Scarcely a day goes by without a new headline proclaiming what a terrible mess the Liberal Party is in, invariably fed by Liberals reaching deep into the trove of cliches to dramatise the party’s problems: “train wreck”, “clown show”, “existential crisis”.
No wonder Sussan Ley – a decent and rational politician trying desperately to reconnect the party with mainstream Australia – is struggling to get clear air. While a period of introspection following the party’s worst electoral defeat is inevitable and necessary, as Senator James Paterson has wisely observed, it must not go on for too long.
Now, the contagion has spread to the National Party, with the latest twist in Barnaby Joyce’s picaresque career.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli, Nationals defector Barnaby Joyce, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and Liberal MP Andrew Hastie.Credit: Nine
Rather than indulge in endless self-laceration, a much more useful way for federal Liberals to address the party’s failure would be to learn from where it has succeeded. Because amid the generally bleak political landscape, there are success stories as well. The most obvious is the Queensland Premier David Crisafulli, elected a year ago yesterday.
Who would have thought that, at a time of such woe, the country’s most popular political leader would be a Liberal? (He is, strictly speaking, a Liberal National, under the merged structure in Queensland.) A Redbridge poll comparing the approval ratings of all premiers put Crisafulli in a strong first place, with a net favourability of +29, 10 points ahead of Labor’s perennially popular South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas (+19). His personal ratings are streets ahead of Anthony Albanese’s; although the prime minister has had a good few weeks, the most recent Newspoll has his net approval at -1.
Lately, the LNP’s numbers have fallen, no doubt as a result of electoral backwash from the federal coalition’s divisions; nevertheless Crisafulli personally remains in a commanding position. Why is he so successful?
Part of the reason is undoubtedly Crisafulli himself: young, articulate, whip-smart, straightforward, immensely hardworking and – a relatively rare quality among political leaders – humble. He doesn’t strike poses and he doesn’t play games. What you see is what you get, and the Queensland public very much likes what it sees.
David Crisafulli is young, articulate, immensely hardworking and humble.Credit: Jamila Filippone
The timing worked for him. Labor had governed Queensland for all but seven of the past 35 years. It gave the state several strong premiers: Wayne Goss, Peter Beattie and Anna Bligh. Annastacia Palasczuk was likeable and decent. But eventually, Labor ran out of talent.
