They’re the words many conservatives use to begin their election analysis. And they’re right, when you consider the national interest and the possible implication of a hung parliament and an even more fragmented Senate.
Even though the results are not yet finalised, it looks unlikely that either party will be able to form government in their own right. In effect, we are right back where we were in 2010, with the party roles reversed. We shouldn’t really be surprised when the same chain of events took place during a popularly elected first term government.
In my youth I was told that the definition of madness was doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. That axiom has borne out once again.
However, the votes have been cast and there isn’t much we can do about it now except learn from the experience. The Australian people have spoken and basically said that neither side of politics is doing a good enough job to secure their trust. Accordingly they have parked their vote with minor parties and independents.
As of writing, over 1.7 million votes were cast for right-of-centre or conservative parties rather than the Liberal Party. From my perspective, that was the Liberal base expressing their unhappiness with past events.
Irrespective of the final election result, the clear mission now is to bring people together for the good of the country. That is going to take the formalisation of a broad conservative movement to help change politics and to give common sense a united voice.
With that in mind, I’d ask all of you to read and consider my address to the National Press Club about this subject in 2014. You can do so at my website by clicking here. I hope you will agree that the words and sentiments are even more relevant today.
It’s more important than ever that we unite Australian Conservatives, who share many views, regardless of their party affiliation. If you believe in limited government, traditional values, defending our culture and heritage, lower taxes, a stronger nation, a stronger economy and plain old common sense, then you have a lot in common with millions of others.
Now is the time to gather together. You can help kick start the movement by going to www.conservatives.org.au and registering your interest.
It’s the next step in making sure our voice is never taken for granted again.
Cory Bernardi is the author of seven books and has been a member of the Australian rowing team, a publican, an investment portfolio manager and spent nearly 14 years as an Australian Senator.
