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If his principles didn’t suit, Groucho famously offered up others in their stead, mimicking politicians to a tee. Politicians grub for votes wherever it takes them. That’s why Anthony Albanese, Penny Wong and most of their Labor mates are shy about supporting Israel. Might upset Muslim voters. Of course those on the left are inclined to support authoritarian creeds as a matter of perverted principle, but make no mistake, votes and the power and perks they bring is the overriding factor.
Can one cynically say the same about the Liberals and Nationals? Are they also without fixed principles. Oh yes, I believe so. Maybe not to the same extent as Labor mates but it’s a close run thing. Look at the way Scott Morrison signed up to net zero, beat up on our SAS troops, bullied Christine Holgate, and genuflected to #MeToo re Brittany Higgins. Unedifying. Playing to the mob. Were votes uppermost in his mind? Do you think.
Look at the way successive Coalition governments have squirmed and balked at removing or even amending 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, since its introduction by Keating. Obviously, free speech is one of those dispensable principles. Also let’s not forget in all of this political hoo-ha over nuclear power that Howard made it illegal. And, of course, there has been much more expediency down through the years. There is no unaffordable welfare or health scheme that Labor conjured up that the Coalition hasn’t embraced and expanded.
This universal lack of principle has an advantage. Apropos an conversation supposedly had between Winston Churchill and an unnamed socialite at a dinner gathering.
Churchill: Madam, would you sleep with me for a million pounds?
Socialite: Well, we would have to settle terms
Churchill: Would you sleep with me for five pounds?
Socialite: What kind of woman do you think I am!
Churchill: Madam, we have already established that. Now we are haggling over the price.
Even though the exchange is almost certainly apocryphal, it endures because it has grain of truth to it, which we all recognise. But it’s also instructive. Once high-minded principles are put aside we can get down to brass tacks.
The Coalition has no enduring principles anyway so it needs to put away pretence and get down to brass tacks; that is, if it wants to win the next election. Energy is the key. Luckily for the Coalition, the Labor Party is in thrall of obsessive climate cultist Chris Bowen. He is intent on completing the destruction of Australia’s affordable and reliable energy system, thereby driving residual manufacturing offshore. In a phrase, he’s intent on making us poor. It’s already happening. Prices up 16.5 per cent from September 2020 to September 2023. Wages up only 9.5 per cent. [i]
Bowen’s a gift horse. Don’t look him in the mouth is our advice to Dutton. Our, I say, because Rafe Champion and I conferred on the matter over coffee and I feel bound to share the credit. Something akin to eschewing plagiarism, if you like. Claudine Gay, and, of course, Joe Biden might take note. The advice, in my words, in point form:
♦ Bucket Bowen at every opportunity. He’s a gift which will keep on giving.
♦ Abandon all hope of retaking inner-city seats lost to Teals. I live among these people. They are seriously compromised by climate hysteria.
♦ Unashamedly abandon net zero, as being both unachievable and destructive of jobs and living standards.
♦ Abandon subsidies for wind and solar, electric cars and charging stations.
♦ Retain concern about combatting climate change (however silly it is), while explaining that reducing emissions must be done sensibly — in a way that will bring down emissions while protecting jobs and living standards. Use this message to semi-appease Liberal pantywaists.
♦ Promote and support new gas power stations, new HELE coal power stations, and offer the prospect of nuclear as the eventual ultimate clean energy. Sure, nuclear is pie-in-the sky, but it makes good political copy.
♦ Target outer suburban and regional communities. The referendum showed there is plenty of common sense out there to be tapped with sensible energy policies.
There is an alternative. Go Labor-cum-Greens-cum-Teals-lite and lose.
You might say that abandoning net zero, developing new coal-power stations and the like is a political suicide act. Maybe five years ago. Not now. Bowen is living in the past. Power has to be flowing every tick of the clock, and attempting to fill in with battery storage is a fool’s errand.
There is a growing realisation in the real world, outside of the imaginary world occupied by climateers like Bowen, that intermittent unreliable energy will not power a modern economy. And, to boot, electric vehicle sales look like hitting a brick wall once buyers in the swankier parts of town are sated and EVs have to be sold to the masses. A sample below of some signs in the wind, as it were:
♦ Rishi Sunak has dialled back some of the UK’s net zero polices; though, of course, he still pledged fealty to tackling climate change at COP 28.
♦ More than 20 countries from four continents at COP 28 launched a declaration to triple nuclear energy by 2050.
♦ In Germany some twenty coal power stations were recommissioned to get through this European winter. German Finance Minister Christian Lindner also seems to have a bout of realism: “Until it is clear that energy is available and affordable, we should end dreams of phasing out electricity from coal in 2030,” he said in an interview with the German newspaper Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger.
