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Whither the Liberal conscience? : Comments
By Max Atkinson, published 17/4/2014However that may be, the views of Vanstone and Brandis suggest the spirit of Mill is still alive in the Liberal party, and not wholly confined to the world of business, property and entrepreneurs.
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I reject your suggestion that the government, to be ‘liberal’, should find out and act on what most Australians think about an issue. This is the antithesis of a liberal philosophy because it permits government, in the name of the people, to do what it likes, including banning opposition parties and arresting dissidents.
There is a crucial difference between taking principles seriously (by acting on one’s own judgment of their requirement) and acting on a popular opinion of what these principles require. There is no space here to defend the distinction but if you are interested you will find a number of overlapping articles in OLO and in the Tasmanian Times.
Max Atkinson