mitch McConnell, arguing that it “took guts” to “stand up to your base”.
Au contraire, it takes a particularly odious form of cowardice to sell out your base in order to crawl to the leftist establishment.
The Republicans will learn that at their peril – and so will the Australian Liberals.
An ominous sign for Scott Morrison is not just the resignation of “maverick” Craig Kelly but the refusal of a stellar Liberal member like Nicolle Flint to stand again.
Flint […became] the first woman in history to win the seat of Boothby not once, but twice.
But despite her strength of character and resilience, this serious conservative announced on Friday night that she’s out; not only viciously targeted by GetUp! at the 2019 election, and Extinction Rebellion defacing her office as recently as the last fortnight, but even inside her own party she was never given much support by those who wanted her to fail.
Flint copped it from the left because she was a younger woman who’d supposedly betrayed her sex by being a mainstream conservative. She wasn’t sufficiently acknowledged by vindictive “small l” Liberals because she maintained a dignified independence of mind in a party that’s becoming both more “progressive” and more conformist than ever before.
This isn’t because of a shift of voter sentiment. As the last federal election showed, Australian voters comprehensively reject much of the left agenda, especially over climate and energy.
Instead, it’s the party that’s spinelessly letting itself be bullied by the shrill left.
Look at the way state Liberal parties in government and opposition have acquiesced to, or even connived at advancing, the far-left’s agenda on identity politics.
The Victorian Liberal opposition has just waved through an Andrews government bill criminalising any attempt to dissuade teenagers from gender reassignment surgery. The bill was opposed not just by churches but even by doctors groups.
Eighteen months back, the NSW Liberal government adopted a green-left private members bill that, but for a party-room revolt, would have legalised abortion right to the moment of birth. Something like this is now happening in South Australia, too, under a Liberal state government.
And right around the country, in name of transgender rights, we are erasing “women”, “female” and “mother” from our society.
The conservative voters might have thought that the Libs reached their blue-green nadir under Malcolm Turnbull, but Scott Morrison is showing too little inclination to right the party’s alarming list to the left.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is by no stretch a social progressive. But he’s not exactly a conservative warrior either.
His recent response to questions on Melbourne radio about whether we’re too “woke” was “who cares?”. At one level, commendably non-ideological, but at another level, not taking sufficiently seriously the erosion of so many of the values that his voters cherish[…]
Not one of the recent state lockdowns — in South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia or Victoria — has even been questioned by the federal government, despite the absence of published health advice, and despite the massive economic damage and personal upheaval they caused.
Australian voters seem to have two Scott Morrisons to deal with.
On the international stage, there’s Scott Morrison the Statesman, building vital new alliances for Australia and taking on some of the world’s biggest bullies – China and Facebook – and winning.
But on the domestic front, it’s “Scotty from Marketing”, who seems to treat every policy issue as a marketing exercise, which naturally leads him to cave to the media narrative, every time.
That’s not likely to work out well for the government. Morrison might lead Anthony Albanese by 30 points as preferred PM, but the two-party preferred vote is bogged at an ominous 50-50.
It wasn’t always thus.
It’s not good for any party to have a tame frontbench and a timid party room, particularly when it comes to the fight on values, or those much-needed reforms that critics say are near-impossible.
After all, as Tony Abbott’s border protection minister, Morrison was prepared to stare down all those who said it couldn’t be done.
I’m certain I’m not alone in wanting to see ScoMo’s mojo return, to take on these big battles.
The Daily Telegraph
Bring back the “ScoMo” who shirt-fronted the climate alarmists in Parliament by waving a lump of coal in their faces.
I’ll trade him for Scotty from Marketing, any day.
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