Libs must quickly rebuild, take policy fight to Labor

The answer to the dismal Coalition election campaign rests solely on the fact that the Labor Party was hugely successful in distracting the Coalition from the main game, which was the cost-of-living crisis that occurred under the Albanese government.

The Coalition found itself fending off distraction after distraction. It wasted much time on trying to convince the electorate that Labor’s mantra that the nuclear plans of the Coalition would cost $600bn was highly exaggerated. Then it was the time wasted with the working from home issue, which was always going to be a dead weight. More time was then wasted on the “Mediscare” campaign by Labor. Personal attacks on Peter Dutton should have been much better anticipated and became another distraction. The Coalition allowed Labor distractions to take it away from the real game in town. Labor was able to paint itself as the saviour of the cost-of-living crisis in what should’ve been the Coalition’s major weapon. Added to this was the fact that the Coalition’s best attack dogs were not let off their leashes.

Peter Surkitt, Sandringham, Vic

Tony Abbott’s timely article in Inquirer should be compulsory reading for what’s left of the parliamentary wing of the Liberal Party (“The new path to renewal”, 31/5-1/6), and indeed for all on the conservative side of the political divide. It chronicles in painful but all-too-true detail what went wrong with the Coalition’s election campaign, and provides a guidance manual for a return to political relevance and, in due course, to government.

Abbott rightly pays tribute to Peter Dutton for taking the blame for the Coalition’s trouncing, but also points out that the blame should be more widely shared – by shadow ministers short on policy specifics and by the party hacks directing the campaign, who missed vote-winning opportunities in exposing downsides of Labor policies As Abbott writes, the Coalition in opposition must “level with voters about our country’s predicament”, which can only become more dire – given current policy settings – as the new parliamentary term unfolds.

Peter Austin, Mt Victoria, NSW

The Weekend Australian had plenty of writers offering advice for the Liberal Party, but there may be a risk of too many cooks. Tony Abbott identifies the need to remake the liberal and conservative traditions, and is right to suggest “ending subsidies for new renewables”.

But other elements of his “response to the cost-of-living crisis”, such as “scaling back foreign students to 10 per cent of university admissions” and “keeping all coal-fired power stations open”, may also require subsidies, although not as large as those embedded in the nuclear power policy.

Simon Benson and Nick Fabbri identify more issues, such as “Liberals are missing the gender gap amid demographic upheaval”, and that the “philosophical centre should include a contemporary compassionate conservatism”. As a former PM, Tony Abbott can lay claim to being the head chef, but there will be a lot of customers and critics waiting in the restaurant for the right recipe.

Clay O’Brien, Mosman, NSW

Tony Abbott is right to encourage the Liberals to stay on the frontline and criticise the government’s mistakes, such as the tax on unrealised super profits. When this anti-capitalist tax was first endorsed by Treasury, Peter Dutton commented that he disagreed. He and his team then did their usual timid thing and abandoned the field.

This kind of response has become habituated in Liberals and, if not reformed, will continue to take the Coalition down, as Abbott forecasts. The usually unspoken Coalition values of liberalism and stable conservatism are deeply embedded in Australians’ hearts. Putting these values into policies and every political fight determines the success of democracies. Liberal values would resurrect the Coalition. The depth and ongoing danger of Labor’s governance failures in its first term cannot be overstated. In his piece for Inquirer, political podcaster Nick Fabbri quotes retired Liberal moderate Simon Birmingham’s bad advice to the new Coalition.

Repair your nasty party image, Birmingham said. I think Fabbri is wrong when he urges Liberals to revise your “cruel immigration” and “insensitive culture war rhetoric”. The country must hope Ley rejects this advice.

Betty Cockman, Dongara, WA