"Chris Curtis is the last state vice president of the Victorian Democratic Labor Party, the original one, not the current party with the "u" in "Labour"."

Apart from sharing the ALP's inability to spell 'labour', a once-upon-a-time DLP hack has no insight at all into the Liberal party; nor does he need to concern himself with it.

what are they really?

Well, from my perspective, they're the most hounded, sabotaged political party ! In power, they're opposed in every possible way by those who are supposed to work in the interest of the Nation thus letting the nation down at every turn !
These parasitic hypocrites should be required to proof merit when a new Govt is elected.
The Left is vehemently opposing to do away with its insidious back-bone, the Peter principle !

The Liberal party, state and federal, can be summed up in a few words:

No leaders

Won't fight

Not enough courage to make enemies.

True libs are moderates, socially progressive and fiscally conservative. And that cannot be said for the bulk of today's liberal party. As for issues of alleged morality? Time that the busybody scandal mongers got their sticky beaks out of the bedrooms of (none of your beeswax) other folk. That stuff is not and never ever was the role of representative politicians! Their focus must be limited to the economy and restoring true justice for all. Some of which has to include jettisoning archaic laws and rules. And ensuring religion is limited to church and out of politics. End of story.

Sir Henry Bolte told this story, back in the eighties.

Sometime in the distant future almost anything will be transplantable including brains. At that time a person with a damaged brain was looking for a replacement. He/she was shown into a large room with many brains in transparent containers and soaking in liquid nutrient. And lining both sides of the walls of the building.

As the intending recipient walked through, he/she noted that down right side, the brains were just a few dollars and down the left side, many thousands. When he/she inquired, how so? Was informed that those on the left were hardly used at all while those on the right were badly worn from critical overuse! Hence the astonishing price difference!
Alan B.

"What really holds it together is the belief in people's right to make as much money as possible and to spend it as they wish."

The freedom to make money, Hmmm - what about all the other freedoms?
(as if Labor-supporters make less money...)

And to spend it as we wish?

Like importing our own COVID vaccines and injecting them ourselves without having to tell the government?

Like being able to take out a truly private health insurance which does not involve Medicare in the case of claims?

Like riding a bicycle without a head cover, then paying all hospital expenses ourselves (or through our truly private health insurance) should we break our head?

Like buying a piece of land that would be truly ours and not violated by state agencies or mining corporations?

Give us a break - Tweedledee and Tweedledum are exactly the same!

The Liberals are no longer a conservative party. The Liberals cannot be defined alone on same-sex marriage, as they are a broad church.

What does that mean?

To be a broad church a conservative political party does not surrender
its constituency to the left, nor does it recruit members of parliament who are not in line with its philosophical base.

At the moment the Liberal Party is irrelevant as it has difficulty in defining its moral conservative base and therefore they have surrendered to the left of politics