This was the Coalition’s Election to Lose.

There was a clear yearning for change, but at the 11th hour the electorate finalized its assessment of the Coalition and Dutton. The Coalitions’ messages were unclear, fumbled and there were too many of them. Nuclear might have been a sign of their willingness to stand by a conviction, but it’s not a clear vote-winner. They offered lots of tweaks, but of all elections, this should have been the immigration election.

One of my criticisms of Australia’s electoral system is that too many issues get bundled into elections. Thank god they happen at least every 3 years.

The ALP’s primary vote rose about 2.3% and yet this resulted in a ‘landslide’. It’s a hollow victory. Labor has won 87 seats on a primary vote of about 34.79%. Compare that to Kevin Rudd’s 2007 win of 83 seats on a primary vote of 43.4%. How skewed is that? In 2016, Bill Shorten got 34.73% of the primary vote and lost to Malcolm Turnbull. That’s a difference of 0.06% between Albo’s win and Shorten’s loss. 4.62 million voted for Labor and 4.23 million voted for the Coalition; a difference of 390,000 votes. Preference flows account for some of this, but it is essentially a consequence of our majoritarian electoral system. Voter turnout is tracking lower this year at 77% than 2022 when it was 89.82% – the lowest since WW1. (Peta Credlin)

We should have citizen-initiated plebiscites that are binding on the government to address important issues like mass immigration that have long been opposed by the majority, if they keep being swept under the carpet. We should also consider proportional representation in the lower house.

The election result is particularly disappointing for anyone concerned about the environment and from a sustainable population perspective.

Some say the Trump victory and his tariffs pushed voters left, as happened in Canada. But Trump isn’t calling for Australia to become the 52nd state. The Canadian result may have given voters impetus to follow suit, but Poillievre was slow to respond to Trump’s overtures.

If it had been me, I’d have invited Mr Trump to join the Commonwealth of Nations and return to the family fold it so impetuously left in a huff in 1776. He can become Prime Minister of the United States with His Majesty King Charles III as its Head of State and Sovereign. The U.S. of A. is like the oldest son who ran away from home and lived a life of an angry young man. It’s high time he came back home to the Imperial family; a grand rapprochement. All will be forgiven. And if he did, he would probably see to it to put an end to the utterly untoward and vulgar screaming from the press corp in the Oval Office. Sheezuz. Uncouth.

But seriously, Poillievre’s stance on immigration was very similar to Dutton’s; moderated numbers that keep the economy’s GDP growing. It is more likely there was a determination to avoid a repeat of the Voice referendum failure. The fact that Dutton did nothing to remind voters of the Prime Minister’s massive failure of judgement then is another blight on his performance.

So what happened?

There is a lot of debate going on about the details of the mistakes the Coalition made. These mistakes may have made a difference, but it is the major mistakes that really matter.

The big question from this result is ‘Why wasn’t it the immigration election?’

“The truth is they lost because they rigged the demographics against themselves, failed to inspire, were guided by wrong-headed Australian political cliches, and selected one of the ugliest men in the world as their figurehead.” The Noticer’s article Why the Liberals Lost doesn’t pull any punches. People don’t like to say it, but a smile that looks natural – however dopey it is on Anthony Albanese – is an advantage. That’s how Scott Morrison won. Sadly, something as cosmetic as that makes a difference to voters who don’t think about policy issues.

It wasn’t the 1.5 million immigrants Anthony Albanese brought in during the past three years who voted against the Liberals, it was the millions of immigrants they brought in themselves while they were in power.

We don’t have detailed breakdowns yet, but there were large swings to Labor in migrant-dominated suburbs. The Liberals failed to win back the Chinese vote, the Indians voted Labor as they always do and always will, and even the Muslims did the same despite efforts within their community to get voters to punish the PM for not being pro-Palestine enough. Probably because the Liberals spent way too much time talking about 0.4% of the population.

Why the Liberals Lost

The Liberals gambled that immigrants are content with their better life here and therefore unlikely to vote for a traditionally progressive party. But it doesn’t take much to swing these naive voters to the other side when one of them looks a bit off, given how similar they are.

