Christopher Pyne: The Liberals must reclaim centre ground

It’s worth checking who really won what on Saturday – and how much work both Labor and Liberal have to do now, writes Christopher Pyne.

The Australian election result on Saturday is like no other in history. No government has been elected with a 31 per cent primary vote before. There have never been as many crossbenchers elected since the early days of Federation over one hundred years ago.

The Australian Greens have broken into the House of Representatives in more than a sole seat for the first time.

The story of the election is one of repudiation of the politics that we have been used to. It remains to be seen if voters are happy with whatever that produces.

Labor achieved their lowest primary vote in over 100 years. Remember – the past three elections are the next lowest. In other words, Labor’s primary vote has gone down consistently and is now almost has a two in front of it.

The Coalition primary vote is 35 per cent. So the party with the higher primary vote has lost a swag of seats and the party with its lowest primary vote since the Great Depression will form government!

Penny Wong and Labor leader Anthony Albanese at the Labor Party launch in Perth. Picture: Liam Kidston.

The Liberal heartland has been gutted. Seats that have been in Liberal hands almost continuously since they were created have been lost to independents running on little more than a vibe.

The House of Representatives will look more like the parliaments of the early years of Federation than it has at any time since the period before World War I.

What all of this means for the polity remains to be seen.

We know for sure that former prime minister Scott Morrison’s era has come to an end. He took over at the end of the tumultuous period that saw the prime ministerships of Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd again, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull, all within 11 years. He was the first prime minister to face consecutive elections since John Howard in 2007. No doubt he will be vilified by many but as they say, “haters gotta hate”.

Truth is, he did the best job he could in difficult circumstances. Australia weathered the Covid pandemic better than almost any country in the world. He leaves the economy in good shape. Our national defence is much stronger today than it has been at any time in our history.

In their victory speeches last night, both incoming Foreign Minister, Penny Wong and soon-to-be Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, “Australians have voted for change”. They are right. When you change the government in Australia, you change the nation.

An Albanese government will have a very different tone from the Morrison government. It will face immediate economic and national security challenges. As a citizen, I wish them fair winds and clear skies.

Anthony Albanese and Christopher Pyne in the House of Representatives, Parliament House in Canberra in 2018. Picture Kym Smith

I know Anthony Albanese well. Like Ralph and Sam, the coyote and sheep dog from the Looney Tunes cartoons of many years ago, we clocked on in the morning and parried and clashed all day, clocked off in the evening and often shared a drink when Parliament rose to commentate on the week’s proceedings. He has a good heart. He has a good story. How great is our country that he can rise from such humble beginnings to lead the nation as prime minister?

Shadow Minister for Infrastructure Anthony Albanese hugs Minister for Defence Christopher Pyne after his valedictory speech in the House of Representatives at Parliament House, in Canberra, April 4, 2019. Picture: Sam Mooy

For both sides of politics this election result is a cause for soul searching.

Labor has not only recorded an historically low primary vote, it has lost seats to the Australian Greens. It would be hard to argue that Labor has been enthusiastically embraced by the electorate. Labor will win a bare majority of seats in the House of Representatives. If anything, Labor was the least worst choice in the eyes of many voters. The result is not exactly a ringing endorsement of their policies.

For the Coalition, it is a chance to take time to rebuild, refresh and think about what the Liberal and National Parties stand for, how they present themselves to the electorate and how they conduct themselves.

The Coalition has won 32 of 47 national elections. For most of the time since World War II it has been the default party of government for most voters. That is not the case at state or territory elections, where the issues that drive voter sentiment are often different, but it is a fact nationally.

However, voters in hitherto Liberal seats have sent a strong message to the non-Labor side of politics. Will the Liberal Party heed it? Time will tell. If they insist on pretending that the result was not so bad and that they can continue with business as usual and win in three years, they are mistaken. They will remain in opposition.

Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison’s predecessor. Photo: News Corp Australia

The Coalition is an election winning machine when it genuinely embraces the liberal and conservative political philosophies. That’s where voters want it to position itself. For example, the climate change wars are over. How is anyone in the Coalition still advocating for anything other than a long term shift to renewables? To do so is consigning their side of politics to a cul de sac of irrelevance.

National elections are won from the slightly right or slightly left of centre on the political pendulum, not from the right or the left. Exhibit A – Albanese claiming to be more like prime ministers Hawke and Howard than any other comparison.

Those predicting the demise of the Liberal Party should pause before they start engraving the tombstone. The Liberal Party is one of the great institutions of Australian politics. Like Labor, it has been through tough times before, remade itself and emerged strong and united. Let’s not too quickly forget that after 13 years of continuous Labor Governments from 1983 to 1996 it then dominated Australian politics for 20 of the next 26 years.

The Liberal Party has taken a blow. But for the good of the polity, it will recover. Even its worst enemies should want it to do so – for the stability of the nation and its good governance.