The one true architect behind the Liberal Party’s growing malaise is the man who poisoned the very soul of democracy in Australia.
For all the defects Peter Dutton has as a political leader and as a truly awful human being, he does possess some skills, chief among them a preternatural ability to beat the drums of unreality as the Liberal Party marches towards electoral oblivion.
“There are obvious issues we need to address in the division of Victoria — that is a statement of the obvious,” he told Insiders on Sunday as he recited his back-of-the-napkin talking points on the “Aston la vista” byelection. “I think [the problem is that] in recent years the Liberal Party has allowed itself to be defined by our opponents and it’s time for us to take that back.”
So far as explanations and finger-pointing for the party’s historic Aston defeat go, it was among the least plausible, venturing as it did into the realm of reduced responsibility and the art of political self-preservation.
Read more about the insidious influence of John Howard on the Liberal Party.
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