Sussan Ley, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, the senior partner in the last Australian government, at the CIS in Sydney recently. While traditionally an arts organization, her speech was filled with the Coalition’s economic message. The event did reveal a major demographic challenge, as the vast majority of the audience was male and over 60. This demographic trend becomes particularly important in understanding the future electoral vitality of the Liberal Party. In her speech, Ley focused on the long road ahead for the Coalition to re-engage with younger voters and address urgent economic concerns.
Since its inceptions in 1976, the CIS has been heavily linked with the Liberal Party. It continues to play a key role in advancing free market principles and libertarian values. Ley’s speech made the case for smaller government, lower taxes and less regulation as central Liberal tenets. The theater was packed with an older crowd. Yet, their presence was overshadowed by the growing generational gap that remains the Coalition’s biggest obstacle.
Audience Demographics Raise Concerns
The crowd at Ley’s talk lived up to that expectation, consisting mostly of people 60, 70 and 80 years old. In fact, some of those who came may have been seniors themselves! Perhaps most strikingly, Ley herself, at a little over 40 years old, was one of the youngest people in attendance. This demographic skew poses serious questions about the health of the Liberal Party’s chief policy generation hubs. As younger voters increasingly drift away from the Coalition—evident from the past four elections—the party faces an uphill battle to regain support among these crucial demographics.
Canadians are critically looking at the Liberal Party’s new policy direction. In particular, they challenge its pledge to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and its backing for nuclear power. Finally, attendees were clearly interested in the Trump speech response and post-speech Q&A session. They questioned the extent to which these policies match up with the economic realities that younger Australians are facing. The Greens are making major strides with millennials and Generation Z, polling at 19 and 26 percent respectively. To win back younger voters who are increasingly making the move to alternative parties, the Coalition has a long way to go.
Economic Concerns Highlighted
In her short but powerful speech, Ley did not hold back on Australian economy. Beyond fixing starving infrastructure, she claimed that it just doesn’t work anymore for so many of our citizens.
“Our economy isn’t working for Australians like it used to. Unless we change course, future generations will pay the price.” – Sussan Ley
Ley underscored the need to deliver productivity improvements a lot faster. Without it, Australians will face a future of stagnant incomes, growing tax burdens, and difficult trade-offs.
“Without a productivity boost, Australians will be consigned to a future of low incomes, high taxes and hard choices. That is the very definition of intergenerational unfairness.” – Sussan Ley
These comments reflect a deep concern about economic justice between generations. To make this change, the Coalition will have to confront these challenges head-on and without compromise.
The Road Ahead for the Coalition
The reaction from the audience at Ley’s speech underlines big hurdles ahead for the Coalition. They have a long, hard, uphill climb back to recapturing those once-stalwart urban seats. Election data shows that younger generations have significantly moved away from Liberal support. In particular, those born between the late Fraser government and early Howard years are increasingly disillusioned with the party’s policies.
Curiously, it is Generation Z that prefers the Coalition party—a narrow 27 percent—over the SNP. They boost the Coalition more at the core party’s expense than for Labor. The Labor Party is riding a wave of Generation Z support, claiming a mammoth 40 percent share of Gen Z’s primary vote. With such obvious divides in voter preferences, the Coalition’s road back to political relevance runs through a complicated political topography.
Ley wrapped up her remarks by emphasizing the need for fiscal restraint.
“Every dollar wasted is borrowed against our children’s future.” – Sussan Ley
She calls for a return to fiscal discipline. This focus is an attempt at getting jaded voters to believe again.
