Max Payne
Husband, Christian, libertarian, trader, elections analyst, writer and gardener.
For a long time the Victorian Liberal Party has been dominated by its moderate leadership team, an unfortunate mix of spinelessness and incompetence. So now, not only does the party lack a realistic path to electoral victory, but its internal struggles have deprived it of the strength to take on Labor. The defeats of 1999 and 2014 similarly depleted the courage of the party room to take sensible, genuine reform to the polls.
But perhaps this is all about to change. Suburban ex-cop Brad Battin is now at the helm, Moira Deeming has re-entered the fray, and the appetite for change in Victoria hasn’t been this high for a long time.
The Liberals have a serious hill to climb if they are to form government in 2026 – Labor’s gains in their eastern and inner-city heartland have left them with only a very narrow pathway through ancestral Labor territory in the outer suburbs. Matthew Guy’s Liberals twice failed the authenticity and competence test with the Victorian people, so it’s important that Battin’s Blues don’t fail a third time by promising a big spending infrastructure agenda. With the support of Peter Dutton, the Victorian Liberals must unify behind Battin and commit to a principled platform and strategy to win government.
It really would be saying something to assume the Victorian Liberals will form government late next year.
Basic service delivery, road maintenance, sensible budgets and the restoration of freedom and prosperity to this once great state lies at the centre of a potential Liberal victory. As such, I have drafted a libertarian wish list of policy items that Battin’s Blues can take to the polls next year to make life a little easier for all Victorians.
- Reverse the state-wide bans on nuclear power and uranium mining, whilst also simplifying the planning process for mineral sands and rare earth mines. It’s time Victoria took its place as a key supplier of rare earth minerals that are critical to developing tech industries.
- End the futile and maniacal war on the natural gas industry by re-enabling gas exploration and extraction and restoring mains gas connections to new buildings. The industry needs certainty regarding its indispensable role in our current and future energy needs.
- Unlock the bush! The state government is a neglectful manager of bushland, resulting in an accumulation of weeds and fuel loads. Worse still, they seek to lock out users, with the native logging industry and Mt Arapiles climbing bans threatening livelihoods and local economies.
- Commit to reductions and eventual abolition of stamp duty and payroll tax. While this will make budget repair a challenge, Battin’s Blues need to understand that a flourishing state economy cannot be built on a punitive tax system.
- Abandon large wasteful infrastructure projects that drive building-cost inflation, empower corrupt unions and which have business cases that simply don’t stack up.
- Commit to large and ongoing reductions in the public service wage bill – which has seen drastic rises over recent years for very little (if any) benefit to Victorians.
- Reduce property taxes and business red-tape – Victoria should be a sought-after destination for investment and development, not a place investors and entrepreneurs flee!
It’s time Victoria took its place as a key supplier of rare earth minerals that are critical to developing tech industries.
It really would be saying something to assume the Victorian Liberals will form government late next year, and perhaps even less likely that they will adopt these policies. However, if Battin can successfully shift the powerbase of the Liberals from the inner suburbs to the outer suburbs and regions, while libertarian forces inside and outside the party continue to increase their influence, we might just see some genuine progress.
For the author’s video analysis on a potential pathway to Liberal victory in 2026, see here.
This article was originally published by Liberty Itch.
