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