Eighty one years ago, then Leader of the Opposition Robert Menzies brought together a coalition of grassroots political organisations and civil society groups to found the Liberal Party of Australia. That moment would change the course of Australian history.
Founded on the enduring Australian values of freedom, aspiration, and enterprise the Liberal Party of Australia sought to cut across the divisions of the past and govern for all Australians.
We succeeded. Despite being Australia’s youngest party of government, the Liberal Party has been its most successful, profoundly shaped Australia to be a stronger, more prosperous and more just society.
Thanks to Liberal leadership, Australians enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world in a safe and tolerant society where there is genuinely shared belief that if you work hard a better life is achievable. Today, that progress is slipping away. A big spending and high taxing Labor Government is once again mortgaging the future of the next generation on our national credit card. Under Labor, Australian enterprise is faltering and home ownership has increasingly become a lottery.
Australia can do better. Under Liberal leadership, it has before. And under Liberal leadership, it will again.
Liberals deliver a stronger economy for all Australians. The Menzies Government built a modern middle Australia with home ownership at its centre. The Howard Government rebuilt it and backed small business, securing prosperity and paying off Labor’s debt. Howard combined steady economic management with nation-changing economic reform through introducing the Goods and Services Tax, creating a fairer tax system.
The Abbott Government cleaned up Labor's mess, repealing Labor’s carbon and mining taxes and began the difficult work of Budget repair which the Turnbull Government followed through.
The Morrison Government guided Australia through a once-in-century pandemic with one of the lowest death rates and strongest economic recoveries in the world, saving millions of businesses and hundreds of thousands of lives. It cut taxes and backed hardworking Australians.
Freer trade is foundational to our movement. Menzies opened post-war trade with Japan and the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments delivered major modern free trade agreements with Japan, Korea, China, and the 11 nations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, giving Australian exporters access to two billion additional consumers.
Liberals keep Australians safe and stand with our allies. The Menzies Government signed the ANZUS treaty with the US, underpinning our national security for 75 years. It pushed back against communist insurgencies in Korea, Malaya, and Vietnam.
Following the Port Arthur massacre in 1996 in the face of fierce opposition, Prime Minister John Howard implemented national gun safety reforms. Howard led a United Nations peace enforcement mission in East Timor in 1999, helping East Timor to achieve independence in 2002. We moved with speed and without hesitation to respond to the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami and led the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands.
The Abbott Government stopped the boats and secured our borders, built new security partnerships with our neighbours, and ensured Australia fought against the barbarity of ISIS. The Turnbull Government led the world in countering foreign interference and protecting critical infrastructure. Building on ANZUS, the Morrison Government secured the AUKUS partnership to deter a new age of military threats.
Liberals built the foundations of modern Australia when our Party stood against racism, supporting migrants and multiculturalism from the start. Robert Menzies was one of the first to call for the abandonment of Australia’s racially discriminatory migration system in 1943.
In the face of racist opposition from the Australian Labor Party and the Trade Union Movement, the Holt Government dismantled the White Australia Policy and Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser worked with the Commonwealth of Nations to fight against apartheid.
From the Fraser Government to the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison Governments, Liberals have always acted with compassion to those seeking sanctuary from regimes to build a better life here in Australia.
We are the party that built modern Australia and we must be a party for modern Australia.
The Liberal Party has always stood for aspirational Australians and for creating the conditions for them to chase their dreams and build the lives they want to live. We are the party of choice.
Millennial and Generation Z Australians face lower living standards, a home ownership lottery and paying off $1.2 trillion of Labor debt. This must sharpen the focus of all Liberals today. Labor should not be allowed to mortgage the future of the next generation because they cannot manage the Federal Budget today.
Menzies talked about the Forgotten People, we need to talk about a Forgotten Generation. Because an entire generation is being left behind by Labor’s failure to responsibly manage the Budget and pay down the national debt.
Now is not a time for the Liberal Party to rest on achievements, because the choices of Australians are being taken away.
Five months ago, our Party suffered its worst defeat in our 81-year history. We didn’t lose because of our values. We lost because we failed to heed them. The values of the Liberal Party are not for changing. We must re-adopt them. Now is a time to reconnect with the Australians with whom we have lost touch, and to develop new policy solutions to the challenges of our time.
The Liberal Party has always succeeded in shaping a better Australia when it has respected, reflected and represented Modern Australians, and when it has backed the aspiration of all Australians. As we mark the anniversary of our party we should draw inspiration in our history of achievement and be guided by our enduring values.
We need a new Liberal agenda, based on our enduring values, that meets this moment.
I am proud to lead a team that is doing the work to deliver just that.