Resurgent Libs offer better vision than Labor’s dystopia

A portrait of Sir Robert Menzies hangs on the wall behind where Peter Dutton spoke to the media in Parliament House. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Even though it should have lasted longer and ended better, it’s only too right to acknowledge all the good things the Abbott government did in just two years, and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our coming back to government in record time.

Because that’s also the chance to recommit to the best ideals of our party, sure that if we all do our bit, the Dutton opposition can win its way back even quicker than mine and then govern just as well as John Howard.

We should never fail to be sustained by our party’s abiding instincts and enduring values: Menzies’ “We Believe” declaration, starting “we believe in the Crown” and ending “we believe that under the blessing of Divine Providence … there is no task which Australia cannot perform, and no difficulty which she cannot overcome”; John Howard’s assurance that our party is the custodian, in this country, of both the conservative tradition of Edmund Burke and the liberal one of JS Mill; and Peter Dutton’s commonsense observation that our party need not be more progressive, or more conservative, just much more strongly Liberal.

Our party is the freedom party, the tradition party and, above all else, the patriot party, because we think this is the best country in the world and want to keep it that way. We support greater freedom, lower taxes, smaller government; we support the family, small business and institutions that have stood the test of time, and; above all else, we want to make our country even better by building on its strengths.

And because we’re the only major party that’s not based on a section, on a region, on a singular idea, or on one dominant personality, we have the potential to reach out to every Australian, regardless of birth or background, especially to all those Australians who think the best way to get a fair go is to have a fair go yourself. That’s why it’s our party that’s presided over our country’s best times.

And that’s why in these times when Labor governments around the country variously tell public servants they can keep the same wage but only work four days a week, mostly from home; tell people they should aspire to be renters for life, without the essential stake in our society that home ownership gives; think Catholic hospitals can arbitrarily be nationalised, hard drugs decriminalised and euthanasia for depressed teenagers legalised, and; promote a dystopian vision of boundless plains of solar panels and endless forests of wind turbines as our energy future, our party is overdue for a great resurgence.

Tony Abbott

At a high level, politics involves something akin to an apostolic succession. It was my great honour to walk behind John Howard, the greatest living Liberal, whose one-man Praetorian Guard I was happy to be throughout his prime ministership.

Now that time has healed, the continuities in our recent government, and the strengths of all its leaders, should be better appreciated. When Scott Morrison, via the AUKUS agreement for nuclear submarines, ended decades of strategic caution, locked Britain into the security of our region, and persuaded the Americans to share with us their deepest defence secrets, that was an achievement for the ages. And it was actually Malcolm Turnbull, who recognised early how China under the CCP was changing for the worse, and helped to pioneer a global strategic decoupling.

Nothing, though, has given me more faith in our party’s continuing ability to put the long-term national interest ahead of short-term politics than Dutton’s decision to keep our Constitution colour blind, made back in March, when support for this divisive voice was still close to 60 per cent, and when there was no consensus on his own frontbench.

The dramatic change since shows that we can win arguments, if we’re prepared to have them. And that giving leadership is usually more important than just keeping everyone onside. There’s no such thing as an unwinnable election, and there’s no such thing as an unelectable leader, and what counts is to have a clear position plus a strong argument for it.

Former Prime Minister John Howard in his office, Sydney. Jane Dempster/The Australian.

When I became leader by just one vote, it was supposed to spell trouble for our party, because I had perversely failed to understand that climate change was the great challenge of our time; and because I inexplicably didn’t think that it was a “climate emergency” whenever there was a storm, a flood, a drought, or a fire. Instead of negotiating with Kevin Rudd, I declared that an opposition’s job was not to make weak compromises with a bad government, but to be a clear alternative.

While the current government is every bit as climate-obsessed as Rudd, the one thing it can’t do is introduce a carbon tax, because we won that argument. And while the current government is every bit as bleeding-heart, the one thing it can’t significantly change is the Abbott government’s border protection policy; because we stopped the flood of boats that Labor had started – and Australia remains the only country, anywhere, that has successfully ended illegal immigration by boat. We didn’t rely on just words to win that argument, we proved it with results.

And in the process, helped to demonstrate Margaret Thatcher’s dictum that the facts are conservative. A knowledge of history, and a grasp of human nature, plus an appreciation of the still small voice of decency, striving to be heard in even the most degenerate heart, is the core of our conservative instinct. To us, if the facts contradict a theory, change the theory, don’t try to deny the facts.

Sir Robert Menzies

I acknowledge that while much passes, much remains. If Australia’s budget position remains better than most other countries, that’s largely thanks to Joe Hockey. If you’re travelling on WestConnex, or the finally duplicated Pacific Highway, or are contemplating using the Western Sydney airport, that’s largely thanks to Warren Truss. There’s the big three free-trade deals, the Medical Research Future Fund, the New Colombo Plan and the commitment to defence spending at 2 per cent plus of GDP that are enduring legacies.

Finally I should thank God, who has given us the heart and soul to want what’s best for our country, not just for ourselves personally; that blessed instinct to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield; until Australia is again under new management and once more open for business.

This is an edited speech Tony Abbott delivered last week in Sydney marking the 10th anniversary of the election of the Abbott government.