Quick Thoughts on the Australian State of Play

Things are going from bad to worse for the conservatives:

OK, this will be a rather short article – at least for my website. It might in part just be a matter of me letting off a bit of steam. But given the current political state of play, one can more or less accurately present these brief thoughts and ruminations, especially in light of how the Liberal/National Party has been acting of late.

And it all centres on the recent trifecta of massive conservative losses, culminating in today’s vote to make the leftist Sussan Ley the leader of the Liberals. Ley had said this: “My election as leader of the Liberal Party would send a very strong signal that we understand that things must be done ­differently.”

Let me decode that for you: it of course means one thing only: moving even further to the left! And that means one more crystal-clear thing: remaining in the political wilderness for years to come. Why in the world would anyone want to run with a leftist lite party when they can have the real thing?

As former Liberal Party member Bernie Finn just put it: “So much excitement about the first female leader of the Federal Liberal Party – but how many of her colleagues can publicly tell us what a woman is? Can she??”

Here then is current state of play in a nutshell:

Lose an unlosable election – check
Elect Littleproud as Nats leader – check
Elect Ley as Lib leader – check
The Federal Coalition is now officially dead – check

Good grief. It seems to be as damaging as it can be. Talk about self-inflicted wounds. Talk about imploding as a party. Talk about committing hari-kari. Talk about a left-leaning death wish. The mind reels at all these self-inflicted wounds, many of them potentially terminal. Whither the Liberals and Nationals?!

If committed Christians and conservatives leave the LNP in droves, that would perhaps be the wisest thing to do. It is clearly time to create a new and genuine conservative political party in Australia. With all the disaffected LNP folks, along with so many from the smaller freedom, faith and family parties, there would be a good solid base to begin with.

Of course it is possible that some conservative Christians will choose to remain in the LNP. If they really feel this is what God wants them to do after much prayer and thought, I will not begrudge them. There can be a time and place to stay in a sinking ship and work to prevent the complete loss of life and limb. But these folks will have a massive job on their hands.

Whenever things seem to go from bad to worse, conservatives and Christians will chat among themselves as to whether there is anywhere else they can go in these dark and discouraging times. Some countries such as Hungary and the like might be a final safe haven for such folks. And with the loony left and the Dems on the back foot, moving back to America could be a very wise move right now. After all, one has to wonder if Labor is set to govern from now to eternity!

Oh, and in case you are wondering, the photo I have selected to adorn this piece is an actual photo of the Coalition as we speak. I do not see it lasting a whole lot longer. It really seems to be on its last legs.

But…

Obviously a bit of humour and a bit of sadness and grief is what the first half of this piece is all about. I am just left shaking my head at how things can just keep getting worse for a once great political party. It is never easy watching a party commit suicide right before your very eyes.

But it is exactly because I am a Christian that I know that this is not the end of all things. It may well be the end of Australia as we know it. Unless some mega-miracles start happening, and really quick, this nation seems to be toast. But because God is on the throne, we need not give way to full-blown despair and hopelessness.

Yes, Australia is in a real mess right now, but things CAN turn around if God thinks this country still has a future. But it will take a whole lot more work and prayer and repentance from God’s people – that’s for sure.

Given that I interrupted another article that I was planning to post today, one that featured the late, great Francis Schaeffer and others lamenting the sad state of the West today, let me feature one important quote of his. He said this in Death in the City:

Do not take this lightly! It is a horrible thing for a man like myself to look back and see my country and my culture go down the drain in my own lifetime. It is a horrible thing that forty years ago you could move across this country and almost everyone, even non-Christians, would have known what the gospel was. A horrible thing that thirty to forty years ago our culture was built on the Christian consensus and now we are in an absolute minority.

Yes that is the attitude we need here. Too many Christians are too cavalier about what is happening in this country and in the West. That should not be the case. We should grieve over what we see happening. We should not only be praying more, but we should be acting as real salt and light in our culture – and that includes being politically aware and involved.

Speaking of which, there are some political alternatives. As I say, perhaps forming a new conservative party is the way to go. Or it might mean getting involved in smaller parties that are clearly not going to go woke anytime soon. Consider what the head of Family First, Lyle Shelton just said online:

The Coalition has rejected Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Matt Canavan in favour of Labor/Teal-lite politicians Sussan Ley and David Littleproud.

Disillusioned Liberals and Nationals are more than welcome at Family First.

We know net zero is cost-of-living self-harm, we know what a woman is and we are fighting for freedom of speech and religion.

We are the true party of hope!

Yes, that is one solid option, and there would be others. But as discouraging as things look right now in Australia there are many committed Christians and conservatives who will keep on fighting for a better Australia and a better future. At the very least, all believers should be praying for these champions. And getting on board in one way or another would be another positive option.

If Australia still has any sort of viable future, it will clearly have to be the work of God. Most politicians and political parties keep letting us down. Our only real hope is to get on our faces before God, humble ourselves and pray, and in faith and repentance turn back to God before it is too late.

And that should sound quite familiar: “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

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