If conservatives really wish for a future outside of the grey greedy minority, perhaps they should acknowledge the younger generation as actually existing

Wow five pages to say nothing, I think the Author needs to have a good look at his speech and recognize that he is the very embodiment of why the two major parties are on the nose.

A vague hand waving at taxes and a little rise up about 18C and the usual look at the evil lefties and that's about it.

Looking at his resume shows that he is currently part of the Baird government, well get on with it son, all talk and no action is the problem.

There is no such thing, any longer, as traditional conservatism in Australia. Both major parties are of the left - it is impossible to tell them apart- so there is nothing to disrupt. The ALP, with the conivance of the Greens, is hard Left; the Coalition is soft Left.

The only group showing any fight against the left today is the 'alt-right'. While the racism of the 'alt-right' may be too much for some, they are the only group vigorously defending and promoting the achievements of Western civilisation/culture. Not only that, they are very aggressive toward the left. This is exactly what is required. 'Conservatives', as the author points out, have been too timid in dealing with the left, and continue to be too timid. The 'alt-right' is now the spiritual beacon of Western civilisation.

It must be April Fools Day!
I see that Dominic is probably a member of that charming deeply misogynist, and elitist outfit opus dei. The dark activities of which are described here: http://www.odan.org
Also google the title: 10 Shocking Truths About opus dei.

Conservatives lost the plot when they established 'small government'.. Ragan/Thatcher.

They abandoned support for the people and stopped keeping the Bastards honest.They were also hijacked by the religious minority.

I cannot see the far right 'Conservatives' surviving They will either leave the Liberal Party and then become yet another 'Family First ' with little support... or .. they will take over the Liberal Party.

If that happened, then the Liberals would wither and die. They would then be overtaken by a true centralist Party.

This 'centralist' party may even presently exist , to be morphed into that new Party.. who knows.

Whatever the case, The type of Far Right Religious "Conservative" cause being pushed by Bernardi /Christensen and Abetz will always be a poorly supported fringe group by the Voters.

There is no such thing as a conservative party in Australia. There has been no such thing since the Howard government, and even Howard was madly spending taxpayers' money to get votes before his demise. Government is getting bigger and more expensive; the current one is outspending Labor. Government no longer has much to do with the country or its people - it is all for the benefit of a distinct political class and their cronies. We are getting closer to the Third World at every election.

Keeping in mind that fact that Jesus was scathingly critical of the ecclesiastical establishment in his time and place, and the fact that opus dei is now very much a part of the "catholic" ecclesiastical establishment ( via a process facilitated by the popes JPII and Benedict), and referring to the essay 10 Shocking opus dei Controversies, I wonder what Jesus would have to say about opus dei if he happened to re-appear again as a living-breathing-felling human being.

According to "catholic" doctrine we are all corrupt fallen sinners, even intrinsically tainted by "original sin".
Can therefore, any sinner or collection of obvious sinners as the opus dei operatives possibly do the "work of 'god'".

I will vote for any party that promises to abandon its ideology and provide the best possible solutions to the problems that exist at the time of its election, based on the best possible evidence. This will entail:

* Commissioning expert and unbiased research into what needs to be done, and acting on the results, not ignoring them.

* Explaining clearly to the electorate why some of their demands cannot be fulfilled with the resources that are available.

* Acting on the assumption that their goal is to improve life for Australian residents, not to gain re-election. (How many more Prime Ministers will we have to sack before we manage to get this across?)

But as long as people like Dominic go rabbiting on about 'values' and 'ideals', I know I am going to get ineffective leaders. I don't want leaders who believe in what they believe in because they believe in it; I want them to have genuine reasons.

This is a good example of the confusion and self-contradiction of the conservatives which makes them only Left Lite.

