Dancing with clowns

May 6, 2008, 6:07pm,  313 views

Queensland Nationals leader Lawrence Springborg (the clown in a tie) wants to merge his party with the dysfunctional Liberals to create a new conservative force.

The reckless manoeuvre threatens to destabilise non-Labor politics in Australia for many years.

There is no way the Western Australian or Victorian branches of the Nationals will buy it and Liberals across the country are sceptical.

Springborg has somehow persuaded his own state branch to go along with the idea. About 97 percent of members backed it in a recent poll.

“It’s no longer an argument any more about whether people want a single united party. It’s just a debate about how high the overwhelming levels of support can possibly go,” Mr Springborg said.

“These discussions are now being undertaken in an environment where we all know for sure this has the support of Queenslanders along with overwhelming support of members from both parties.”

It’s a silly idea for several reasons.

1) Thomas Playford successfully merged the parties in South Australia, but Henry Bolte failed in Victoria. Bolte destroyed the Country Party as a political force though, which was probably his objective after several minority CP governments with Labor support.

If a merger goes ahead a new rural rump party will quickly be established. It could potentially be to the raving right if people like Pauline Hanson or Bob Katter get involved.

2) I always had difficulty with the National Party being branded “conservative”. It’s a unique organisation and totally different to the Liberals.

Nats are the most socially conservative party in Australia, which reflects the background of country people generally. However, the party has always been economically pragmatic; prepared to assist rural industries and promote regional development through government subsidies and intervention if necessary.

This puts them way to the left of economic rationalists in the Liberal Party.

3) It’s politically risky. Three-cornered contests may cost money but they maximise the non-Labor vote by giving people a choice.

I recall reading old newspapers where the Country Party actually ran two candidates in some seats, obviously exchanging preferences. Preference flows between National and Liberal are normally quite disciplined.

That’s the crux of the issue in Queensland where preference voting is optional. In some seats, particularly in large regional cities, Labor is entrenched and three-cornered contests are undesirable.

Springborg should sort things out in his own state by negotiating a strong Coalition agreement, rather than rattling cages across the country that are best left untouched.