ARTICLE AD BOX
"At this election voters had a choice between Big Government in red, or Big Government in blue.
"Unfortunately, most of our media treats ideology as a one-dimensional line – or horizontal axis – from left to right, typically referring to either economic or social policy positions. They’ve over-simplified it. A more accurate analysis would consider the vertical axis, which typically refers to government control at one end, and political freedom on the other. The simple left-right frame ensures people don’t see, hear or consider the alternative. We’ve got our blinkers on, and now both major Australian political parties sit in the upper quadrants – favouring authority over liberty.
"By ignoring the authoritarian-libertarian spectrum, we’re holding open the gates to barbarians who seek to seize control of an all-powerful state and use it to impose their top-down vision of how we should live our lives. Big Government proponents can hide behind labels like “moderate” or “centrist” if we fail to measure them against the Y axis to determine where they truly sit. ..."Increasingly, both major parties subscribe to the view that more government is the solution to every problem. It’s become the default, it’s reflexive; if there’s a problem, the solution is a new law, a new tax or a new, bureaucratic department. Australia’s political class is united in expanding Canberra’s reach, regardless of the colour of the flag they fly. The result? Uniparty.
"No Liberal Party frontbencher stood up in 2025 to argue that maybe, just maybe, government should do less, spend less, control less.
"We must demand that the authoritarian-libertarian axis be part of the conversation."
~ Steve Holland from his post 'Liberty Can’t Win If It’s Not on the Ballot'
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English (US) ·