How can the conservatives have a revival when they believe so much in common with the left? For example:
- government "managing" the economy
- the compulsory government indoctrination of the entire population during their formative years, funded by threats of prison and rape
- government monopolisation of the supply of money and credit
- permanent government inflation of the money supply
- criminalisation of employment at market rates
- criminalisation of trade with other countries except on terms dictated by government
- governmental registration of sexual relations
- a permanent forced negative eugenics program by which the productive classes are persecuted and stolen from to pay people not to work and have babies at public expense
- importing people who oppose western culture and make no secret of their desire to end it
and so on and on and on.

The fact is, that the far left and conservatives have far more in common with each other, than either has with libertarians, who genuinely value human freedom, and are the only ones not caught in perpetual self-contradiction.

What form exactly would a "conservative spring" take? More of the same? Or abrogating their core beliefs? The author doesn't say, because he himself doesn't know.

Mr Menzies, a true liberal, actually got just who creates all our wealth! These folk remain the forgotten people or worse, the endlessly exploited and sold down the river people!

True conservatives, the parasite class, in my opinion, who rather than build a nation and wealth, seek only to quarantine the wealth created by the hands and minds of the other, for pure self interest, self aggrandizement?

We don't need conservative spring, just spring clean to rid ourselves of this self serving Benedict Arnold element!

The good book says, so I'm reliably informed. So as you do unto the least among you, so also do you do unto me!

The simple truth is, if our policies are designed to power lift the lowest, then all those currently above will have to move up the rungs of the socioeconomic ladder, to make room for those climbing from below. [Spring up, (you're standing on my hand again Mr Bligh,) theory!)

Simply put, we don't need a pool of poverty or postcode poverty traps, nor a pool of unemployed/underemployed! (telegraph/horse and cart thinking/ideology) Nor do we need to work harder, just smarter and more productively; and for ourselves, rather than the debt laden speculators we welcome with open arms as investors or our economic saviors!

When they are little more the the purveyor's of the emperor's new clothes, using diabolically dumb conservatives to take what we have, or build, or own.

Leaving us as (MILKED TO THE VERY LAST DROP) tenants in our own land, working for virtual slave wages! Like some of our better off Dairy Farmers! Conservative inspired arranged and organized Deregulation! Worked well didn't it?

[Co-ops and a floor price was old and antiquated and although apparently working and keeping many towns alive and well, needed to be changed, to clean the blue collar element out?]

We need a liberal spring or a truth and reconciliation spring! Not more of the, we know best BS, or he, (businessman and fiscal conservative) who must be Obied! One or two new ideas, (a novel new experience) wouldn't hurt either!
Alan B.

why do we need a conservative spring? Lets see

gw charlatons, human Rights lawyers, mass butchering of unborn, perverts invading education system, attack on fatherhood, signing up with unelected bigotted bodies like the UN, to counter failed marxism, and ever growing size of public service, stop us from regressing to dark age, return some credibility to the total corruption of science (pseudo science), maybe restore some power to South Australia (ha ha), allow farmers to manage own land, stop dividing nation by races, stop importing terrorist and those who hate us, stop dumbing people down as clearly evidenced by getup crowd, do away with the marxist billion dollar abc/sbs

why do we need a conservative spring? Pretty obvious!

Anyone who disagrees with runner, the most educated and erudite poster on this site. Has to be so far to the left, to be over the horizon!

Ve need a var of ideas between zem an dus so that ve vin and dey loze! Und obviously zo, given ve don't hafe enough to go around!

Ve need to abolish ze maxist ABC, execute ze obviously left wing imbeciles in charge. Ve need to abolish free health und education, free to air television, big bash (rebel) cricket, (costs a fortune) und all velfare! Vith all zat gone none of us vill need to pay any tax!

Leaving zem, ze homeless, ze penniless, ze unemployed, ze disabled, ze old and infirm, to get a job und pay dear vay! All ze turd burglars und non conforming ethnics, need to be rounded up to face a firing squad at dawn! Jawohl, Herr Runner?
Alan B.

and if you Alan B are an example of the educated it is clear exactly why the swamp needs to be emptied.

