Malcolm Turnbull’s argument that the Liberal Party ought to pursue centrist policies is yet more evidence that conservatives are no longer welcome in the government, according to Liberal defector Cory Bernardi.
The South Australian senator – who left the Liberals earlier this year to lead his own Australian Conservatives group – said there were “many” members of the government who were “deeply concerned” by Mr Turnbull’s recent speech.
The prime minister told a London think tank the Liberal Party belonged in the “sensible centre” and was not a conservative party.
"If you're a conservative, and you're not welcome in the Turnbull Liberal team, you need to come to the home of conservatism and that is Australian Conservatives,” Senator Bernardi said.
“You will always be welcome there.”
Mr Turnbull’s speech is being seen as a response to former prime minister Tony Abbott, who has been pushing for the government to adopt more conservative policies in a string of recent media appearances.
He has proposed a new plan to win the next election by cutting renewable energy targets, reducing immigration and scrapping the Human Rights Commission, among other ideas.
But Mr Turnbull said the founder of the Liberal Party, Sir Robert Menzies, always intended the party to be a progressive, centrist movement that unified the centre-right of Australian politics.
"The sensible centre, to use my predecessor Tony Abbott's phrase, was the place to be. And it remains the place to be now," Mr Turnbull said.
The speech was praised by many in the government, including cabinet ministers Julie Bishop and Christopher Pyne, who described it as a historically accurate rendition of the party’s foundational principles.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's speech in London where he refers to the Liberals as the "sensible centre" has added to growing discord within the party. Source: AAP
But not everyone was impressed, with the speech drawing the ire of former Victorian Liberal premier Jeff Kennett.
"It just seems to me to be an appalling lack of political judgement. Why would you do it? Why would you do it from overseas? Why would you throw a can of petrol on to a fire?" Mr Kennett said, speaking with ABC Radio.
Senator Bernardi said the speech misrepresented the Menzian philosophy, saying the much-revered Liberal leader was himself a political conservative.
“I have no doubt that Sir Robert Menzies would be joining the Australian Conservatives,” he told SBS World News.
“In fact in his memoirs and letters to his daughter Sarah Henderson, he wrote that he didn’t even vote for the Liberal Party in his later years. So now we [Australian Conservatives] are truly the custodians of the conservative legacy in Australia.”
However, Mr Turnbull has found an ally in the newly appointed president of the federal Liberal Party, former NSW Premier Nick Greiner.
Mr Greiner said he agreed with the prime minister that the Liberal Party should be pragmatic, and appeal to the political centre.
“If you look at Tony [Abbott]’s ‘five point plan’, most of that is never going to happen,” Mr Greiner said.
“No one is going to reform the Constitution with respect to the Senate, whether that’s desirable or not. So if you’re in government putting that sort of stuff up … it’s politics, rather than government.”
