There is no denying that for a long time, John Howard was a titan in Australian Politics. Whether it was being appointed the youngest Treasurer back in 1977 or his 2 stints as Opposition Leader before winning 4 elections between 1996-2007. Whether it was being the Member for Bennelong for 33 consecutive years before losing his seat in 2007 to Maxine McKew or his strong support for the Australian/US Alliance, Howard played a massive part in how Australia was at that time.
How Australia was at THAT TIME! Those words matter more than ever because unfortunately right now, the Liberal Party has a John Howard problem. This is not to disrespect Howard and what he achieved in politics or indeed how he contributed to the shaping of Australia; this unfortunately is more of a dig at the Liberal Party as it currently stands.
On Saturday 3rd June, I saw a screenshot of an article that he had participated in and my jaw dropped. All I could think is "This was satire" and "Surely this isn't remotely real?" After a little bit of digging, to my absolute horror and astonishment, it wasn't satire and unfortunately, it was very much real.
Here is the offending screenshot in question
Now I'm not going to delve into the article for a couple of reasons. One, the content is so disturbing that reading it might convince me I'm living in an alternative reality. Second, it is so unbelievable that anyone would remotely hold that view at all but sure enough, John Winston Howard holds that view. Lastly, the treatment of Moira Deeming IS NOT the reason the Liberal Party lost Aston. To suggest that is the case is just...so horribly out of touch that it's laughable.
Back to Howard though.
At every election, whether State or Federal, the Liberal Party wheel out John Howard in a bid to convince people to vote Liberal. They get him to campaign on the ground as they did in Kooyong to try and save Josh Frydenburg or they get him to telecall a number of people in various seats across North Sydney and that was just the 2022 Federal Election. They had him visit Victoria in November and New South Wales in March. All 3 elections went ALP! Here's the thing though that the Liberal Party forget and I mean absolutely no disrespect to Howard here either by the way.
Howard is a relic of the past.
Every time they wheel out John Howard to do some campaigning on behalf of the Liberal Party, it is just a reminder to everyone that the Liberal Party are still stuck in the past; where John Howard was revered; where he won 4 elections and are reminding voters that this is a great man.
It doesn't work any more! The electorate is getting younger. The older generations are slowly dying off and the Liberal Party are still wheeling out someone who most of the younger generation have NO TIES TO whatsoever.
The Liberal Party have a John Howard problem because they still rely on him to do some campaigning. The Liberal Party have a John Howard problem because by wheeling him out at various elections, whether State or Federal, they are showing they're still trapped in the past with no plan for the future. The Liberal Party have a John Howard problem because above all, he's 83 years of age and his views are out of touch with the electorate and the direction it's moving.
The Liberal Party above all have a John Howard problem because they have no plan to appeal to younger voters.
Let him retire with dignity and enjoy the last years of his life and come up with a new strategy. The choice is up to the Liberal Party and the next test of this will come in 2024 with both the Northern Territory (August) and Queensland (October) elections. Will they wheel Howard out again or will they go down a different path? The choice is theirs to make!
Comments