I acknowledge we’re on Ngunnawal land in Canberra and I acknowledge the Ngunnawal elders.

We are in debt to the Indigenous custodians just as we are in debt to those who built our country over these past 250 years.

Today I want to start by recognising the success of Australia – from a nearly failed colony to a wealthy, dynamic and generous nation.

Edmund Barton boasted “A nation for a continent and a continent for a nation”. This was a first at federation and it remains unique.

We have a rich story – a story with an Indigenous heritage, a western democratic foundation, and a flourishing multicultural character.

When you deny or disparage any part of this, you disparage the Australian character, the ethos – and history. I won’t. I embrace the full Australian story. For good, for ill. As my story. As our story.

Just after entering the Senate, I wrote a book entitled Buraadja: the Liberal Case for National Reconciliation.

Most who read it, focused their attention on the words around reconciliation.

But the essence of why I am in public life is that first word Buraadja.

It’s a Yuin word – meaning tomorrow!

Tomorrow.

I believe in an Australian tomorrow which is prosperous, where we treat each other as equals, where we are secure in the world, and our children have a better shot at the future than we had.

That view of tomorrow makes me dissatisfied with today.

Weak governments have ceded power to unions, and minor parties stoke division. Both have given up aspiring for our country.

It makes me dissatisfied and grumpy.

And if that means that focus on tomorrow turns me into a 21st century Peter Walsh, then good.

Today, I want to talk about our country – and talk honestly, because I love this country.

Our country is sick.

We are living Margaret Thatcher’s “rich by nature but poor by policy” formula.

Australia is failing almost every test from the 2023 Intergenerational Report: on living standards, productivity, wages, and GDP.

Nothing is easy anymore.

And Australians shudder to think about tomorrow, because they are struggling today.

We need ambitious policy for tomorrow, not micro announcements for today that aim to please and appease.

Before we consider what should change, we should recognise the things about Australia that must not change.

Adherence to our laws, freedom of speech and equality are non-negotiables.

We are equals in our society. There’s no exception. We cannot tolerate racially or religiously-based violence, forced marriages, discrimination against women, LGBT Australians.

English is our national language. Respect is our ethos. These are fundamentals, as is the teaching of our inheritance from Western civilisation.

Australia is probably the West’s most exceptional child.

The great thing about Australia is that anyone can be an Australian when they support our institutions and culture.

That’s why the Liberal Party dismantled the White Australia Policy under Harold Holt, and Malcolm Fraser admitted Vietnamese refugees and established the SBS.

Liberalism itself is an enabler of multiculturalism through freedom of religion, choice and thought.

The right to choose your own destiny and make a buck only exists under Australian law and our culture. That’s what makes us Aussies, what makes our country so unique and drives our spirit.

This is the magnificence of Australia – the sheer breadth of our lived experiences. As an Australian, as a liberal, I celebrate this.

The extremes of the left and right want to stoke division amongst Australians, be they Jewish, Christian, Muslim, LGBT, women, men, Indigenous or immigrant. Pick a group – start a culture war. That’s their business model. It’s gotta stop.

We should be focused on wanting good Australians – people who contribute, work hard and give back.

So what should change about Australia?

We need economic reconstruction to get Australian enterprise moving again to regain our competitive position.

The calcified, anti-competitive economy is a huge problem. Baked into this is a model of low productivity, high inflation, cronyism and redistribution, not growth.

Real GDP growth per person has tanked under Labor, compared with the previous Coalition government. It is lower today than in mid-2022.

Vested interests like tech companies, banks and superannuation funds are too strong.

This is a serious case of Dutch disease – or the Australian version, the Gregory Thesis: rich by nature, poor by policy.

We are becoming like Argentina when, after favourable comparisons to Australia at the beginning of the 20th century, they squandered their opportunities and declined.

Argentina’s experience enlivened Adam Smith’s warning of the “conspiracy against the public” which occurs when vested interests run the nation’s policies.

Labor is the Government for Vested Interests. Labor’s North Korean-style National Conference confirms their strategy: reward vested interests and punish small businesses and punters.

Labor has killed enterprise, they’ve killed small business. They’ve instituted state-sanctioned corruption. One thing they will never understand is that small businesses are people.

The Liberal Party has contributed to our malaise by not being prepared to develop enough alternative policy and wear political risk.

For 20 years, Australian leadership, including under the custodians of liberalism, has too often been indolent.

Consequently, Australian politics is now more fragmented.

I get that people are over the two party system and it is a tough ask to say to Australians, we buggered it up, but please vote for us again.

As someone who was a backbencher in the Morrison government, I am sorry I didn’t do more to stop the madness.

I believe the New Liberalism Australia needs isn’t socialism and it isn’t conservatism seeking to turn back the clock.

The madness started when Canberra gave up on the Budget.

We consume today’s debt which is tomorrow’s taxes.

Whenever a politician announces more spending, they are stealing from tomorrow because there is no intention to balance the books.

Today’s fragmentation shows the system works because it lets people send us a message. The message is: “you haven’t been good enough.”

Fair enough.

There are three leadership factors to consider before we get to policy.

Firstly, people want authenticity. They are over the spin. They just want to know how bad things are and how they can be fixed. They are not averse to hearing bad news but they don’t want the paternalistic and glib politics to continue.

Secondly, people want more information. Australians have more access to information than ever. People will “go deep” on an issue by listening to a podcast, watching a video, or assembling information from AI.

The 2026-27 Budget typifies Australians’ disillusionment with the system. JWS research has the sentiment on the economy at negative 36, a record low.

Who can blame Australians? They are being told the housing crisis can be fixed with a 30% minimum Capital Gains Tax hike and never-ending bracket creep.

Thirdly, we must be confident in liberalism as we fight to get off the mat.

We need to be clear about what it is and what it is not.

I have been influenced by the British author Adrian Wooldridge who says there are three things all liberals must believe in:

The individual, tolerance of other views, and constraining power through rules.

Liberal Party of Australia

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