I find it difficult to understand all the hand-wringing that has been going on over the on-again-off-again split in the Coalition in the wake of the Federal Election.
The Liberals and the Nationals claim to be two separate
parties, both on the conservative side of politics, so why don’t they behave as
such?
In virtually every Westminster-style democracy, from New
Zealand to Norway, parties contest elections individually and when the result
is known go about the business of forming a Government.
In Denmark the system is so ingrained, and an outright winner so
unlikely, that accommodation is set aside for the various party leaders to go
into negotiations as soon as the poll results are known.
Some years ago the Nationals changed their name from the Country
Party, presumably to broaden their appeal in non-rural and regional areas and
give conservative voters in suburban and metropolitan seats a choice.
So what happened to that? Why have the two parties remained
welded onto each other when it has been made clear in the past few days there
are policy differences between them?
Under the Australian political system, there is nothing to
prevent the two conservative parties running separate campaigns at election time
while preferencing each other.
An election where the conservative side of politics is the
overall winner, but with no party having an outright majority, would be the time
for coalition negotiations.
Otherwise, there is no point in having two parties on the
right. Let them amalgamate, as has happened in the Northern Territory and
Queensland, and spare us this political circus.
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