When the founder of the Liberal Party, Sir Robert Menzies said –

“As the etymology of our name ‘Liberal’ indicates, we have stood for freedom … believing in the individual….We have realised that men and women are not just ciphers in a calculation, but are individual human beings … (and) to protect the individual from oppression….”

he may have assumed that his members would be free to make their own individual choice, that they would not be used as ciphers by political bully-boys and that their individuality would not be circumscribed by the ego and ambition of others.

The modern incarnation of the Liberal Party is as far from its roots as the Labor Party is from its radical, reforming beginnings and somehow, somewhere along the journey, they have both managed to lose sight of what modern Australians expect and deserve from their government and their politicians.

After the performance we have seen this past week, can anyone imagine a more comprehensive annihilation of any remaining claims to legitimacy or the ‘born to rule’ ethos of those who have so sullied the name ‘Liberal’?