The Liberal Party must become more conservative and assertive to win the next federal election, according to Brexit mastermind Nigel Farage.
The former UK politician turned TV host, who brings his speaking tour to Australia next month, believes Scott Morrison was defeated because the Liberals became too moderate and supportive of a big state.
In an interview with Daily Mail Australia, Mr Farage railed against ‘woke’ culture and warned conservative movements in western democracies must stand firm against attempts by the hard-left to ‘destroy everything our countries have ever stood for’.
He described Australia’s reaction to the Covid pandemic as ‘absolutely hysterical’ and warned that ‘uninspiring’ Anthony Albanese will maintain the ‘very, very strong level of big state that exists in Australia’ and do nothing for small businesses.
The Liberal Party must become more conservative and assertive to win the next federal election, according to Brexit mastermind Nigel Farage (pictured)
Since Scott Morrison’s defeat on May 21, the Liberals have been grappling with an internal struggle over how to approach the 2025 election.
Conservatives want the party to move right, present a ‘strong alternative’ and appeal to the outer suburbs and regions – but moderates want a soft touch that embraces climate change action to win back city seats lost to teal independents.
Mr Farage, who successfully campaigned for the UK to leave the European Union as the leader of the UK Independence Party, said the Liberals under Peter Dutton must choose the first option.
‘When conservative parties and movements stop being conservative, they lose elections,’ he said.
‘When they actually become more assertive and more conservative they tend to win.
‘Despite the fact that progressive voices in our capital cities dominate so much of the debate, ordinary folks do not want their kids to be taught to be ashamed of their past, they don’t want society to be more deeply divided.
‘And what conservative parties have to do is to be more assertive.
Taking a swipe at the new Prime Minister (pictured), Mr Farage warned that Mr Albanese’s Labor government will ‘do nothing for free markets and free enterprise’
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Coalition government supported some of the longest lockdowns in the world, banned its own citizens from entering the country, backed crippling state border shutdowns and blew out the national debt to almost $1trillion.
Mr Farage said: ‘In Australia the Liberal Party was in power for quite a long time but they weren’t particularly assertive, they were losing their way, becoming very, very big state and they lost.
‘They weren’t conservative enough and, guess what, they lost.’
When conservative parties and movements stop being conservative, they lose elections
Mr Farage said he understands the challenge posed by the climate conscious teal independents who took six seats from the Liberals in wealthy areas of Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
But he believes Boris Johnson’s landslide election victory in 2019 provides a template for a right-wing victory.
‘Look what happened in 2019 to the British Conservative Party. It was lumbering on, struggling to cope with Brexit and the idea of controlling borders and being tough on immigration,’ he said.
‘But then Boris won the biggest majority the Tories have had for 40 years by being elected as a conservative.’
Mr Farage warned that the Johnson government’s fall in the polls after raising taxes and increasing the national debt to record levels serves as a warning to other centre-right parties.
‘They were elected as conservatives, they governed as progressive liberals and they lost a huge amount of their support. They’ve collapsed as a party,’ he said.
Mr Farage said taking a more conservative position will persuade people who may not otherwise vote to turn up on polling day.
Although Australia has compulsory voting, only 89 per cent of registered voters turned out for the 2022 poll.
By contrast, the turnout for conservative Tony Abbott’s 2013 election landslide was 93 per cent.
Peter Dutton (pictured on election night with his wife) needs to move the Liberals to the right, Mr Farage believes
‘There’s a chunk of people out there who don’t normally vote in elections but it is conservative thoughts and philosophy that can motivate and inspire people to turn up,’ Mr Farage said.
‘And that’s why we got Brexit. The turnout was at least 10 per cent higher than any expert predicted.’
Some 52 per cent of UK voters opted to leave the European Union in 2016, despite all the polls predicting a remain vote. The turnout was a historically high 72 per cent.
Mr Farage will tell his Australian audiences that English speaking democracies all face the challenge of an increasing sensitivity to social issues such as racial and gender equality.
‘The English speaking world, and in particular the Five Eyes group, have an extraordinary amount in common in terms of shared history and culture and the problems that we face,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
Nigel Farage having a pint in 2019
‘Now we are facing an attempt to destroy everything our countries have ever stood for, the history of our nations, an attempt to tell our children that they should be ashamed of our countries, to tell our kids that if they are people of colour they are victims, if they’re white they descendants of oppressors.
‘This hard-left attempt which has dominated our educational establishments has permeated through mainstream media to an extraordinary degree.
‘Words like white privilege I hadn’t even heard of 10 years ago.’
The 58-year-old believes conservatives are facing a ‘battle for the integrity of who we are, what we stand for, our communities, and the Judeo-Christian culture that underpins everything we have built.’
He added: ‘Identity politics is designed to divide communities rather than bring people together.
‘All of us were born equal. Either we treat everybody as equals are we can continue down this disastrous route of treating different people in different ways.’
Taking a swipe at the new Prime Minister, Mr Farage warned that Mr Albanese’s Labor government will ‘do nothing for free markets and free enterprise’.
‘He will maintain the very, very strong level of big state that exists in Australia. The idea that the government knows best and the government is in control,’ he said.
‘I don’t think he’s likely to be a particularly inspiring prime minister.’
In his view, the best way to boost the economy and living standards is by reducing the scale of government intervention.
He praised US President Donald Trump for overseeing ‘supply-side reform, deregulation, wholesale radical reform of the tax system, particularly the corporate tax system.
‘It did lead to an astonishing level of new businesses starting and wealth creation. This stuff works,’ he said.
- Tickets to AN ENTERTAINING EVENING WITH NIGEL FARAGE start at $89 and all details are at www.nigellive.com.au. He will be in Melbourne on September 26, Sydney on September 27 and Brisbane on September 29.
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