So what has the NSW Liberal Party
gained this week? Peter Debnam, a colourless new leader who must dance
to the tune of the hard right cabal that’s taken over the party’s
organisational structure – and now seeks to cannibalise the party
room. Miranda Devine had it half-right in her comment piece in this morning’s SMH.

If
you can’t understand what progressive NSW Liberals have lost, find a
Labor politician who will commit the following to their party and the
public:

A truly progressive liberal agenda must address issues such
as multiculturalism, euthanasia, equal age of consent and drug law
reform. In all of these we must apply the test of John Stuart Mill,
that of exchanges between individuals based on free will, and the
mutual toleration of different moralities.

We should recognise
that human dignity and respect for the individual allows each of us to
determine the point at which we can end our lives when faced with a
terminal illness. It is surely the ultimate expression of individual
choice.

We can no longer sustain a system where the age of
consent for sexual relations discriminates between males and females
based on sexual preference. If the state has no place in the bedroom;
then it has no place in discriminating against homosexual males on the
basis of age.

As a society we must address drug usage and drug
law reform with an open mind. We gain nothing from criminalising
addiction instead of treating it.

We must be brave enough to
experiment with solutions to drug addiction that recognise the failure
of criminal law to stem the tide of drugs. Drugs are an evil in our
society, but it does not follow that those who are addicted to them are
evil too. We must accept Menzies’ challenge as Liberals to be “willing
to make experiments” in addressing this issue.

And we must fully embrace the benefits of a multicultural society.

Australia’s
immigration story is the most successful in the world. Our tolerance
and acceptance of different cultures and people is a major factor in
our tolerant and peaceful society. We should spend more time
celebrating cultural harmony than fuelling minor divisions.

The
Liberal challenge is to be relevant to the new generation of voters,
who have grown up in a modern, tolerant, progressive Australia, and who
expect an economically progressive government that respects the
consumer’s right to choose in an open and competitive market.

But
they also expect a progressive society that respects the individual’s
right to choose how they live their life in a free and tolerant
community.

We must ensure that all our actions in government and
our policies in opposition are consistently liberal, not a hybrid of
economic liberalism and social conservatism. This uneasy combination
dilutes the Australian Liberal tradition and confuses our message.

The
community will reject a conservative social policy, just as it rejected
a conservative economic policy. Change is demanded now, and we must
deliver it.

– John Brogden 30 June 2000