Ahhhh Dominic, poor chap, you really don't get it: only the simple-minded would confuse a "...warning shot across the bow...." with a full on broadside (from the electorate); but there you go, on and on, (as Jon J) says: "...rabbiting on about 'values' and 'ideals',".

Oh, and BTW, I see you have jumped on the bandwagon of complaints about section 18c; how convenient for you. This has been the law in Australia for 21 years. In case you have forgotten Dominic, the Commonwealth Racial Hatred Act (1995) extended the 1975 Racial Discrimination Act essentially to allow people to complain about those matters now set out in section 18c.

Perhaps you would be kind enough to allow us to see your criticisms (both within and without Parliament) over that time.

I think Pauline Hanson needs to liaise with some talented like-minded reporters and video editors, and launch a kickstarter campaign to form an independent right wing media organisation for Australia.

She could do just as much or more creating a media platform to give those Aussies who support her a voice as much what she will be able to do on her own without it.

We need new right conservative media in this country with enough resources to do real investigative journalism.
Now is the time; this would be a game changer, in my opinion.

The usual confused lament from a so-called Liberal, where he largely defines conservatism by what it isn't. "I believe our problems start with a lack of clarity about our purpose", after which he launches straight into a critique of the "left", and what a straw man that is - "They are motivated now by a burning hostility to our culture and heritage." I can't think of more centrist politicians than Bill Shorten and Luke Foley, those who seek to govern in place of the LNP federally and in NSW. They both support neo-liberal economic policies and are not about to usher in the revolution. It just shows how fanciful Perrottet's thinking is.

Apparently, "It's no coincidence they want to redesign our flag, rewrite our anthem, remove ANZAC Day, replace our constitution, repudiate our Judeo-Christian heritage and rename our national day." It is an indulgence on the part of Perrottet to say that these pseudo issues are of concern to the average Australian. None of his "agenda" actually addresses any of the real and pressing issues that face Australia, in particular the pernicious effect that under/unemployment has at an individual and community level; the need for industry restructuring; and providing education and training suitable for the jobs and industries of the future. The problem with conservatives such as Perrottet is that they believe that pursuing their various hobby horses such as 18C, safe schools and "political correctness" constitutes an agenda that addresses the myriad of issues that threaten the sort of Australia that they actually seek.
He doesn't even get the significance of what Teresa May said, "it's time we conservatives started talking about the good that governments can do". That is quite a departure from Thatcherism where "government is the problem".
If Perrottet wants to advance conservatism in Australia he will have to do more than mouth platitudes and construct straw men of the "left".

Yes Ralph! And time some of these locked and bolted minds looked at the historical and patently undeniable evidence!

Reagan, held up as the pinnacle of conservative perfection? Ran one of the largest tax collecting governments all while pushing an entirely ignored deficit into new record territory?

Moreover, his legacy includes a basic wage that virtually stagnated for nigh on thirty years.Plus, the highest health care costs in the world, and the largest pool of uninsured 40%+ anywhere in the so called developed world! With the affected finally saying, a bridge too far! Then voting for a thrice times two bankrupt businessman, who has never ever been a accountable to a board nor his creditors; and if true to form, will likely push it far further?

Simply put, building a wealthy economy, is like building a great cathedral, from the bottom on a strong foundation and good functional design!

Not from the top, supported by little more than a wing and a prayer! Or failed, flawed, irrational, illogical, ideological imperatives. Or make it up as we go along, hoping nobody will notice?.

Shrink the pie and all you get are smaller shares, or a smaller cohort of pie eaters!

These folk remind me of those in your face, motor mouth Scientologists, screaming invective laden diatribes, so they just can't hear anything else than their brain washed from birth BS! And if you do manage to penetrate the reinforced concrete merely masquerading as a mind? You're just loony lefties!

And it's these same cloud cuckoo conservatives, who want to run the country and impose failed Reaganomics on us again!
Alan B.