Tim Wilson and Tim Smith offer a lesson to their party, both state and federal. They lost the capacity for self-doubt, believed their own b-s and showed no respect for the electorate. |OPINION by Jon Faine springst auspol
I spent some of our recent cold snap culling overloaded bookshelves. As I weighed up what was to be sent to the opp shop, I stumbled on the definitive history of Richard Nixon’s flawed presidencyThe arrogance of power also describes the disarray in the Liberal Party, federally and in Victoria. The party’s plight can be embodied in the tale of two Tims – Wilson and Smith.Both Tim W & S have considerable ability, energy and political nous.
Tim Wilson was charming, smart and unafraid. We invested a lot of time training him and giving feedback, despite his IPA view that the ABC was a waste of public money. As his confidence grew, and he became sought after by other media, he developed his own political brand. The then attorney-general George Brandis soon offered him a job at the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission as a “freedom commissioner”, notwithstanding the IPA advocating for the abolition of the organisation.
Tim Smith’s regular appearances on Sydney commercial radio during Victoria’s extended and tortuous lockdowns lent him a façade of political gravitas, but it was an illusion. Instead of doing the hard work developing policies and winning the contest of ideas, Tim Smith presented as if he believed that government office would inevitably be his.
There is much being said about the future direction of the Coalition parties. Some protagonists present these as debates about women, national security, the culture wars or climate. It is all of those things and none of them. The failure in conservative politics is fundamentally about respect.
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