Politics news Australia: Australians shouldn't be morally bullied, says Abbott; FitzSimons to leave republic role

Tony Abbott issues warning to conservative conference as Peter FitzSimons steps down as head of the Australian Republic Movement.

Peter FitzSimons won't run for re-election as chair of the Australian Republican Movement. Picture: Jane Dempster

Former prime minister Tony Abbott says Australians should not be “morally bullied” into supporting a republic movement, an anti-corruption watchdog or an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

As Peter FitzSimons announced he would in November step down as the chair of the Australian Republic Movement, Mr Abbott told the Conservative Political Action Conference in Sydney said it was not “less Australian” or “anti-Aboriginal” to challenge conventional wisdom.

“Conservatives should never be afraid to say no, even if there might sometimes be a pragmatic case for making change for the worse, less bad,” he said.

“We should never allow ourselves to be morally bullied into changing what works.”

After going through his achievements as prime minister, he later told the crowd that conservatives were “better placed” to “bring some inspiration and some hope back to our public life”.

Mr Abbott, who received a standing ovation from the crowd, in a later panel with former LNP senator Amanda Stoker conceded he was “obviously completely out of step with the modern world”.

“I don’t like the climate cult. I don’t like the virus hysteria. I can’t understand the gender fluidity push. I don’t like magic pudding economics and I particularly dislike the cultural self loathing,” he said.

“Yet these things are now almost conventional wisdom.”

Mr Abbott, who was unseated as the member for Warringah in 2019 by independent Zali Steggall, said it was a “pity” that not more people in the crowd lived in the seat.

Katherine Deves, who failed in her bid to win back the seat in May, also made a surprise appearance at the conference.

The former candidate, who was hand-picked by Scott Morrison to run, caused controversy during the campaign over her opposition to transgender women participating in female sports.

She told the forum she was “silenced” and likened her experience to being “burned at the stake”.

Ms Deves later described gender-affirming medical procedures as “experimental” and accused journalists of refusing to report on “the biggest medical scandal of our time”.

In a prerecorded message, former prime minister John Howard said conservative values “were under attack”.

“We must constantly summon the energy and the intellect to argue the cause to advocate for conservative values.”

Earlier on Saturday, Mr FitzSimons said the republican movement had moved into a new phase following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and that it was time for him to hand the baton to a new generation of republicans.

“We are a great organisation, with a wonderful goal, and we are getting there! It has been an honour and the greatest privilege of my life,” he said in an email.

“A new generation is now stepping up to lead the campaign, many of whom were too young to vote when the last referendum was held – some of them not yet even born.”

Successor nominees are set to be revealed next Friday, with the movement to continue pushing for a referendum to establish Australia's own head of state.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese refrained from discussing the prospect of a referendum in the wake of the queen's death but didn't rule out revisiting the movement in future.

Read below for a recap of the political headlines of the day for Saturday, October 1.