Quite rightly, Aussies blame immigration – and Dutton for not singling it out:

The full analysis of voting data is not yet available. But one factor that undoubtedly helped Labor was the record number of citizenship conferrals. As studies have shown that new immigrants overwhelmingly vote for Labor. While these immigrants would have arrived before Albanese’s term, his administration is responsible for approving so many conferrals.

This tactic is blatantly undemocratic: Instead of making policies to win over the citizens, simply flood the country with people who will vote for you. There may be only a few election cycles left before the new arrivals are the majority. As a result, we must increase our efforts to raise awareness before the next election. Today is the first day of our campaign.

If we want to end the treasonous immigration deluge, we must finally stand up for ourselves. To do so, please sign the Zero Immigration Petition, via the following link: https://chng.it/6FgGnR6fKT. And please Like Down Under Reform, to see all posts that can be shared to spread our message, and to stay informed about future protests.

Just yesterday my Korean masseur was telling me how he and his (Korean) partner are hoping to get a PR visa here and how difficult it is to afford a property. He’s interested in training, possibly as a tradie, ‘because there is a skill shortage for building houses.’ He is typical of someone from overseas who absorbs a bare minimum of news from the loudest sources. I asked him if property prices in rural South Korea are dirt cheap like they are in Japan? They are and so I suggested he could buy one, easily get work as a tradie and live in his homeland where he can speak the language fluently and understand the culture and be debt free much earlier. Instead of struggling here, they could raise a child there. It’s curious how people get swept up into a path of greater resistance that’s against their interests. In China, where young people are becoming disillusioned with the competitive city life, some are taking to the countryside and the government is even supporting it. CGTN Europe Why are young people escaping to the countryside?

Will the Coalition’s Failure Be a Right Wing Win In The Long Run?

Some are saying the Coalition’s loss is a good thing. That it needed to fail badly because it was undeserving. A good hefty loss will bring about some truly deserved soul-searching.

Nothing of substance, nothing lasting and nothing of real value to ordinary Australians will come out of the right side of politics until it embraces steady state economics and stands in defence of Australian culture. The Liberal Party is a natural home for this philosophy, at least historically. As the party of the ‘little people in the middle’ (the nation of shop-keepers, as Napoleon called the Brits) representing the entrepreneurs who run small businesses, the Liberal Party is where the suburban, educated (white collar) or skilled (blue collar) and quintessentially Australian majority still reside. The Liberal Party must return to its roots as the party of aspiration for people who want to own a home debt-free and save for retirement, not for those who want to join the ranks of elites.

In order to divide Labor and the Greens, a line in the sand must be drawn. That line is multiculturalism. The Greens are married to promoting an internationalist culture. The ALP not so much. The coalition of numerous parties that have sprung up over the past decade in response the unsatisfactory duopoly are all searching for direction. The new direction they are searching for is post-growth economics and a cultured society. The two compliment each other because a national culture creates a sense of belonging, enriching people’s lives in ways material wealth can’t. The Internationalist culture is bereft of humanity, despite its claim to the contrary. It is rife with hypocrisy, self-congratulatory, self-flagellating virtue-signaling. It won’t take much to undermine it, but it cannot be done by the timid. It must be called out in no uncertain terms. When it is, the left side of politics will be divided, especially Labor, because they still have pretensions to traditional Australian culture as the oldest political party in the country. But they have never been confronted on the issue before.

People First

In Queensland, People First Party made a big impact. In only 5 months, it got a wacking big 5% of the vote in the Senate. That’s only just behind PHON and ahead of ToPs, LCAP and AJP. It is a very good showing, even though Senator Rennick looks like missing out on a Senate seat to Malcolm Roberts. People First is only 5 months old because Gerard Rennick, it’s founder, was not pre-selected by the Liberal Party. He quit and struck out on his own, which didn’t give the party much time. But the campaign was energized and riveting to be a part of.

The way forward is not clear. However, if the Liberal Party reforms itself along the lines I’ve suggested, the British Australian Community could be to it what the Fabian Society is to the Labor Movement. However, BAC limits itself to culture. The Centre for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy should the a reformed Liberal Party’s economic guide.

In 2028 there will be three elections in Queensland: Local elections in March, the Federal election is due in May and the fixed, four-year term of the State government will be due to go to the polls in October.