The Liberals need to make drastic changes now if they want to regain power

One essential problem with Liberals is how plodding many of their current candidates and MPs are. It’s not just that they’re overly cautious, it’s that they generate so little energy that caution isn’t even required, writes Tim Blair.

In accordance with established Australian tradition, the NSW Coalition government’s defeat on Saturday was followed by a ritual mourning for the Liberal Party.

The task of presenting Saturday’s sadness fell to former Liberal Party adviser and ABC election night panellist Tony Barry, who began with a two-year rollcall of conservative failure and misery.

“We’ve seen a disastrous result in WA, a cataclysmic, terrible result in South Australia, similarly a cataclysmic result in Victoria on top of a poor federal result last year, and a loss tonight for what was an objectively a good government,” Barry told ABC viewers.

All correct and properly sequenced. Also a fine call on the qualities of ex-premier Dominic Perrottet and his team.

But next, to the delight of Labor’s social media fans, Barry delivered his explanation for all those defeats.

Dominic Perrottet was the latest Liberal leader across the country to taste defeat. Picture: NCA Newswire/ Monique Harmer

“There are clearly some problems for the Liberal Party,” he said.

“And while the NSW Liberal Party is certainly performing better than the other states, it’s difficult to admit you’ve got an ugly baby.”

ABC presenter Jeremy Fernandez instantly cracked up at Barry’s “ugly baby” gag. Twitter leftists were likewise enchanted. It seems we’ve finally found something in this postmodern, non-judgmental, everything’s equal era that we can all agree is objectively repellent.

“And I think the Liberal Party needs to start having that conversation,” Barry continued, “because we can’t get elected if we keep on going down this path. Changes need to be made.”

They sure do, as just about every Liberal agrees. The problem is, Liberals at state and federal levels can’t agree about those changes.

On Saturday night, Barry spoke about the Liberals getting “back to our core values, our enduring values”, which would be excellent. But according to a 2023 ABC report, he argued that “climate change was a ‘critical’ issue” for Liberals in their federal election defeat.

ABC Presenter Jeremy Fernandez had a giggle at Tony Barry’s take. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer

Moreover, Barry – representing many in the Libs’ elite “modern” wing – apparently found that the party’s climate stance was “symbolic of a ‘deeper values disconnect’ with the electorate”.

This baby isn’t just ugly, it’s flat-out confused.

The Liberals have remained almost as religious as Labor on climate change even after ditching high priest Malcolm Turnbull. In particular, every Liberal MP swept aside by teals in 2022 was painfully faithful to the climate creed.

Values-wise, the likes of cast-aside Liberals such as Dave Sharma, Tim Wilson and Trent Zimmerman were completely aligned with all the cashed-up climate virtue signallers in their posh electorates.

Didn’t do them a damn bit of good, though. It’s difficult to see, then, how adding further climate hand-wringing to the Liberal message is going to pay off. More likely is that it would drive away even more core Liberal voters while failing to convert or restore any teal simps.

Incidentally, one essential problem with Liberals before we even get to policy matters might be how plodding and dull are many of their current candidates and MPs.

It’s not just that they’re overly cautious, it’s that they generate so little energy that caution isn’t even required.

Chris Minns orchestrated the Coalition’s downfall. Picture: Damian Shaw

By contrast, consider the benefits of tenacious and creative “junk politics”. We’ve seen quite a few notable junk exponents over the years, in a number of fields.

Retired tennis great Ash Barty, for example, once described herself as an on-court “junk artist”.

Basically, this meant she’d seek any opportunistic advantage, no matter how much energy was required.

“One-dimensional players roll their eyes and blast away with metronomic power,” The Australian’s Will Swanton wrote of Barty’s style, “while the junk artist gets her running shoes on, tries her guts out, chases every ball and drives an opponent stir crazy with prods and pokes and any other variation she can think of.”

Ash Barty is a self proclaimed junk artist. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Back to the Liberals’ change crisis. Possibly the simplest way to push Liberal policies in vote-gaining directions might be to allow the public – or at least that section of the public with Liberal memberships – to have a greater say.

Sky News’s Peta Credlin, who knows a thing or two about winning power from opposition, has been demanding this for years. She did so again on Saturday night, asking for a viable Liberal Party that has been “taken back by the members”.

Interestingly, another Liberal ally wrote in 2010 of how effective such a straightforward strategy can be.

Noting that the “Liberal Party hierarchy” had been profoundly at odds with its membership base during “the final months of Malcolm Turnbull’s turbulent leadership”, our ally observed: “The Liberal Party made the right decision by handing the leadership to Tony Abbott and adopting a position on climate change that appealed to its base and restored its electoral fortunes.”

Well, ex-PM Abbott isn’t coming back, sadly, but otherwise those lines about appealing to the base and restoring electoral fortunes remain right on the money.

The author? None other than Tony Barry, grave intoner of Saturday night’s Liberal requiem. Within only three years, from 2010 to 2013, those “ugly baby” ideas brought about the downfall of all but two of six federal and state Labor governments.

Sounds kind of attractive. May be worth trying again.