National

Liberal Party

Opinion

Scarcely a day goes by without a new headline proclaiming what a terrible mess the Liberal Party is in, invariably fed by Liberals reaching deep into the trove of cliches to dramatise the party’s problems: “train wreck”, “clown show”, “existential crisis”.

No wonder Sussan Ley – a decent and rational politician trying desperately to reconnect the party with mainstream Australia – is struggling to get clear air. While a period of introspection following the party’s worst electoral defeat is inevitable and necessary, as Senator James Paterson has wisely observed, it must not go on for too long.

Now, the contagion has spread to the National Party, with the latest twist in Barnaby Joyce’s picaresque career.

Rather than indulge in endless self-laceration, a

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