The Policy Committee has been hard at work organising events and supporting our local campaigns in key seats.
On the Australia Day weekend, we hosted a well-attended community forum at the Mount Pleasant Bowling Club to celebrate all that is great about our nation.
In my opening remarks, I had the opportunity to share some of the positive accomplishments of Australia’s British foundations that don't often feature in public discussions on our national identity and way of life.
The details can be read in this Sky News article on this link.
We also took the opportunity to formally congratulate Senator Matt O’Sullivan on his appointment as Shadow Assistant Minister for Education.
One of his key goals is to ensure that our national curriculum is balanced and not burdened with excess ideological bias that has been evident in recent decades.
As one of the three federal representatives on the Policy Committee, we wish Senator O’Sullivan all the best with this great honour, which is a win for both him and for Western Australia.
The panel discussion at this forum featured many of our WA Liberal candidates and incumbents.
The discussion produced a variety of viewpoints.
The one thing we all agreed on is that the result of the Voice Referendum in October 2023 made it clear that most Australians are not on board with taking a one-sided view of our nation’s past.
We must all work together as one, regardless of how long our ancestors have inhabited this island continent.
We must continue to strive to make this great nation of ours even greater.
The Policy Committee has always supported our local Jewish community in Western Australia.
We had a presence at last week’s Holocaust Remembrance Day hosted by the Jewish community.
The sombre event was well-attended by representatives from both sides of politics.
The next event we hosted last week was a large community forum at The Victoria Park Hotel on Albany Highway.
In recent years, it has been a priority for the Policy Committee to work together to establish platforms for our party to connect with younger voters.
There is often an assumption on our side of politics that the younger generation tends to attach itself to political causes that aren’t always in perfect alignment with our views.
Remember that our traditional support base, who lived through World War II and the Cold War when Sir Robert Menzies established our party, is starting to dwindle in numbers.
I have long believed that we cannot alienate younger voters by being dismissive.
Those of us on the centre-right must always avoid referring to those who disagree with us as “snowflakes” or “wokesters” or similar terms.
We cannot expect to move forward into the future if we alienate the very constituency we need to bring on the journey with us.
The event was well-attended as usual and our star candidates Andra Biondi (Victoria Park), Michael Dudek (Joondalup), and Dr Chris Dowson (Bicton) brought their own unique perspectives to the discussion.
You can watch a video at this link.
Lastly, we have been in regular contact with both our Federal and State Leadership teams on matters related to policy development.
Keep an eye out for the latest policy announcements at these links:
FEDERAL: https://www.liberal.org.au/our-plan
Regards,
Dr Sherry Sufi
Policy Committee Chairman
Liberal Party of Australia (WA Division)