♦ Hertz is dumping 20,000 EVs. Anyone want to buy a used EV?
♦ From the magazine Fortune: “Drivers don’t want to buy used electric vehicles, and that’s undermining the market for new ones, too.” See, too, EV graveyards in China.
The trend is clear. It’s not being driven by politics. It is and will increasingly be driven by real life. Solar, wind and EVs have not emerged from free market forces, as has every new profitable product and service in the past. They have been foisted on us by government fiat. They are bound to fail, only thing, many deluded people and governments don’t know it yet. It’s Dutton’s opportunity.
[i] ABS stats on the CPI and the Wage Price Index.
Thanks Peter, I hope Peter D is reading. I would add though that a Lib/Nat win would be much more likely if there was a good dose of anti-wokery also.
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For example, banning non Australian flags from public buildings. Also a ban on any public authority from holding ceremonies welcoming us to our own country and/or acknowledgement of racist groups.
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If there is not authority for that directly in the Constitution,I bet some foreign affairs agreement or treaty hidden away in Canberra would give power.
You took the words right out of my mouth, Brian Boru.
In fact Brian and Peter I had thought of that but also thought (of my post) it’s too long already. But in my mind I had Dutton announcing his sensible energy policy in front of just one flag. The Australian flag. Maybe with Jacinta Price by his side.
I noted that when he and Jacinta spoke after the defeat of the Voice they, conspicuously, had only the national flag behind them.
Visited the Australian museum in the last three weeks: impressive building with great potential but corrupted by false narratives: Pascoe, twice included.
For me, the most embarrassing was empathy with Orcas, Eden Whaling activity and enduring culture.
Conclusion: a museum of fabricated history,
One should never give up,so I disagree with you Peter about the Teal seats.The way to win them back is to show that the Teals are no different to the ALP.
Incidentally one of the Teals will go in Sydney as it is very likely one of their seats will be abolished in the redistribution(probably North Sydney).
The same thing might happen in Melbourne too.
The Teal seat of Wentworth in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney has a high Jewish population. It may well decide that its Teal member has done little to support this group.
Peter,
The course that you broadly recommend has been suggested to Lib HQ over and over for 5 years now by at least one voter (me). Not even an acknowledgement of message received, let alone discussion of importance. Why is this course, so easy to see, not being seen by politicians?
I recall footage of the Brit parliament being near-emptied before MP Andrew Bridgen rose to speak about Covid post-vaccination excess deaths. A Labor MP crossed over to remind some govt laggards to leave.
What’s happened to governments representing the views of the people, why censorship? Geoff S
Peter Dutton needs to stop trying to be a small target.
The key to the lodge lies in the provisioning of the dinner-table.
Between Bowen Plibersek and Burney, the amount of arable farmland is diminishing at an alarming rate. The poor returns dealing with supermarkets has led many farmers to export their products directly. So the supermarkets replace quality Australian products with imported food of lesser quality.
Dutton must make the cities aware that Labor’s policies are not only damaging the regional economies but are endangering city-life too.
Those 7 winning points for Peter Dutton are well made and give hope for Coalition success at the next election. Many of those points will be supported by the Trump campaign in the US.
Hopefully for Peter Dutton he will be able to submerge the federal Liberal ‘Moderates’ and their Labor-light appeasement policies. The Liberal party in NSW seems to now be dominated by Moderates and so may be in opposition for a very long period.
Peter Dutton will also need to throw out the education syllabus left by Julia Gillard to advance her revolution. He needs to give Jacinta Nampijinpa Price the support to have expenditures audited in Aboriginal affairs. Already the Morrison initiated NIAA is seeing taxpayer funds dispersed in the billions as happened at the start of the Gillard initiated NDIS and subsequently rapidly increased to astonishing levels.
Excellent article here from Peter Smith. But I would take it further:
♦ Bucket Bowen at every opportunity. He’s a gift which will keep on giving; and besides his bucket would be smaller and cheaper than the one needed for Dutton.
♦ Abandon all hope of retaking inner-city seats lost to Teals. I live among these people. They are seriously compromised by climate hysteria, and are squawking about like chooks down a coal mine.
♦ Unashamedly abandon net zero, as being both unachievable and destructive of jobs and living standards. Also abandon traffic lights and rules of the road. Allow drivers to cruise down either side of the road as they please. Think of the jobs this will create; not only for car dealers, but also in wrecking yards, panel beaters’ shops, etc, etc..!!!!
