How time flies when you are having fun. This week marks three years since I began to write my regular comments.
In that time, tens of thousands of readers have commented, complained and offered congratulations about my perspective on contemporary issues.
My comments have been syndicated across multiple websites, are often mentioned in the mainstream media and have prompted spirited public debate about a number of very important issues.
They have also achieved the outcome that was most important to me: the ability to communicate directly with the people of Australia.
The insights and feedback gained from staying in touch with a broad cross-section of our citizenry have been invaluable in understanding (and reflecting) the views of grassroots Australians.
But as the effectiveness of this communication has grown, so too has the scrutiny of my musings by sections of the media and the professional left.
As most of what I write doesn’t reflect the orthodoxy of either the press gallery, the Greens or the Labor Party, any opportunity to draw negative attention to my words is often seized upon by the left.
I even remember one particular grammatical error being highlighted on the ABC’s Insiders program because a journalist didn’t agree with what I had written.
Personally, I would have thought it was more important for our ABC to address the substance of the argument rather than a misplaced comma, but once again I seem to have a slightly different perspective to our national broadcaster.
However, over the years there have been some noticeable changes evident in the responses to what I write.
As my readership has grown, an orchestrated campaign of attack by left activists seems to have also developed.
It seems that conservatives are to be held to a higher standard of scrutiny or accountability than members of the left.
I have always wondered why a conservative is labelled an extremist for representing the views of mainstream Australia yet an abusive minority are supposedly reflective of the ‘broader community’.
The evidence is there for everyone to see for themselves. Different standards are applied depending on whether you support or are sceptical of man-made climate change; whether you endorse or question the value of multiculturalism; whether you defend or want to ditch traditional marriage.
The choice is seemingly clear – support the left agenda and get a free ride; dissent and get flayed alive.
Under such circumstances it would be easier, and possibly personally advantageous, to stop swimming against the media tide. But to do that would leave millions of Australians without the voice they so desperately crave in public life.
The concerns, worries, hopes and aspirations of mainstream Australia are not represented by the high taxing, big government agenda of the left. They are not reflected in the characterisation of these concerns by the ABC and some other sections of the media.
That’s why, after three years, I’ll continue to write down and speak up in the interests of our nation.
And just as has happened in respect to my comments, as the silent majority begin to find their voice, so too will the intensity of the opposition to the mainstream values and principles we espouse.
In the face of such adversity, it is incumbent upon those of us in public life to provide the conservative heart of our nation with encouragement and support.
Cory Bernardi is the author of seven books and has been a member of the Australian rowing team, a publican, an investment portfolio manager and spent nearly 14 years as an Australian Senator.
