Rita Panahi: You can thank PM for Bernardi split, rise of One Nation
CORY Bernardi’s explanation for deserting the Liberals won’t satisfy the political elite but it will resonate with many disaffected voters, writes Rita Panahi.
Rita Panahi
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CORY Bernardi has already succeeded where Malcolm Turnbull has repeatedly and spectacularly failed; he unified a fractured party, for a few hours anyway.
Coalition MPs were uncharacteristically united today as they attacked Senator Bernardi for deserting them at their time of need.
It was adorable to see Liberal parliamentarians screeching about Bernardi’s lack of loyalty.
The same mob who knifed a first term prime minister and have consistently betrayed an infuriated base were playing the loyalty card.
The term chutzpah came immediately to mind.
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You can’t blame the Coalition for being furious with Bernardi but if they think disaffected conservative voters will buy their self-serving lines then they’re even more tin-eared than their malfunctioning leader.
This week’s Newspoll shows the Coalition trailing Labor 54 to 46 per cent with the Coalition’s primary vote sinking to a disastrous 35 per cent.
Just as worrying for the major parties is the rise of the “others” with close to one in three voters indicating they’ll vote for a candidate not from the Coalition or Labor.
Around a million conservative voters have already abandoned the Liberal National coalition and more will do so if Bernardi’s Australian Conservatives gives them a viable choice.
And yet many political pundits, who have been hopelessly wrong in the past two years, have been quick to declare that Bernardi’s defection will amount to nothing and won’t cause the PM too many headaches.
Last July the South Australian senator his Australian Conservatives brand and within a few short months signed up more than 50,000 online supporters.
It remains to be seen what impact Bernardi will have but to dismiss a new centre right force in the current climate is dangerously naïve.
Voters are crying out for a credible conservative option and Bernardi’s party is well placed to capitalise on that sentiment.
However, the challenge will be to get the message across to voters, many of whom have stopped listening to politicians of all stripes.
There are many disgruntled conservatives, particularly outside Queensland, who simply will not vote for One Nation.
They may admire Pauline Hanson’s courage but they don’t trust her party to select quality candidates who can be depended upon once elected.
Rod Culleton serves as a sobering reminder of what can happen when a protest vote ends in senate seats.
A principled and stable centre right party that is focused on issues that matter to ordinary Australians will win not only conservative voters but will be an option for disheartened Labor supporters unhappy with the party’s lurch to the Green Left under Rudd, Gillard, Rudd and now Shorten.
It’s clear that voter loyalty is at historic lows and despite the Coalition’s woes, Labor’s primary vote sits at a woeful 36 per cent, according to latest Newspoll.
Bernardi does not have the same recognition factor among the electorate as Hanson and needs to work tirelessly to promote the Conservatives brand.
He needs to present a real alternative to Labor and the Coalition who on too many issues sing from the same hymn book.
If he fails then he can kiss his political ambitions goodbye.
But if Bernardi can show that he leads a stable centre-right party that will stand up for values important to a large segment of the silent majority then he may have an impact far greater than a solitary vote on the crossbenches.
Already he is being attacked, mocked and dismissed by the political, media and academic class with the sort of vigour that they normally reserve for Hanson.
Bernardi’s explanation for deserting the Liberals won’t satisfy the political elite but it will resonate with many disaffected voters.
“In short, the body politic is failing the people of Australia and it’s clear we need to find a better way,” he said.
“The level of public disenchantment with the major parties, lack of confidence in our political process and concern about the direction of our nation is very strong.
“This is a direct product of the political class being out of touch with the hopes and aspirations of the Australian people.”
A recent report by Essential Research showed that the electorate is ready for a new centre right alternative.
The polling, released shortly before Christmas, revealed that 23 per cent of all voters said they’d back a new conservative party, including 32 per cent of all voters in the 65+ age category.
Most worryingly for the government, a whopping 41 per cent of Coalition voters said they’d be likely to vote for a new conservative party.
This is a golden age for the centre right in much of the Western world and yet the Coalition is ill placed to capitalise on the rise in conservative sentiment among the electorate.
You can thank Turnbull for the rise of One Nation and you can thank him for the formation of the Australian Conservatives.
The Liberal party has long prided itself on being inclusive of a wide spectrum of values but while it’s well and good to be a broad church, at some point you have to stand for something.
Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist
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