Thursday, September 24, 2015

The Liberal Party of Australia should re-brand itself as the “Conservative Party”

There is no denying that the government’s stance on marriage equality violates the very principles which gave the Liberal Party its name and its purpose.

The core values that the Liberal Party purports to stand for are stated clearly in the “Our Beliefs” section on the Liberal Party website.

Here’s how that section opens:

"We believe in the inalienable rights and freedoms of all peoples; and we work towards a lean government that minimises interference in our daily lives."

Here's another line from the same mission statement:

"We believe in those most basic freedoms of parliamentary democracy - the freedom of thought, worship, speech and association."

There’s also:

"We believe in equal opportunity for all Australians."

And the statement concludes:

"In short, we simply believe in individual freedom... and if you share this belief, then ours is the Party for you."

Yet the self-proclaimed party of individual freedom won’t allow a conscience vote among its own elected members as to whether people can marry whomever they choose.

Freedom schmeedom, eh? The Liberal Party - a party which talks the talk of revering individual rights and freedoms, but which doesn’t walk the walk.

Irrespective of whether you approve or not, it is not the government's business to restrict people from a public commitment of love.

Liberalism, or libertarianism (the philosophy underpinning the Liberal Party) is a set of beliefs that goes all the way back to English philosopher John Stuart Mill. Tony Abbott and Australia’s previous Liberal Party Prime Minister John Howard have both expressed their admiration for Mill over the years. Mill’s seminal work was entitled On Liberty. In it, he produced a famous, oft-quoted line which goes like this “The only purpose for which the power of the government can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.” So why should the Australian government intervene when no one stands to be harmed by marriage equality?

One can only assume that the contradictory philosophical stance is a result of religious conservatives who believe they own the institution of marriage and therefore have a right to protect that vision. That’s why he says the Liberal Party of Australia should in all honesty and openness re-brand itself as the “Conservative Party”.

There’s one further irony in all of this. True to his non-intrusionist business philosophies, Tony Abbott is always promising to remove business red tape in the name of job creation and prosperity. Imagine  if he removed the rainbow tape preventing gay marriage. Imagine how many cake makers, tailors, dressmakers, celebrants, florists and reception centres would benefit.