My initial response to your heading, Chris, is: why do we expect an entity called a LIBERAL party to be conservative? Everywhere but Australia, 'liberal' means left or socialist. Our political nomenclature is as weird and as unlikely as our kangaroos. I remember John Howard trying to convince Arnold Swarzenegger, governor of California at the time, that he, Howard, was not socialist. Since Howard, the party has steadily marched to the Left, and they are not remotely conservative.

Conservatism is dead, in Australia, and pretty much globally. In the UK, Cameron and May were jokes, and Boris Johnson has turned out to be a Lefty squib. Even Donald Trump is not conservative in the true sense of the word.

I think that you are right saying that there are not enough conservatives in Australia to warrant a party. Believe me, it's pretty lonely where I am. The humiliating rejection of Bernadi's Australian Conservatives was indicative of Australians' attitudes, even though the personality of AC's founder might have been a factor; he is still unlikeable out of politics.

Pauline Hanson? Not really a conservative, and laughed at by people who can't handle simple sincerity and courage. Mark Latham might have made a go of it, but isn't much use in state politics. Clive who?

The Liberal party should not "be more conservative" because it is not built for it; it is Labor lite, particularly since Turnbull and Morrison 'got at it'. Australia will remain politically imbalanced until it finally reaches rock bottom. Then, we might have to face something altogether different. 1930's deja vu is already in the air and being openly discussed, ironically by some of the very people who will be responsible for the backlash.

No! The liberals are indisputably, already a conservative party, in assumed liberal cloaks/clothing!

What we need in the election-winning middle ground is a fiscally conservative and socially progressive party, not controlled by outside forces, i.e., those with the deepest pockets or loudest voices always raised in vociferous dissent! Or those (the latter the same folk) with a collective IQ roughly equal to the ambient temperature?

Ought be able to enunciate future policy while strapped to a lie detector, given how low their honesty in policy pronouncements etc, has sunk?

We need a party that does not pick and choose winners but puts all options on the table. And then let the market decide!

And needed if it wants a coherent energy policy fit for purpose and in a not for profit paradigm, so we can use it as the social amenity it ought to be, to rebuild our wrecked economy from the ground up as one that favours (great depression style) cooperative capitalism.

If only to put the nation back to work as expeditiously as possible! And where the rebuilt economy will of necessity be automated to the enth degree! And completely divested of the robber barons, commission sales and paper shuffling, profit demanding middlemen!

The new economy will be largely online and as a consequence able to direct market from source. And given the above able to compete for "fair" market share with all comers! Indefinitely!

Any new manufacturing models need to be completely self-contained inside a single site, with only basic raw materials outsourced, for very obvious if unstated health issue reasons and because it's the lowest cost production model but particularly as co-ops!

Finally, the conservative elements on the hard right need to retain control of our borders and defence. And where they are likely to excel? But removed from legislating against love! Given they don't actually feel or understand it?

Every human extant on the planet has a birthright to contentment and compatible cohabitation with the choice of their heart! We are not and must never ever be, heartless Nazi-look-alikes! Besides, that's economically counterproductive!
Alan B.

any true conservative would have to battle constantly with lies, misinformation, treachery and hatred from the abc 24 hours a day. Tony Abbott was one of the most decent blokes in Australia and look how the degenerates treated him. Turnbull was one of the sleaziest ever in Parliament and was loved by the swamp. Along with Bishop, Turnbull was happy to sell Australia out to China and he still boast of his 'achievement' of perverting marriage. Turnbull was a strong backer of the gw fraud and will go down as the worst ever Liberal PM.

How long can one justify the existence of a belief until it runs out of steam. We can write about what we do, how we go about doing it, where we do it but never why we do it.
Could it be because we have been caught up too much in the cancel culture
In short the Liberal Party believes in individual freedom and free enterprise and when conservatives hold those beliefs then why do conservatives allow themselves to be shifted from their grounds of culture.

Unless we as conservatives do not believe what we espouse is the true belief of a conservative

With Citizens becoming more insipid by the hour, it becomes irrelevant which way the NLP is leaning !
The handful of responsible citizens are outnumbered by the above & it's only a matter of time before the handful can no longer maintain the hangers-on.
Had Labor been in power since January this year, we'd be commenting on the misery & crime etc in this Country !

Chris if a desire for boarder protection, & a major reduction in immigration are conservative values, then your whole idea does not hold water.

If such values are more widely held, even in progressive breasts then perhaps Oz is no longer conservative.

This would not be surprising after decades of high migration, just how many fair dinkum Ozzies are there left in the country. Not many if the disgusting number of bludgers we now have is any indication.

In fact Oz may be not only too far gone to the dogs to save, but may be too far gone to be worth saving. One thing is for sure, the vast majority of recent blow ins are unlikely to ever put any effort into saving anything, other than themselves.