♦ Abandon subsidies for wind and solar, electric cars and charging stations. Also the $51.7 billion fossil fuel subsidies.* Think of the money we’ll save!
♦ Retain concern about combatting climate change (however silly it is), while explaining that reducing emissions must be done sensibly — in a way that will bring down emissions while protecting jobs and living standards. Use this message to semi-appease Liberal pantywaists. And as the accumulating CO2 plays an analogous role in the atmosphere to that played by water in a microwave oven: absorbing radiant energy of a particular frequency and then passing that on to everything it comes into contact with. like meat, fish, potatoes and all vegetables, drinks gone cold, gluhwein, etc, best get this done quickly, before the planet gets the nickname of Samsung.
♦ Promote and support new gas power stations, new HELE coal power stations, and offer the prospect of nuclear as the eventual ultimate clean energy. Sure, nuclear is pie-in-the sky, but it makes good political copy. Also, as nuclear (both generation and waste disposal) is as safe as you like, nobody can have a reasonable objection to one being sited in their street, or on the block next door to them. Better still, site a nuclear power station and waste-storage centre in every non-Coalition electorate. That should larn the beggars.
♦ Target outer suburban and regional communities. The referendum showed there is plenty of common sense out there to be tapped with sensible energy policies, including solar, wind geothermal, wave energy, and pumped hydro. Keep nuclear shunted off to the sun and stars, where it can’t give us any more trouble. The last thing we want is nuclear power stations dotted all over the Earth, powering every banana republic and dodgy military dictatorship around..
•https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/57-1b-record-breaking-fossil-fuel-subsides-following-climate-election/
What to do about those demonstrating weekly in support of middle-east terrorists? It is costing NSW taxpayers over $200,000 weekly for policing.
Having served on an energy policy committee for the Liberal party I can tell you that their commitment to the provision of cheap reliable energy for every Australian stands at precisely zero. Despite whatever weasel words you may hear from Mr Dutton or his shadow energy minister – (https://handbook.aph.gov.au… ) who lists amongst his totally irrelevant qualifications that of “trainee baker” – you can safely bet your bottom dollar that there isn’t a hairs breadth difference between either party on energy policy. In the Libs fruitless search for floating green votes they long ago abandoned any remaining sanity in the party room and decided that net zero and so-called renewables were the inevitable future of this country. Sadly what exists in a Canberra bubble, totally removed from the harsh realities of daily existence for those of us who choose to work for a living, is a uniparty with 2 marketing departments and a preferential voting system that perpetuates the ensuing chaos. The question which needs to be asked of these people is why they choose to act against the best interests of the people they were elected to represent. In asking that question it becomes obvious that they seek financial or influential advantage from other vested interests at the expense of the tax payer. And only when the majority of people have become impoverished to the extent of not being able to provide for themselves or their families will there be a worthwhile political upheaval in this country. Until then understand that you get the government you deserve.
Yes, well said Sir!
Absolutely spot on! I hope Dutton is reading this! The Teal seats are beyond redemption – the voters there have swallowed the virtue-signalling Koolaid! The Coalition MUST concentrate on the sensible regional and suburban voters! And for heaven’s sake, stop pre-selecting loser Labor-lites!!! Reinstate Gerard Rennick to a winnable LNP Senate position! He is one of the few truly sensible LNP MPs!!
Another option might be for politicians to become representatives of the people, rather than of global fascist ideology advocated by “activists”.
Everyone knows that climate change is bulldust and that the Covid “pandemic” was a scam. But who, in the political class, is representing these people. Politicians of all parties have become Woke Gauleiters, not representatives of citizens.
Old fashioned guts is what is required if Australia is to have democratic government again.
So true, Watwchman Williams! Sadly, guts like common sense, is in short supply.
At least we finally have an exemplar to follow in Argentina. They have been where we are headed (only a complete numbskull would argue otherwise) so no need to reinvent that philosophical wheel (not that our current ruling class nor academia has the ability to do so). Mr. Dutton, there’s no longer any time to prevaricate, just bloody well do what you and we all know has to be done! If any part of the status quo is allowed to prevail we WILL become the Argentina of the Western Pacific. While nauseatingly jingoistic, the term “pivot” is apt. We desperately need to pivot 180 degrees from the course Rudd, Gillard, Rudd, Turnball, Morrison have set us upon, least we run the ship of State upon the rocks of despair. We know you’re no Trump nor Argentinian Hero, but Mr.Dutton you’re all we have. So defy the doubters, prove us wrong and be the non-politician we need to drain the Burley-Griffen swamp, activate your inner Menzies and get on with it! Damnit!