Contemporary Australian Liberalism
From the early 1990s, monetarism and social conservatism has characterised the Liberal Party's actions in Government and policy development. Former Prime Minister John Howard in a 2005 speech described the modern position:
The Liberal Party is a broad church. You sometimes have to get the builders in to put in the extra pew on both sides of the aisle to make sure that everybody is accommodated. But it is a broad church and we should never as members of the Liberal Party of Australia lose sight of the fact that we are the trustees of two great political traditions. We are, of course, the custodian of the classical liberal tradition within our society, Australian Liberals should revere the contribution of John Stuart Mill to political thought. We are also the custodians of the conservative tradition in our community. And if you look at the history of the Liberal Party it is at its best when it balances and blends those two traditions. Mill and Burke are interwoven into the history and the practice and the experience of our political party.
Federal "small-l liberals", such as Joe Hockey and Malcolm Turnbull were Cabinet ministers in the Howard government. Christopher Pyne, George Brandis and Bruce Billson served in the outer ministry. At the state level, "small-l liberals" have substantial influence particularly in Victoria and South Australia.
The Democrats, fractured under the leadership of Cheryl Kernot and Natasha Stott-Despoja, moved to the left. Party leader Meg Lees formed the more avowedly centrist Australian Progressive Alliance in 2003. In 2002, Tasmanian Liberal candidate Greg Barns was disendorsed following comments opposing Government action taken over the Tampa affair. Barns joined the Australian Democrats, with the view of returning a strong liberal platform to the party.
Read more about this topic: Liberalism In Australia
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