The government got it hopelessly wrong,ignoring the lessons of history and failing to understand Indigenous and non-Indigenous contemporary Australia.
I am an instinctive Yes supporter,but when this referendum fails,which it will,its proponents will have to face some hard truths.
There is a solution to the Liberal Party’s woes,but it can only happen if factional players are willing to focus on the party’s core roles,and see new members as more than a threat to their own power.
Some single-electorate campaigns have spent more than $3 million. The “teal” independents in Wentworth and Kooyong,for starters,have exceeded – by a multiple of 10 – what in the past was considered an expensive campaign at $300,000.
Scott Morrison has barely been seen in the Liberal seats under threat from independents. Let’s see whether Malcolm Turnbull makes another intervention to support the teals.
There is much at stake in this election for the opinion pollsters who got it so spectacularly wrong last time.
In political leadership circles there is no mantle more terrifying than to lose the unlosable election. Of course,the flip side is winning the unwinnable election.
An independent ousted me as a Liberal MP in 1989,but now many of the old unassailable strongholds are slipping. We are seeing a permanent change to the two-party equilibrium.
Don’t fall for the traditional wisdom that state byelections have no implications for federal elections. While the Liberals will retain Willoughby,the huge swing against them is a sign of the damage that strong independents can do in the party’s heartland seats.
The independents are at the centre of a fundraising and campaigning extravaganza of American proportions.
Let’s transition to a low-value,high-volume form of political fundraising.