Under big-spending Nationals-lite Dutton, where to now for genuine Liberals?

Recent years have been tough for real Liberals — people who prefer small government, market economics and respecting the basic institutions of public life. And it’s just gotten a lot tougher.

The last actual Liberal leader was Malcolm Turnbull, who was hemmed in and then ousted by right-wingers and climate denialists backed by the sectional socialists of the National Party. The Morrison government — putting aside the pandemic spending — permanently increased the size of government in Australia to over 26% of GDP compared to below 25% under Turnbull. Morrison’s energy policy, such as it was, consisted of trying to prop up coal-fired power and subsidise gas — not to mention Morrison undermined several tenets of Australia’s basic system of government with his secret self-appointments to ministries.