The Liberals are not conservatives: PM

Malcolm Turnbull made claim about Liberal Party in a speech strongly defending his own centrist governing style.

Malcolm Turnbull meets British Prime Minister Theresa May for talks at 10 Downing Street in London yesterday. Picture: Kym Smith

Malcolm Turnbull has made the bold claim that the Liberal Party has never been a conservative party, and that Robert Menzies was a moderate, progressive leader, in a speech strongly defending his own centrist governing style.

Describing the “sensible centre” as the modern political battleground, the Prime Minister suggested a comparison between the Liberal Party under his leadership with that of Menzies, who he said had purposely rejected ­traditional conservative politics.

• ANALYSIS OF THE SPEECH: Part philosophy, part provocation

“The sensible centre was the place to be. It remains the place to be,” Mr Turnbull said in remarks likely to inflame the internal battle for ascendancy within the party between so-called moderates and conservatives.

Delivering the Disraeli lecture to the Policy Exchange think tank in London overnight, after earlier ­visiting the scene of the Borough Market terrorist attacks in which two Australians were killed last month, Mr Turnbull’s speech also delivered a nod to former prime minister Tony Abbott by reprising his warnings to Europe about keeping control of its borders.

But his key message was a ­rebuff to the growing calls within the party to return to its conser­vative base.

“In 1944, Menzies went to great pains not to call his new centre-right party a conservative party — rather he described our party as the Liberal Party, which he firmly anchored in the centre of Australian politics,” Mr Turnbull said.

“He wanted to stand apart from the big money, business establishment politics of traditional conservative parties, as well as from the socialist tradition of the labour movement embodied in the Australian Labor Party.

“I mention this only to remind that when we quote Menzies, ­Disraeli (a founder of the modern British Conservative Party), or any other political leader, we need to consider the historical context.”

After a meeting at Scotland Yard, Mr Turnbull ­visited Borough Market with British Prime Minister Theresa May where they remembered the Australian victims, South Australian nurse Kirsty Boden and Sara Zelenak, of Queensland. Mr Turnbull also met three Australian ambulance officers who were among the first to respond to the attack.

Mr Turnbull and Mrs May stood close to where the terrorists were shot dead, as stallholders ­described how terrified people ­reacted. “You’ve shown great ­resilience,” Mr Turnbull said.

He also met Mrs May to discuss forging greater trade, defence and security ties with the impending departure of Britain from the EU.

On securing a new free-trade agreement, Mrs May was expected to say that the opportunity of Brexit would allow Britain to seek stronger partnerships with allies such as Australia.

In remarks released before the meeting, Mrs May was flagged to say: “We have both made clear our intention to continue to deepen our trade and investment relationship as the UK leaves the EU.

“Australia was the first country with whom the UK established a trade working group following the Brexit vote, and we are keeping up a regular and productive dialogue on the future of our free-trading relationship.

“I am clear that discussions on an ambitious and comprehensive bilateral trade deal with Australia remain a priority for the UK.”

In his Disraeli speech, based on what he said was the core value of freedom, Mr Turnbull’s references to the history of the Liberal Party will likely increase tensions with the parliamentary ranks over the direction of the government under his leadership.

“It is important to remember the context of Menzies’s new Liberal Party. In 1944, our nations were still fighting a war against ­fascism,” Mr Turnbull said. “There had been plenty of local admirers of Mussolini and even Hitler before the war but, by this point, the authoritarian right had no appeal.

“The Soviet Union was still an ally in the war against Hitler, but the authoritarian left had no ­appeal to most Australians, ­either.

“At the same time, laissez faire capitalism had not had a good run. The Great Depression had convinced many that the government needed to play a much bigger role in the economy than the leaders of the Edwardian era would have ever imagined. So classical liberalism was out of fashion too.

“The sensible centre was the place to be. It remains the place to be. Menzies sought a lesser role for government in citizens’ lives than Labor did, but by our 21st-­century standards he was hardly an economic liberal.

“He believed in a highly regulated economy with high tariffs, a fixed exchange rate, centralised wage-fixing and generally much more government involvement in the economy than we would be comfortable with.

“From its foundation more than 60 years ago, the Liberal Party has stood for freedom. Nothing is more fundamental to our philosophy than a deep commitment to individual freedom and enterprise.

“The Liberal Party stands for freedom or it stands for nothing.”

Newspoll results published in The Australian yesterday showed Mr Turnbull losing ground to Bill Shorten as the nation’s preferred prime minister after weeks of ­Coalition infighting, with 41 per cent of voters choosing Mr Turnbull compared with 33 per cent preferring the Opposition Leader.

The Prime Minister echoed a speech delivered in London two years ago by Mr Abbott — just after he lost the prime ministership to Mr Turnbull — on the risks to Europe from losing control of its borders.

“When a government abdicates its national security responsibilities, the consequences can be fatal — and sometimes catastrophic,” Mr Turnbull said. “As Europe grapples today with unsustainable inflows of migrants and asylum-seekers, the Australian experience offers both a cautionary tale and the seeds of a potential ­solution. The lesson is clear: weak borders fragment social cohesion, drain public revenue, raise community concerns about national security, and ultimately undermine the consensus required to sustain high levels of immigration and multiculturalism.

“In contrast, strong borders and retention of our sovereignty allow government to maintain public trust in community safety, respect for diversity and support for our immigration and humanitarian programs. Terrorism is the starkest and most urgent enemy of freedom. Terrorists seek to disrupt our freedoms and disable our trust-based societies through fear.”

Mr Turnbull will visit the Queen today before flying back to Australia.

Additional reporting: Tory Shepherd