What should state Libs stand for? Ask the silent majority

The man who wiped the floor with Kevin Andrews in Menzies may be the party’s best hope in 20 years, and therein lies the problem.

Keith Wolohan defeated Liberal party veteran Kevin Andrews in the preselection contest for Menzies. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ David Crosling

Just a normal person. Not a weirdo or a misfit. Smart and hardworking, of course, but normal. Very normal; and probably the best thing to come out of the Victorian Liberals in the past 20 years.

This was a party insider describing Keith Wolahan, who recently wiped the floor with Kevin Andrews in preselection for the federal seat of Menzies.

Another described Wolahan as not the sort of person who was interested in controlling other people’s sex lives. This wasn’t an assertion that Andrews was but, rather, that the new bloke was not the typical social throwback. Unfortunately, that is the reputation of the Victorian Liberals.

Before the ballot, federal Liberals had backed Andrews to retain his seat. Branch members smiled and nodded, and gave no indication to those piling on the pressure. According to the reports, the vote result was 181 to 111.

So are these branch members traitors? Not at all. These people are the silent majority and the quiet Australians over whom some wax lyrical. This is them at work, trying to bring their party back.

Once upon a time, branch Victoria was the jewel in the Liberal crown. In the past few decades, though, it has looked less like a glittering diamond and more like a glass bead. This is something to do with the party itself and something to do with the Victorian people. The Liberals and the voting public here, for some time now, have been at odds.

This is not over fiscal policy, it is to do with identity, culture, ethos and values. Quite simply, the Liberal Party is seen as a socially conservative outfit being hijacked by the religious extreme.

The former member for Menzies Kevin Andrews, right, with federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ David Crosling

To demonstrate this mismatch of minds, we can look to the loss of the 2018 Victorian election. During the campaign the Liberals were convinced they were on a winner with their chosen issue of gang violence. The media took up the issue with gusto and it delighted the Sydney shock jock set, but people who actually live in Victoria were repelled — it was an insulting trashing of the state’s reputation at the expense of certain community members.

It was ironic to watch the alleged crisis dissipate into thin air the day after the election.

Election success for the Liberals has been elusive here since the 1980s. There was the Kennett government from 1992 to 1999, but after that the Bracks-Brumby Labor government ruled until 2010. Voters gave the Liberals another chance then, but they were thrown out in 2014 after one term.

Since that time, Labor under Daniel Andrews has gone from strength to strength. At the 2018 election, thanks to the Liberals’ campaign on gangs, Labor increased its majority to win 55 out of 88 seats. The next Victorian election will occur next year. By that time the ALP will have held office for 19 of the past 23 years. All the evidence points to another Liberal routing; according to a party official, things are diabolical for them.

To right the ship, a recent conference was held at a golf club, with a charter fishing trip on the bay. When the photos emerged, participants looked embarrassed. Many party members cringed. There is an awareness of the image problem; at worst, the Liberals are seen as privileged elitists, non-inclusive and mean spirited to the less fortunate.

Leader Michael O’Brien has said that he wants to connect with the young. This will be a challenge as the party traditionally has attracted operatives from student politics. Unfortunately, there is a stereotype here that is mocked even by those within the party. Young Liberals are portrayed as a gaggle of toffy young men with Toorak-style accents that are an affectation.

O’Brien also has said that if only Victorians knew what the Liberals stood for, they would vote for them in droves.

What do they stand for exact­ly, other than culture war battles that have been fought and lost long ago?

A key drawback is their reliance on conservative think tanks such as the Institute of Public Affairs to promote certain issues and be their carrier of ideological spears, but they receive little traction in local media.

Instead they are lapped up by Sydney commentators and used to belt Melbourne over the head. So Victorians get to see themselves being derided as woke, stupid and frightened, living in a place that is utterly dreadful.

This might be fun for some but it doesn’t win votes. It makes the Liberals look like state traitors barracking for our failure who should live elsewhere — NSW, for instance, seeing as they think it is so great.

If something doesn’t change, Labor will increase its majority at the next election.