Just thought I’d check in with you after the Liberals voted for Ley as their new moderate leader.
Comment on Is Australia's Overton Window Shifting?
Ilandar@lemm.ee 4 weeks agoOf course the remaining people in the moderate faction think they need to be more vocal. It doesn’t change the fact that they are really struggling right now and that the people in leadership positions seem to be more interested in listening to Gina Rinehart and Sky After Dark, who are still arguing that the reason the Liberals are losing voters is because they haven’t moved far enough to the right and still don’t spend enough time on culture wars.
null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Ilandar@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
As I said previously:
Sussan Ley (whose positioning seems debatable).
You realise this is the same person who denied that the Liberal Party has a problem with women voters, and defended their recent campaign with the genius line of “women drive cars too”? She will be knifed well before the party makes any significant shift back to the centre. You are clutching at straws if you think Sussan Ley as leader is evidence of some progressive shift in Australia.
null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Your comments are contrary to most other commentary.
Karvellas asserted the inverse just this morning: Ley represents a significant shift to the centre.
You’re right in that she will probably get knifed in the coming months. “See, we tried centrism and it didn’t work”.
However, even the liberals recognising that there’s a need to demonstrate that they tried centrism is significant.
I’m happy to acknowledge that your opinion is unchanged. For my own part I think everything that has transpired over the last week demonstrates a change of trajectory.
Ilandar@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
The vote was only 29 to 25 in favour of Ley, and 2 of her biggest supporters are senators who are about to finish up. It could potentially be as easy as switching a couple of votes to flip the balance of power inside the party room. Not to mention Price didn’t even run for deputy, which suggests she is waiting for a better opportunity after a conservative wins the leadership. It’s just denying reality to pretend that this is evidence of them accepting a shift to the centre, they are still a massively divided party.
null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 weeks ago
Ok mate, we will see what happens.
princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
I mean, so what if they listen to that advice and try to lean into the culture wars? So they lose some more elections, I think it would do a world of good for this country if the Liberals fell into irrelevance and we had a rise of politicians like the Teal independents that actually care about climate change.
Salvo@aussie.zone 3 weeks ago
The more the Liberal Party and Gina’s and Rupert’s Right Wing media waffle on about the Mythical Culture war, the more people think that it is actually a thing.
Zuck’s and Elon’s Right Wing “new” media need to Fuck Off too.
princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 weeks ago
Considering the massive, once in a generation, second-term swing to the incumbent government I’d say we’ve seen a massive repudiation of those culture war talking points. Obviously that wasn’t the only causal factor in these results, but it’s worth noting Morrison tried some anti-trans stuff in 2022 as well and look where that got him. I think the Australian voting public is smarter than to fall for that sort of rhetoric. Mandatory voting also helps because the more disinterested voters still have to make a decision, and I think most people believe in a fair go.
null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Perhaps I’m just unnecessarily anxious, but I feel like the constant culture war nattering makes it be a thing.
For example, my parents are in their 80s. The struggles of trans people just aren’t relevant to them in any way. The chances they would ever interact with a trans person in any meaningful way are infinitesimal.
However, if the leader of the liberal party is on TV every day complaining about how a trans person might use a public toilet for whatever gender, it will make my parents believe that it’s a problem.
These politicians stoke the culture war to fire up and engage their base.
Locally we’ve had some conservative nutters complain about library books discussing sex and gender issues. It’s just another manufactured outrage.