‘The Liberal Party Has to Get Back to Being the Liberal Party’: Peter Dutton

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton addresses the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia on Nov. 26, 2021. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

The former defence minister and front runner for the Liberal Party leadership, Peter Dutton, has said the Party must be true to its heritage if it is to be successful in the future.

This comes after the Liberal Party lost Saturday’s federal election to Labor and former prime minister Scott Morrison subsequently resigned as Liberal Party leader.

“I’ve learnt a lot from the leaders I’ve served under, and I believe that we can win the next election, but there’s a lot of work to be done between now and then, and the Liberal Party has to get back to being the Liberal Party,” Dutton told 2GB Radio on Thursday.

He said they need to represent all Australians, but with a particular focus on people in the suburbs, people doing it tough, people struggling to fill up their cars, and those who are working hard and getting nowhere.

“We can’t be Labor-lite, and we won’t be if I’m elected leader of the Liberal Party,” he said.

“We need to make sure that we have points of difference,  that we stay true to our values, that we understand our heritage and those that support us.

“We’re not the moderate conservative party, we’re not the conservative moderate party, we’re the Liberal Party, and that’s the approach I want to take.”

Dutton noted that when John Howard led the Party, it was a “broad church,” comprised of some people who leaned left and others right, and that’s always been the case since the founding of the Party.

“And we’re a better party if we listen to those views and come up with policies, but we’re a centre-right party,” he said.

“That’s the reality of who we are and who we need to be into the future.”

In response to a question about some people and media portraying him as too far to the right, Dutton said that certain people will continue to characterise him in a way that they think will harm his credibility because that’s their job and political leaning.

“I just ask people to look at the facts, look at who I am. I’ve got values that I believe in very strongly, around supporting families, small businesses, micro-businesses,” he said.

“That doesn’t make me some extreme right-wing person. I have a belief in God, but I don’t attend church on a regular basis...and I haven’t brought that to public life.”

Treasurer, Matt Kean speaks during a press conference in Randwick in Sydney, Australia, on Oct. 18, 2021. (Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

This comes after NSW Liberal Party treasurer Matt Kean told ABC on Monday that Liberal lost seats because they didn’t listen to the community crying out for solutions to big challenges like climate change.

“So voters in our heartland seats have looked elsewhere for the solution,” he said.

“I mean, it’s an unmitigated disaster. What we saw is our traditional Liberal Party voters abandoning the Liberal Party for the people that want to take stronger action on climate change.”

Liberal Senator for South Australia Alex Antic delivering his maiden speech in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch)

However, Liberal senator for South Australia, Alex Antic, saw it differently.

Antic said most of the Liberals who lost their seats in the election were people who were trying to appease the “climate change mob,” only to see it backfire.

He believes constituents want to see a leader who stays true to their values when they represent their community and used the example of Tony Pasin, the member for Barker in South Australia.

“He has been a strong advocate for his community, but his values have remained sound,” he told Sky News.

“The combination of hard work and good values and local engagement delivered a great result.”