The founder of the Liberal party, Robert Menzies, is celebrated because he refused to “split the difference” by compromising on core values of personal responsibility and budget frugality, Tony Abbott has argued.
Abbott made the comments in an opinion piece to mark the 75th anniversary of Menzies’ “Forgotten People” speech, which Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and John Howard will celebrate at an event in Canberra on Monday evening.
Abbott draws implicit comparisons between himself and the Liberal luminary, noting that Menzies was “an ex-prime minister; not without a role ... but most likely without a political future” and advocates an uncompromising approach on core Liberal values.
The piece published in the Australian is the latest salvo in Abbott’s increasingly vocal critique of compromises in the Turnbull government’s 2017 budget. Last week he labelled it a “second best” budget because it raises taxes and said it falls short of the 2014 budget which was the “gold standard” of budget repair.
Abbott has also argued Australia has become “part of the weak government club” because centre-right politicians cannot get their agenda through the Senate.
Abbott argued that great speeches “don’t just speak to their own day” because their values continue to be relevant.
He said the Forgotten People speech “was about the individuals whose efforts, largely unsung, build a country and shape a nation” – middle-class salary-earners and small business owners – who were caught between big business and unions.
“These days, it might be said that [Menzies] was appealing to the middle ground ... But this wasn’t about splitting the difference between two sides and calling it a good compromise.
“A few years later, for instance, the forgotten people didn’t support nationalising just some private banks rather than none of them at all.”
Abbott said that Menzies ascribed “mainstream, decent” values to the Forgotten People which were “always worth standing up for”.
Abbott praised Menzies for standing on principle when “those of his side of politics were at their nadir” and the former prime minister could have “chosen an easier life as a barrister to the big end of town” instead of fighting for the country’s future.
Abbott claimed that given “50% of households pay no net tax” – which is disputed and more accurately estimated to be about a third – Menzies’ criticism of people who moved themselves “on to list of beneficiaries ... from the list of contributors” needed to be revisited.
He said Menzies’ speech showed the need for Liberals to know who they represent – people who “have a go” rather than waiting for others to make things happen – and know what their values are, specifically “frugality and saving”.
“And, third, never shirk a fight in a good cause.
“What would be the point of winning the war, if in the process we lose our character?”
Abbott said that Menzies had continually “stressed the value of the individual and denounced the inroads made on personal responsibility in the name of equality of outcomes”.
“Given the conventional wartime wisdom that the reach of the state was bound to increase, this showed both conviction and courage.”
Abbott said it was “just as well” Menzies had not given up when he was embattled, because the future would vindicate his concerns about “the votes of the thriftless [being] used to defeat the thrifty”.
“That is the point of the Liberal party he founded: to promote individual freedom and personal responsibility and to resist attempts to degrade them.
“Our challenge is to be as indefatigable in these times as he was in his.”
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