I mentioned in a previous column how I live in probably the greenest part of Australia – surrounded by political representatives of the Greens at both local, state, and federal level.
The Governor of Queensland, Jeannette Young also lives a stone’s throw away.
The ‘Liberal Party’ brand, you will not be surprised to learn, is not popular in these parts. Trying to market a Tony Abbott or a Peter Dutton is a bit like selling KFC to Gwyneth Paltrow. Similarly, those picking up their free-range eggs and natural soaps at the local farmers’ market would not, in a million years, describe themselves as fans of ‘Trump’ or ‘MAGA’.
Yet scratch the surface you can clearly identify support for the interesting political coalition that made the unlikely New York real estate developer and reality TV star President.
Take his approach to foreign policy. Trump famously broke with previous centre-right orthodoxy when he declared the invasion of Iraq ‘the single worst decision ever made’, and that it was like ‘throwing a big fat brick into a hornet’s nest’. He has been very critical of neoconservatives, the ‘war of terror’, and the ‘forever wars’ of the last 30 years.
This is rhetoric that left-wing anti-war types used to employ. It is not how Howard-era ministers talk, who can often sound like spokespeople for Raytheon or Lockheed Martin.
Trump’s current director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, is a former Democrat from very progressive Hawaii. She would fit in among the crowd picking up their artisanal cheeses. She is also served in Iraq. Like other veterans of that conflict who now hold power in the White House such as Vice President JD Vance, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, she has almost barely concealed contempt for the age of George W Bush.
Another former Democrat, RFK Jr, now occupies the most senior Cabinet-level position for health policy in the United States. His ‘Make America Healthy Again’ agenda was an interesting addition to the Trump 2024 campaign and was a hit among wellness-focused suburban mums and young women. Gwyneth Paltrow was a MAHA fan and there is support among inner city Australian ‘Teal’ yoga babes as well.
You don’t have to agree with all Kennedy’s positions to concede that Big Pharma, public health institutions, and the processed food industry needs additional scrutiny. In Australia, many medical associations struggle to even define biological sex. They still promote the obesity causing carb-heavy ‘food pyramid’. They enforced all sorts of cruel and capricious edicts, which they now admit were not back by science.
Unlikely alliances that can be formed here. For example, Senator Matt Canavan likes to recount that Green-voting café owners used to shout him coffee because of his stance against the mandates. Not all at the Sunday market would be fans the former Covid lockdown Queen living up the road. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
There are other areas where there is surprising alignment with the positions if not the personality of The Very Bad Orange Man.
Yes, discussion of ‘tariffs’ induces nervousness. Yet over an ethically sourced coffee you can have very thoughtful conversations about ‘fair trade’ and what our agreements with China and others should look like. These discussions are generally far better than the doctrinaire pronouncements that come out of Australia’s legacy ‘classical liberal’ think tanks.
There is also much common ground to be found fighting against commercial interests which would destroy the character and community of neighbourhoods with endless high-rise flats. Conservative thinkers like Roger Scruton and left-leaning ones like Ralph Nader might be on a unity ticket on this point.
Even on that thorny subject of immigration it should not be assumed there is not a receptive audience among notionally left-leaning voters.
Like Trump, the self-declared socialist candidate Bernie Sanders was against mass immigration declaring that: ‘What right wing people in this country would love is an open-border policy. Bring in all kinds of people work for 2 or 3 dollars an hour, that would be great for them. I don’t believe in that.’
An increasing number of polls show that women also do not believe immigration is good for the country. Inner city women don’t want to hear from people called ‘Donald’ or ‘Pauline’ on the subject. But there is no reason they would not be open to a sensible pitch from, say, a well-presented and thoughtful former SAS solider from Perth.
The American conservative writer, Rod Dreher, in the early 2000s had a best-selling book about what he termed the ‘Crunchy Cons’. In it he described the overlap between traditionalist ‘Birkenstocked Burkean’ conservatives and certain elements of anti-corporate left. That constituency still exists and was significant in the last Presidential election. It is also present in Australia as well.
The centre-right in Australia urgently needs a rebrand and a rethink. It has not undertaken the change in style and substance that has gone on in the US and elsewhere. There are some areas that are ripe for a rethink. A new winning coalition will require more than simply putting Scott Morrison in a dress.
Dan Ryan is Executive Director of the National Conservative Institute of Australia
