Raise a Raven, Nevermore
… and quoth it neverever
In Spain they say Cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos – Raise a raven and it will peck out your eyes.
In Australia, the major right wing parties (Liberal, National, LNP, CLP) now confront that raven’s pecking beak. Their long years of gently feeding and soothing One Nation have legitimated that beast’s squawking and pecking, and now it’s coming for their eyes.
The late Senator Ron Boswell was 100% right when he said One Nation must be fought, but the current Liberal National Party leadership have pandered so long to One Nation extremism, rather than contending against it, that they now confront a crisis. Their internal divisions are clearly between those who reject the xenophobia, authoritarianism, and fakery of the far right, and those who think the easiest path back to power lies in adopting them. The latter course posits that Liberal and National Parties’ success lies in an imitation of the real thing.
At a time of discontent with leaderships of all kinds, and growing rejection of democracy itself, if you aren’t on the battlefield of ideas challenging autocracy and xenophobia, if you aren’t supporting the ideals underpinning our system of government, you’re not a party supporting democracy. You’re undermining it.
How can the Liberal National Party contest the next election by running as One-Nation-Light? If what you’re saying to voters is that the extremism of One Nation is OK, then why won’t voters go with the real thing? To compete, you have to actually get on that battlefield and compete: between now and the next election, both Labor and the Liberal/National Parties must genuinely oppose what One Nation is about, and stop accommodating their internal One Nation faction, or have their eyes pecked out.
How can Labor and the Liberal/National Parties oppose them?
- Actively and constantly contending with One Nation’s ridiculous “solutions”,
- Actively and constantly contending with their underlying “analysis” about the causes of voter discontent,
- Devising and promoting policies and programs which build community support for democracy, and
- Devising and promoting policies and programs which reverse the growing view amongst voters that political leaders aren’t on their side.