Andrew Bolt: Trump helped smash the Liberals. Here’s how

Trump just helped defeat the Liberals, but he didn’t harm his closest political ally in Britain, Nigel Farage — so what happened with Dutton?

The Liberals must figure how Donald Trump helped smash them on Saturday, or risk total destruction.

But they’re hearing two fake stories.

One, from the Liberal Left, is that the Trump factor proves Dutton – tagged Temu Trump by Labor – took the Liberals too far to the Right. Trump scared voters.

But Trump fans insist Trump didn’t hurt Dutton. After all, Trump didn’t hurt his closest political friend in Britain, Nigel Farage, whose anti-immigration Reform Party had a stunning election victory last week, winning 10 local councils and a by-election for a safe Labor seat.

Both claims are wrong, because of two critical differences between Farage and Dutton.

Dutton has been tagged a Temu Trump by Labor, did he take them too far right? Picture: Patrick Hamilton

First, Farage has campaigned for decades against mass immigration, multiculturalism and government-by-bureaucrats. Nobody can doubt he means what he says.

But Dutton and the Liberals have only kind-of argued against mass immigration in this campaign, and only recently announced some Trump-like policies about a new department to cut waste and an end to working from home for Canberra public servants.

But their commitment to policies remotely “Right-wing” quickly wavered. Dutton even scrapped his working-from-home ban, and left his defence policy until the last minute.

With Farage, you couldn’t doubt what he wanted and why. With Dutton, you could. So there was no surprise if voters thought Dutton was weak and lazily copying Trump.

Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform Party had a stunning election victory last week. Picture: Lia Toby

Second, Farage had luck. Trump’s team smashed him. Elon Musk even complained he was a Right-wing sellout and told him to quit. Again, no one could doubt Farage was his own man.

But Dutton? I begged him to attack Trump personally, to demonstrate he was no Trump sellout. He didn’t, not even after Trump hit Australia with tariffs.

But there’s another difference the Coalition must consider.

During the campaign, Nationals Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price promised the Coalition would “bring Australia back to its former glory”.

But mass immigration has made that impossible, because 30 per cent of voters weren’t even born here. Think they yearn for Australia’s “former glory”?

What’s more, The Australian Population Research Institute found just 42 per cent of Asian-born Australians, and 34 per cent from Middle East, Africa and Israel, felt a great “sense of belonging to Australia.

Add identity politics, and there’s no “us” left for conservatives to appeal to.

That makes mass immigration not quite the tribal threat here as it is to Farage voters.

One more reason why Farage succeeds where the Coalition fails – and must adjust.

Originally published as Andrew Bolt: Trump helped smash the Liberals. Here’s how