If I was in Barnaby Joyce’s shoes, I’d be tearing my hair out over what is going on within the Liberal Party. As a member of the coalition group, The Nationals fortunes to a large degree rely on a strong and united Liberal party. Instead, the Liberal Party are beset with infighting, and accusations of disunity and divide. We have the ex-Prime Minister who takes every opportunity to stick in a barb despite stating he wouldn’t do that. We have a Prime Minister who appears to not be able to reign Abbott in. We have media who feed off this stuff and the willing leakers who are providing them with anything that will create a negative headline. I don’t mind admitting that as a member of the Liberal Party, I am tearing my hair out and I know for sure I’m not the only one.
After years of relative stability and prosperity we plunged into the dark ages of six years of Labor. I won't rehash their failings they are well known. It was with a sense of overwhelming relief that the LNP coalition sweep into power in 2013. It wasn’t long before key election commitments were delivered. Boats, Carbon Tax, Mining Tax gone. Then came the budget and the ‘ship floundered’. We were paddling madly to stay afloat.
Progress was stalling and every little glitch, stumbled word, fleeting glance was front page news. Relationships that were tenuous unravelled before out eyes. Internal power plays became the standard game. In February 2015 a message was delivered to Tony Abbott; take control of the bridge, get back on course or face the consequences.
The next seven months were a low point in our Liberal history. The accusations and infighting continued. The get squares and removal or sidelining of anyone who posed a threat to positions of power was par for the course. “You leak and blame the other guy” strategy was in full swing. We continued to flounder. The parliamentary party said enough and in September we had a new leader. Once more there were signs of relief but this time we also had the insidious declarations of open warfare. It took no time and we were back where we started. The architects of the destabilisation were still there. Only their motivation had changed. This time their sights are set on bringing down the so called usurper Turnbull and with it, the Liberal party.
Had the ship had been in good shape in 2015 there wouldn’t have been a ‘mutiny’. But it wasn’t. While change was needed there is a group in the parliamentary party that did not, will not and cannot accept that. The same applies to the anti-Liberals within the community.
The upshot of that is we now have within our parliamentary ranks a destructive rogue gang. Some label them the Liberal Taliban. I think that's an accurate description. They are hell bent on wrecking the Turnbull Govt and along with it the country.
Over the coming weeks there will be more and more destabilisation. We are hearing and seeing the commentary around the so called rift between Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison. Much has been made over Scott Morrison’s exclusion from the PM’s inner sanctum meeting on Sunday night. The Telegraph and Australian both ran stories today stating who and isn’t in the inner sanctum. The laugh is, they have different lists. I think the leakers need to liaise more before they feed this stuff to the press.
We can expect to see an increase in contradictory statements made by the rouge group to those made by Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison and the rest of the cabinet. There is a deliberate strategy to distract the media and the public from the key message, to spook the electorate and fire up the disenchanted.
Two of our female Ministers will be key targets. Don’t be surprised if there are more leaks relating to our subs contract. That's part of the get square. People within the rogue group will do everything within their power to thwart the DD strategy. They are still hanging onto the feigned hope of an Abbott resurrection. Winning government from a DD hurts their cause.
The puerile campaign to let's make Malcolm look stupid is underway with the ridiculous stories, cartoons and media comment associated with his “Continuity and Change” comment. Claims it was stolen from Veep highlights the lack of intelligence of those pushing it. The study and adoption of Continuity and Change strategy has been around well before some cheap comedy. India and Russia have included “Continuity and Change” as a Foreign Policy foundation for years. It's frequently used in academic texts, including here. Religions use it as do businesses. A quick Google check proves it. For the record Veep used “Continuity With Change.” I think is a great vision statement but we do need to see what the plan is to achieve it. The budget and election policy plans should make that clear. If it doesn’t yet it needs to and it needs to.
So folks batten down the hatches we are in for a rocky ride. It will get dirty. The true nature of the rogue gang will be evident. The usual line up of media bile pushers will be out in force salivating over every bit of juicy gossip.
In the meantime Bill Shorten and Labor are going about their business, largely unchallenged and just sticking their heads up from time to time to point the finger; hey look at that lot over there.
That we have people within our own Liberal parliamentary ranks who’d rather destroy the party instead of our opposition I think is reprehensible. No wonder Labor are laughing at us. Let's just pray they don’t take the rest of us down with them.
