Peta Credlin: Don’t punish the government in ways that will hurt the country

Conservative voters are justifiably disgruntled with Scott Morrison but we can’t afford to risk electing what would be the most left-wing government in our history next Saturday, writes Peta Credlin

The really key finding of the latest polls is not that some 6 per cent of voters are looking to support Teal candidates. It’s the 9 per cent that are inclined to support One Nation and Palmer party candidates rather than the Coalition.

If the government is to lose, as the polls suggest, it won’t be progressive voters punishing the Liberals for not doing enough on climate and integrity that bring this about, so much as conservative voters punishing the Coalition for not doing enough to preserve our freedoms during the pandemic and for opting out of the culture wars.

It’s not just the Teal voters who risk electing an Albanese government but all the voters who desert the Coalition.

Hence this plea to (justifiably) disgruntled conservatives: Don’t punish the government in ways that end up hurting the country; don’t make a bad situation worse by voting for a minor party and replacing a Labor-lite Coalition government with what almost certainly will be the most left-wing Labor government in our history.

Anthony Albanese is promising “safe change”. Vote Labor, he says, and nothing much will change except the prime minister. He may even believe that.

Anthony Albanese will lead the most left-wing government in Australia’s history if Labor is elected next Saturday, writes Peta Credlin. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

But does anyone really think that there won’t be much more upheaval in our electricity supply as Labor doubles down on efforts to replace reliable coal fired power with unreliable wind and solar; renewed people smuggling as Labor tries to be more “humanitarian” to boat people; much less co-ordination with our allies as Labor tries to reset relations with the commissars in Beijing, much more political correctness as Labor rolls over to gender activists and invasion day zealots; and a much weaker economy as Labor looks to go after small business because of their union paymasters.

The Morrison government has indeed been a rank disappointment to its strongest natural supporters.

It didn’t deliver on the promised protections for religious freedoms. It hasn’t tried to roll back the rampant politically correct brain-washing in our schools. It squibbed even trying to remove the absurd ban on civil nuclear power now that both sides have embraced nuclear power at sea.

It’s wimped out of even the most minor productivity enhancing workplace reforms and even the most modest attempts at deregulation lest that offend vested interests. There was no attempt to rein in the draconian border closures and over-the-top lockdowns of authoritarian Labor premiers.

Sky News anchor Peta Credlin

Sure, the Prime Minister might be supporting Katherine Deves as a candidate in the hope of signalling to the “quiet Australians” that he’s still on their side, but he’s ruled out making it government policy to protect women from unfair sports competition from biological males.

And after finally getting the budget close to balance, the government now seems content with deficits for at least a decade.

Even so, the Morrison government’s failure to be a conservative government is no reason to help elect a Labor government that will move to make Australia a republic, constitutionally entrench an Indigenous voice, sign up to even more UN conventions (including spend $500m to hold a climate conference here), and saddle future generations with more debt.

All at a time when our continued prosperity and security as a nation has never been more precarious.

Not only is there no early end in sight to the Ukraine war but it could easily escalate with far reaching ramifications for global security and defence needs, even for distant countries like Australia.

We don’t want a return to the Opposition years of Brendan Nelson, Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott, writes Peta Credlin.

The Chinese communists, no less than the Russian dictator, are determined to overcome supposed historical injustice and to turn neighbouring countries into client states. And the inflation caused by too-much fiscal stimulation and now supply chain disruptions, risks higher and higher interest rates.

Add the energy prices set to soar as Labor pushes on with its myth of “cheap” renewable power and what’s ahead for us under Albanese are challenging years to say the least.

It’s the last time to take the big risk of a new government that’s weak on economic management and national security particularly when you look at Labor’s frontbench that’s full of ministerial retreads from the failed Rudd-Gillard era.

Some conservatives claim that the Coalition needs a term in opposition in order to rediscover what it believes and who it stands for.

But it’s the Liberal Party’s key personnel, its leadership team that determine this, not whether it’s in government or opposition. I lived through the opposition years of Brendan Nelson, Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott; and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

There’s a lot more I wish the Coalition had done or were promising to do if re-elected, but you can’t sit on the fence this week.

For me, it’s about doing the right thing by our country and future generations, and if that’s the question, then the answer is Liberal.

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