Why We Need a Conservative Spring

Almost seventy-five years ago, Sir Robert Menzies gave his famous “Forgotten People” address^[1] which balanced classical liberalism with social conservatism. He spoke of the middle class as the nation’s backbone, individual enterprise, governing for everyone and family as the cornerstone for society. This blueprint was to become the animating philosophy for the entire Australian conservative movement.

Whether it was Robert Menzies or John Howard, it is Liberal governments, following these timeless principles, who generate wealth, opportunity and progress.

But we cannot rest on our laurels. We live in an age of disruption—and politics is no exception. From Trump to Sanders, from Corbyn to Brexit, the tectonic plates of the political landscape are shifting. There is a loss of faith in public institutions, the political class and its program^[2]. People feel displaced by rapid changes in the global economy.

Establishment parties overseas are perceived as being on a unity…