So this year I attended with high expectations. And yes, I did enjoy the conference weekend, but this year's event was quite different to last year's. One of the main differences was the presence and approachability of politicians and media personalities... or lack thereof. At the '22 event I met and spoke with some of these people and was amazed at just how approachable they were. They are, after all, in a 'safe space' where you can be pretty sure that everyone there is pretty much on the same page when it comes to political philosophy. They sat in the crowd along with us, the great unwashed, mingled in the foyer during breaks, and seemed to be available for, at the minimum, a handshake and G'Day. But at this year's event, they changed the seating arrangements where the speakers were squirrelled away in 'corporate boxes' that demanded a ticket price which is higher in value than my car. Even though I spent more than a mortgage payment on my particular ticket, I did not get to converse with any of the speakers. Even at the Gala Dinner, where last year I believe that speakers were split up on to separate tables, I was not able to meet any. We'll get back to this point later.
Now, whilst it is not my intention to write a review of the event itself, I'd like to briefly reflect upon a couple of the key points raised by some of the speakers.
Tony Abbott, 28th Australian Prime Minister was a keynote speaker. Mr Abbott proved popular at CPAC with the crowd rising to it's feet upon his arrival. His message was not dissimilar to last year's, mainly calling for Liberal Party voters to "keep the faith", and instructed that the only way to defeat Labor/Greens/Teals coalition at the next election was to vote Liberal or Nationals.
Sitting MP Ted O'Brien spoke about Net Zero and the need for nuclear power production in Australia.
Hon Barnaby Joyce spoke in his usual affable style, calling upon the crowd to join him in pushing back against the Net Zero nightmare.
Senator Alex Antic, (one of only a handful of sitting politicians who are worth their salt in my opinion), spoke out against censorship and the Albanese Government's "misinformation laws". Mr Antic is 100% correct in his condemnation of the proposed censorship laws, and really had the crowd on side. Even though he might have forgotten to mention that the laws were initially a Morrison Government idea!
Professor Ian Plimer is always great to listen to and was a highlight of the event. He is highly intelligent, informed and researched, not afraid to speak his mind, and always entertaining. He has a great laid-back "bushie" style about him, including the larrican sense of humour. I spoke with Professor Plimer while he graciously signed my copy of his book "Green Murder" and found him to be humble, interested, observant and funny.
Mr Tal Tsfany from the Ayn Rand Institute was a surprising inclusion. His thoughts and statements were far more Libertarian than, well, than I am, that's for sure. And possibly more than most of the audience. But Conservatism does blend into Libertarianism on some points and all of his points were considered and thought-provoking.
And then there was another highlighted speaker, Mr Allan Jones. Hearing Mr Jones speak is worth the price of admission alone. I don't have to tell you who he is. Love him, or hate him, (most people fall into one of those extreme categories) Allan Jones is an amazing oritor. His talks are always researched, referenced, concise, factual and entertaining. He spoke about many topics, And he spoke (as he did last year) straight to me (and I suspect many others there) when he discussed the "thousands of conservative voters looking for a home". These people have traditionally been Liberal or Nationals voters who feel let down by conservative governments and oppositions, especially over the last three or four years.
The Liberal party in particular bangs on about their beliefs. Seemingly, each one of those beliefs being abandoned in recent times. Not that the Liberals realise that.
Mr Jones is correct in his summation that there are thousands of conservative voters looking for someone to rest their vote with. I would say that everyone I spoke to during the weekend (and I spoke to two or three different people every break and at the end of the day- around twenty or thirty strangers) all agreed on several points. Points also made by Mr Jones, namely being
* The disastrous Turnbull leadership coup
* The Morrison era of leaderless reactionary politics and Twitter policy guidance
* The impotence (or willful blindness) of the Morrison government during covid
* The abandonment of sensible fiscal policy by federal and state governments and their oppositions
* The expensive folly that is Net Zero
If the Liberal party was serious about finding it's way, changing direction, and bringing the conservative vote back, what better place to learn what the grassroots supporters think than at CPAC? Every conservative politician, as a speaker or not, should have been there. They need to sit in the cheap seats and talk to the punters who care enough to buy an expensive ticket and travel from all over the country. Talk to the potential voters who at considerable cost to their time and finances make the effort to attend and absolutely love being a part of our democracy.
My message to the Liberal and National party politicians and leaders is this: Forget the focus groups and Twitter summaries. Go to CPAC. Not to speak to the crowd, but to listen to it. Listen to the everyday conservatives who want to vote for a strong conservative party. Then watch things turn around.
With one more CPAC before the next federal election, I doubt that they will learn and take positive action before then. But maybe the one after?
One thing seems certain. Nothing will change until we change the way we vote.
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