WA Liberals leading revolt against 'hollow, ritualistic' Welcome to Country dogma as Michaelia Cash, Andrew Hastie work to make their party relevant again

Sky News AU

2 days ago

The rise of social media has changed the way campaigns are run.
Fewer people are watching free-to-air TV or reading the newspaper.
Most of us now get our news updates on our phones, whether we go looking for them or not.
Before the smartphone became part of everyday life in 2007, politics was something you had to go out of your way to follow.
These days, political memes and videos pop up uninvited into everyone's feeds.
Even folks who've never voted in their life end up seeing political content and forming opinions.
In that sense, the line between politically engaged and disengaged Australians has completely blurred.
Once a meme hits your inbox, you're in the debate whether you like it or not.
That shift has made society more polarised and it cuts across both sides of politics.
It also explains why swings in elections have become bigger and harder to predict.
The old playbook doesn't work like it used to.
That's bad news for pollsters and worse news for major parties that are naturally cautious and don't like rocking the boat.
Into this vacuum have stepped third-party campaign groups.
They don't carry the same baggage as political parties and can push messages in a more direct and unapologetic way.
GetUp on the left and Advance on the right are two good examples.
In 2019, GetUp successfully campaigned to unseat Tony Abbott in Warringah and helped elect Zali Steggall.
In 2023, Advance under the banner of Fair Australia ran the No campaign in the Voice referendum with a resounding win.
Even though the Coalition backed No and Labor backed Yes, it wasn't the major parties doing the heavy lifting.
The No vote went from 60% support in January to 43% by July.
That drop wasn't an accident.
It was smart, targeted, persuasive messaging and it worked.
Yet that referendum result didn't translate into an election win for the Coalition in 2025.
Labor's landslide was powered in large part by progressive social media influencers.
Their messaging was relentless, emotional and effective.
In the same election cycle, groups like Better Australia ran highly effective campaigns that helped win back Goldstein from the Teals and cut the Greens down from four to just one seat in the House of Reps.
If the Liberal Party is to be competitive again, it has to accept this new reality.
That means knowing what we stand for and having the ability to put it plainly and persuasively.
It means running smart, grassroots campaigns based on values that reach people when they're on their phones.
That's the kind of leadership we're seeing from Senate Opposition Leader Michaelia Cash and Andrew Hastie MP.
The Liberals in their home state of Western Australia just passed a set of common-sense policies that reflect where mainstream Australians are on Welcome to Country, the national flag and Net Zero.
The proposal includes reducing Welcome to Country ceremonies and excluding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags from press conferences.
There's nothing wrong with acknowledging Indigenous heritage.
But Welcome to Country has gone well beyond that.
It's become a hollow ritual that is performative, tokenistic and divisive.
A recent Institute of Public Affairs survey found that 56 per cent of Australian respondents were opposed to it.
After all, we are one people, equal under one law, united under one flag.
The Australian flag is the only one worn by our troops in every war.
It's the only one flying over Parliament.
It's the only one Andrew Hastie, a former SAS soldier, was willing to risk his life for.
Having multiple flags at official events undermines that unity.
We can honour our heritage without forgetting who we are as a nation.
It's the same with energy policy.
No one's saying we shouldn't care about the environment.
But there's a big difference between responsible action and blind submission to foreign targets never designed for us.
Australia literally only makes up 1.1 per cent of global emissions.
By contrast, China (30.7 per cent), the United States (12.5 per cent) and India (eight per cent) are responsible for over half the world's total emissions.
Yet none of them are on track to meet Net Zero by 2050.
America has officially pulled out of the Paris Agreement.
China's target is 2060.
India's is 2070.
Yet here we are, tearing down our industries, driving up our power bills and jeopardising our energy security to meet a target that won't shift the global needle in the least little bit.
Worse yet, we're still exporting our coal and LNG to countries who won't meet their own targets.
This makes zero sense.
Australia supplies 25.2 per cent of the world's coal exports and nearly 20 per cent of the world's LNG.
If we disappear from the market, that won't stop global emissions.
It'll just send more demand to suppliers with even lower standards.
Suffice it to say, this isn't climate leadership.
It's economic self-harm.
Australians want lower emissions but not if it means losing their jobs, paying more for electricity or watching our manufacturing base collapse.
We need a smarter approach.
One that balances emissions reduction with energy reliability, cost of living and national security.
We should be backing our strengths: clean coal, gas, uranium and the development of advanced nuclear power.
We should be investing in energy that's both affordable and reliable, not making ourselves weaker just to look virtuous on the world stage.
Remember, the political landscape has changed.
The way we campaign must change with it.
If the Liberal Party stands firm in its values, uses modern platforms effectively and puts its message to everyday Australians plainly, not only will it become relevant again it will lead the future.
We don't just need slogans.
We need spine and proper leadership.
That's what Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash and Andrew Hastie MP are providing at a time when Australia needs it most.
Dr Sherry Sufi is Chairman of the WA Liberal Party's Policy Committee. The views expressed in this article are his own.