Had the Liberal Party decided to endorse the Albanese government’s plan for constitutional entrenchment of a so-called Indigenous “voice” to parliament, it would have condemned the party to the wilderness for the long term, for being unwilling to stand firmly for anything.

But by the decision to defend the liberal value of the equality of all Australians before the law, it has shown it is capable of being decisive, willing to make a hard argument, and prepared to act on the basis of the fundamental principles on which the party was founded. That is only underlined by the short term political cost incurred – today’s resignation of shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser.