Sunday 14 August 2022 11:28 AM Brexit mastermind Nigel Farage warns Peter Dutton's Liberals to be more ... trends now
The Liberal Party must become more conservative and assertive to win the next federal election, according to Brexit mastermind Nigel Farage.
The former UK politician turned TV host, who brings his speaking tour to Australia next month, believes Scott Morrison was defeated because the Liberals became too moderate and supportive of a big state.
In an interview with Daily Mail Australia, Mr Farage railed against 'woke' culture and warned conservative movements in western democracies must stand firm against attempts by the hard-left to 'destroy everything our countries have ever stood for'.
He described Australia's reaction to the Covid pandemic as 'absolutely hysterical' and warned that 'uninspiring' Anthony Albanese will maintain the 'very, very strong level of big state that exists in Australia' and do nothing for small businesses.
The Liberal Party must become more conservative and assertive to win the next federal election, according to Brexit mastermind Nigel Farage (pictured)
Since Scott Morrison's defeat on May 21, the Liberals have been grappling with an internal struggle over how to approach the 2025 election.
Conservatives want the party to move right, present a 'strong alternative' and appeal to the outer suburbs and regions - but moderates want a soft touch that embraces climate change action to win back city seats lost to teal independents.
Mr Farage, who successfully campaigned for the UK to leave the European Union as the leader of the UK Independence Party, said the Liberals under Peter Dutton must choose the first option.
'When conservative parties and movements stop being conservative, they lose elections,' he said.
'When they actually become more assertive and more conservative they tend to win.
'Despite the fact that progressive voices in our capital cities dominate so much of the debate, ordinary folks do not want their kids to be taught to be ashamed of their past, they don't want society to be more deeply divided.
'And what conservative parties have to do is to be more assertive.
Taking a swipe at the new Prime Minister (pictured), Mr Farage warned that Mr Albanese's Labor government will 'do nothing for free markets and free enterprise'
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Coalition government supported some of the longest lockdowns in the world, banned its own citizens from entering the country, backed crippling state border shutdowns and blew out the national debt to almost $1trillion.
Mr Farage said: 'In Australia the Liberal Party was in power for quite a long time but they weren't particularly assertive, they were losing their way, becoming very, very big state and they lost.
'They weren't conservative enough and, guess what, they lost.'
When conservative parties and movements stop being conservative, they lose elections
Nigel Farage
Mr Farage said he understands the challenge posed by the climate conscious teal independents who took six seats from the Liberals in wealthy areas of Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
But he believes Boris Johnson's landslide election victory in 2019 provides a template for a right-wing victory.
'Look what happened in 2019 to the British Conservative Party. It was lumbering on, struggling to cope with
