The federal Liberal Party is in a death spiral due to its shrinking “grumpy, old and very right wing” support base, its support for immigration and climate policies championed by One Nation and its capture by conservative “angertainment” media outlets, according to former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.
He said he expects the party is likely to cut a preference deal with One Nation in the upcoming Farrer byelection, seen as a crucial test of new Liberal leader Angus Taylor, which would be “poison” in urban seats of the sort already lost to Teal independents.
This would be one of the “final nails” in the coffin of the Liberal Party, said Turnbull, but he did not rule out “the vampire” somehow escaping.
Turnbull told an audience at the Climate Action Week Sydney conference this morning that the Liberal Party’s decision to focus on One Nation’s issues, such as immigration, was destroying the party because it elevated those issues in the minds of parts of the electorate, which then chose to back One Nation over Liberals.
This was not only a danger to the broader community because it amplified divisive and destructive ideas, but to the Liberal Party which had not only lost urban seats, but a generation of talented potential candidates.
He said the presence of Teal MPs like Allegra Spender or Sophie Scamps in his cabinet would have improved its intellectual firepower as it tackled crucial issues like tax reform and climate change, to the benefit of the nation and the party.
