Democracy undermined: South Australia is like a one party state

Of course, exacerbating the Liberals’ woes in South Australia and across Australia, making them less able to rebound from such election losses, has been their gradual disconnect from community and cultural groups, universities, the professions, key interest groups and other key institutions. Consequently, Liberals have been less able to seek wider support for ideas, funding and recruits. The party of the establishment has become increasingly disestablished.

In South Australia, good government and some form of accountability no longer depend on an effective opposition because there isn’t one. Long-running Liberal ineptness and One Nation opportunism have seen to that.

Rather, good government for some time will depend on the restraint and good sense of the incumbent and the now entrenched Malinauskas government of sticking to the basics of what people need and avoiding the ideological excesses of its counterpart in Victoria. It’s a big ask.

So, the challenge for Liberals everywhere, but especially federally, for not just its very survival but more importantly for the robustness of our democracy, is how One Nation can be neutralised and effective opposition restored.

First, Liberals must avoid making One Nation their prime policy reference point in trying to match or copy their populist policy pitches. That is too narrow, too reactive, too simplistic, and threatens Liberals’ internal stability and need for a broader policy appeal for real electoral success.

Certainly, some of One Nation’s concerns are legitimate and need to be addressed, but that must be in terms of attacking the flaws of the Liberals’ prime opponent, the Labor Party, which, after all, has been the cause of many of these policy concerns. Only in this way can Liberals win office.