No doubt Labor's campaign strategists thought it was a good idea at the time to put to air an advertisement claiming that a vote for John Howard might mean Peter Costello would become prime minister. The concept completely backfired.
First, it showed that the Liberal Party had a clear plan of succession, as if it was needed, demonstrating security and stability.
More importantly, it unwittingly highlighted that the Liberals offered a leadership team encompassing generational change and different philosophical perspectives.
Since its formation in 1944 the Liberal Party has balanced two complementary and at times conflicting objectives.
It is the party of free enterprise and individual choice.
It is also the defender of the nation's key institutions the family, rural and regional communities, and Australia's system of government. Those who seek to divide the modern-day Liberal Party into factions of moderates, wets and dries will be unsuccessful because the economic debates of the 1980s that gave rise to these labels are now largely settled.
While there will still be arguments at the margins about economic reform, they will be about the pace of change, not its direction.
On economic issues, following its victory the Federal Parliamentary Liberal Party is probably more united than at any time since Robert Menzies' retirement as PM in 1966.
It is difficult to categorise the protagonists of more recent arguments about the republic or reconciliation. It also demonstrates the complexity of many of the issues that contain a "conscience" dimension.
The philosophical frame of reference on many non-economic matters is less certain and more fluid.
Some of the most vigorous defenders of low taxes and small government hold what would be called "conservative" moral views.
That these discussions have occurred without inciting the antagonism of the past is a tribute to John Howard's leadership. It represents a new maturity in the Liberal Party, which has allowed a diversity of views within an overall cohesion.
A decade ago the idea that Liberal Cabinet ministers could take opposing positions on the republic referendum would have been unheard of.
The recent rediscovery of Edmund Burke as somewhat of an ideological progenitor to the Liberal Party is evidence of the uncompleted attempt to ground these new debates in a liberal tradition.
Of greater importance than management of internal philosophical differences in the Liberal Party is the need to continue reinvigorating policy development and to implement its vision in social policy fields such as tax, health, education, and welfare.
The American political scientists Seymour Lipset and Gary Marks in their recent book It Didn't Happen Here Why socialism failed in the United States examine the paradox of public policy in Australia in the 1980s. Namely, that it was Labor that abandoned protection, deregulated the economy and privatised public assets.
The Liberal Party did not have an extended period in opposition to reconsider its policies and so was the victim of its own electoral success.
While critics complained during the election campaign about a lack of Coalition policies they ignored the fact that in its second term the Howard Government put in place a number of major reforms with long-term consequences, most notably in defence and welfare.
Traditionally, conservative governments have been reluctant to vigorously engage in fields beyond the economic, but it will be imperative for the third-term Howard Government to do so.
The Coalition will continue its emphasis on personal responsibility and self-reliance. These directions, while usually associated with conservatives, have become central to the "Third Way" policies of Tony Blair.
As has occurred in the United States, there will be a renewed examination of the nature of the community, the family and the role of government, if any, in the development of social capital.
If a philosophical fault line was to develop on the liberal side of Australian politics it could well emerge in discussion about these issues, between those who believe it is a function of the State to encourage co-operative activity and those who believe it is the domain only of individuals and communities.
Both positions fit within the spectrum of liberalism, and discussion about voluntarism and the Coalition's First Child Tax Rebate are the first stirrings of this debate in Australia. A third-term Howard Government can use its mandate to continue stressing three essential tenets of liberalism.
First, it can challenge and change the current community consensus that increasing government spending is a solution to most problems, and is preferable to reductions in taxation.
Second, that all Australian are treated as individuals with their own rights not as parts of groups, with some groups having different rights to others.
Finally, that it is the common interests of citizens that bring Australia together, not their differences.
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