The Liberal convention brought some welcome developments

THIS weekend’s Liberal convention showed unity is possible, writes Miranda Devine. That’s good news for the party, if not for Cory Bernardi.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott watches on as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull delivers his address, which Abbott described as “a fine speech”. (Pic: Dan Himbrechts/AAP) Every party member must have a say: Turnbull

GOOD news for Liberal voters if the NSW party democratises itself at this weekend’s Futures Convention.

Grassroots preselection of candidates would dilute the malign influence of lobbyists and factional warlords controlling puppet politicians who act against the interests of party members.

While crucial to the party’s future, democratisation was pitched in some quarters as a proxy attack by Tony Abbott on Malcolm Turnbull.

But both men slapped down such mischief yesterday in a show of unity few believed possible.

The Prime Minister told a cheering crowd, in what Abbott graciously described as a “fine speech”, that the Liberal Party was the greatest “grassroots movement”.

“As the party of freedom and of the individual, we must give every member a say… It’s not just politically right, it is right morally,” .

And he directed the fight back to a “hard left” Labor.

Party harmony is overdue, because if the Liberals can’t get their act together, voters have an attractive alternative.

Cory Bernardi, described as waiting like a “crow on a fence” to gather the rich pickings of Liberal disunity, has grown his Australian Conservatives party to 13,000 members in five months.

Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott. (Pic: Dan Himbrechts/AAP)

Kevin Rudd and Bill Shorten. (Pic: Gary Ramage)

MEANWHILE, IN THE LABOUR PARTY....

With friends like Kevin Rudd, who needs enemies? The former PM appeared out of nowhere last week to put an axe in Labor’s pretence it can be trusted on border protection.

Rudd now makes out he was only kidding before the 2013 election when he announced that asylum seekers who arrived by boat would “never be settled in Australia”. Now he says he meant they actually could come to Australia, after a year on Manus Island.

Sure. Except that’s not what he said, and not what anyone thought he meant at the time.

All he’s done is let everyone in on the secret that you can’t trust Labor on border protection.

He’s reminded us of his 50,000 illegal boat arrivals and 1200 deaths at sea. The security implications are unknowable, the financial cost is $11 billion so far, and we have wasted valuable political capital with the Trump administration on a resettlement deal.

And the irony is that only strong borders allow us to help genuine refugees.