Action man Donald Trump shows the way to Australia’s Coalition

This is what voters see in Trump: no bullshit and the promise of results, results, results.

The news was hardly a shock to those in the real world, but those in Canberra seemed surprised this week when our grim economic data hit. For only the fourth time in 25 years, Australia experienced a quarter of negative growth, as our economy contracted by 0.5 per cent.

On the other three past occasions of negative growth there has been a clear and identifiable reason such as a cyclone or financial crisis. However, this time there is none, and Treasurer Scott Morrison mused about the missing ingredient of “private investment” being “the bit in the picture which needs to be there and isn’t”. In other words, the wealth creators have pulled back a little — as I said, hardly a shock to those in the real world.

Morrison gave a press conference and described the news as a “wake-up call” to us all. Pretty much everyone I talk to is wide awake, actually, and has been for some time. If you could listen to our conversations, you might hear a bit of ranting as well as a lot of wishing that Morrison would wake up and wake everybody else in cabinet, too. Events are overtaking us, fast. This modest, careful, baby-steps agenda just won’t do.

Our federal government is addicted to spending and taxing and our population is addicted to having money thrown its way. Our welfare mentality is pervasive, especially in the business sector. We are drowning in debt, crippled by the cost of too many governments, and in political, structural and cultural strife. Anyone that doesn’t agree with all of that is likely a student, a public servant, a recipient of benefits or writing their latest application for a government grant.

Australia needs to hit the reset button. We need dramatic change, a shake-up. Can the Coalition see this, let alone deliver it? Not without a reset itself, or at least an adrenalin shot straight to the heart.

Where can it look for leadership and inspiration? It can look to the most powerful person on the planet. By the time parliament returns, the new president of the United States will have his feet under the desk. Next year, in comparison with Donald Trump, our politicians are going to look dishonest, indecisive, weak, inept and grossly inefficient.

When Trumpageddon hits, the US will rapidly reset and head off down the right path. Our mob will be left in Trump’s wake, looking on with awe at his results, and in envy of his giant cojones. Australian voters will feel cheated, frustrated and be looking for alternatives.

On Wednesday, The Australian printed a column from The Wall Street Journal by Gerald F. Seib. He says: “If President Barack Obama sought to usher America into a post-racial era, it is increasingly apparent Donald Trump is opening the door to the post-ideological era. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to identify a clear ideological bent in the president-elect’s moves. It’s probably a mistake to try, because the definitions of Left and Right, liberal and conservative, are being scrambled right before our eyes.”

Seib quoted Trump campaign pollster Tony Fabrizio as saying the president-elect could not be viewed through traditional “ideological lenses”: “Donald Trump is post-ideological. His movement transcends ideology in a lot of respects.”

Here lies the destination where anyone who wants to win our next election needs to head. It is time that politicians, political nerds and media commentators woke up to this fact — Trump has proved one thing, the traditional Left-Right political paradigm is of no interest to the vast majority of people.

We elect our leaders to manage our economy and we hope they will do it well. Some leaders are process-focused. Results don’t matter so much, but it is all about how everyone feels along the way. Some leaders are outcome-focused, they don’t care about process or feelings, they want results, and they want them on time. Trump is outcome-focused, in the extreme.

Trump promises sensible solutions to real problems, which have been clearly articulated in language that ordinary people can relate to and understand. He doesn’t care if his solution is considered left-wing or right-wing. Trump sees problems, and his mind works to find solutions and he doesn’t give a thought to which “side” his solution comes from. This is what voters see in Trump: no fear, no bullshit, straight talk, and the promise of results, results, results.

If the Coalition wants to win the next election, it will need to cast aside its Left-Right thinking, change its language, step out of its comfort zone and speak to people who don’t traditionally vote for it. It will have to remake the Coalition brand as dramatically as Trump has remade the Republican Party. Failure to do so will result in catastrophic consequences.