The WA Division is setting the example for Liberals across the nation, writes Jeremy Sher.
The Liberal Party in Western Australia has selected Mr Ken Wyatt to stand as the Liberal candidate in the very winnable marginal seat of Hasluck.If elected, Mr Wyatt will become the first indigenous Australian to sit in the House of Representatives. Mr Wyatt has had a distinguished career in Aboriginal health. Most recently, he is working as the Director of the Office of Aboriginal Health in Western Australia. Indigenous Australians, Neville Bonner (Liberal) and Aden Ridgway (Democrat) have previously sat in the Australian Senate.
It is appropriate that Mr Wyatt has been selected for a seat, named in
honour of the Western Australian Liberal Party's most distinguished leader, the
late Sir Paul Hasluck, the former Governor-General and Minister for Foreign
Affairs, as it is a timely reminder of the Western Australian party's
strong contribution to the national Liberal story.
The Liberal Party in Western Australia is sometimes criticised for being 'too conservative', 'extreme' or 'unelectable'.
Yet, the record is quite the opposite.
In recent years, the Liberal Party in Western Australia has become the most electorally and organisationally successful state party. Having put aside the history of factionalism which bedevilled the party in the 1990s, it now holds 11 out of 15 House of Representatives seats. The Deputy Leader, the Hon Julie Bishop MP also comes from the west as well as outstanding future leaders like Michael Keenan MP, Senator Mathias Cormann and Menzies House contibutor Senator Michaelia Cash.
Not only did the Western Australian party break Labor's stranglehold on State Parliaments (under the leadership of Colin Barnett and State Director, Ben Morton) but its also successfully retiring debt, making significant investments to build its long term asset base and it has started preselecting candidates of the high standard of Mr Wyatt.
At a state level, Colin Barnett's team is re-imposing fiscal conservatism and managing the challenges of a massive and unprecedented economic expansion. It has also started the process of turning Perth into a city capable of supporting and encouraging this expansion (My favourite example of this last change is the excruciatingly slow deregulation of Perth's, frankly, socialist trading hour regime).
What is evident is that Western Australia is the state most welcoming of the modern conservative message, which emphasises fiscal rectitude, individual responsibility, entrepreneurialism and strong, common sense values.
Certainly, more needs to be done but the Western Australian party is setting an example for the whole country.
The Liberal Party in Western Australia is sometimes criticised for being 'too conservative', 'extreme' or 'unelectable'.
Yet, the record is quite the opposite.
In recent years, the Liberal Party in Western Australia has become the most electorally and organisationally successful state party. Having put aside the history of factionalism which bedevilled the party in the 1990s, it now holds 11 out of 15 House of Representatives seats. The Deputy Leader, the Hon Julie Bishop MP also comes from the west as well as outstanding future leaders like Michael Keenan MP, Senator Mathias Cormann and Menzies House contibutor Senator Michaelia Cash.
Not only did the Western Australian party break Labor's stranglehold on State Parliaments (under the leadership of Colin Barnett and State Director, Ben Morton) but its also successfully retiring debt, making significant investments to build its long term asset base and it has started preselecting candidates of the high standard of Mr Wyatt.
At a state level, Colin Barnett's team is re-imposing fiscal conservatism and managing the challenges of a massive and unprecedented economic expansion. It has also started the process of turning Perth into a city capable of supporting and encouraging this expansion (My favourite example of this last change is the excruciatingly slow deregulation of Perth's, frankly, socialist trading hour regime).
What is evident is that Western Australia is the state most welcoming of the modern conservative message, which emphasises fiscal rectitude, individual responsibility, entrepreneurialism and strong, common sense values.
Certainly, more needs to be done but the Western Australian party is setting an example for the whole country.
Jeremy Sher is a solicitor and tutor in law at the University of Western Australia. He has recently completed postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics focussing on globalisation, democratisation and regulation.
