Liberals once stood for a smaller state, popular capitalism and a sensible approach to public finances. The party’s ideological regression has been staggering: during the recent era of Coalition rule, the party of John Howard and Peter Costello rarely explained how growth comes from the private sector, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Instead, the size and scope of the federal government exploded. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Macquarie Macro Strategy, government spending was little changed between late 2009 and late 2014, but has grown at an average annual rate of 5.9 per cent over the period since.