The Face of Freedom

Governments are only too willing to take away our freedoms but I am not so sure how willing they are to give them back.

The Face of Freedom
Photo by Hanna Zhyhar / Unsplash

There was some very interesting news for political aficionados this morning.

A group of concerned citizens with longstanding links to the Liberal and Nationals, are getting behind a push to rebuild the Liberal Democratic Party.

The LDP was originally the Libertarian Party before it changed its name. It’s had electoral success in the Federal Senate and in Victoria.

Neither of those make the brand a household name though.

In the case of the Senate, even their elected member acknowledged that drawing number one on the ballot paper and having a name beginning with 'Liberal', his election may have been a case of ‘mistaken identity’.

In Victoria, the upper house is a lottery and one that minor parties use preferences to rig the game. The LDP were one of the beneficiaries.

But that’s not to diminish the importance of this move.

As someone who recognised some years ago that there is a need for a credible minor party on the right to keep the Liberals on track,  I gave it a shot of my own.

That didn’t work as I’d hoped but maybe, just maybe this new push might.

I hope it does because we need a consistent and principled voice for freedom and liberty.

That voice used to be the Liberals until they fell under the spell of big government solutions, nanny state policies and appeasing the demands of the left.

I can only guess they do so in the hope the leftist crocodile will be satiated before the Liberals run out of food to throw away.

Alas that won’t be the case and that will leave us with the Tweedledee and Tweedledum of political parties.

That’s not good for the country.

So, when a centre right party drifts to the left it opens up a door for possible rivals.

When Malcolm Turnbull led the Liberals, the conditions were right for a Conservative party. His replacement with Scott Morrison put paid to that.

But now, the key question confronting us is not one of right or left, it is one of Liberty.

The past 15 months has seen an unprecedented encroachment on the freedoms many of us took for granted. The freedom to run a business, freedom of association and the freedom to leave our homes when we choose to.

And now we know first hand that these freedoms can be taken away by government on a whim.

Most politicians have no skin in the game, they still get paid, and many have even get rewarded at the ballot box for their impositions on us.

So we do need a vanguard to stick up for the liberty loving citizens who are sceptical about an all powerful government.

Will the reincarnated LDP fit that bill and do the current circumstances give it a prospect of even greater electoral success?

I don't know but whether it's them or some other Party, I hope someone succeeds because it is so important for our country.

It can perhaps be best summed up by adapting the words of the great Ronald Reagan to an Australian context.

“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in Australia where people were free.”

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