A senior Liberal minister has warned that machine politics has taken hold of his party, leaving little room for dissenting voices, pushing it into the natural terrain of the Labor Party and turning it into the very thing liberalism is supposed to oppose.

Rob Stokes, a 15-year veteran of Macquarie Street and leading moderate, says liberalism – the protection of individual freedom against mechanisms of social control – should allow the robust contest of ideas, but instead there has been a growing tendency to “muzzle dissent”.

Rob Stokes says the Liberal Party should leave “command and control” politics to Labor.Credit:Flavio Brancaleone

“All this mechanisation makes the Liberal Party more efficient, and easier to direct in the business of winning elections,” he will tell a forum on “reclaiming liberalism” held by the Blueprint Institute on Tuesday, which will also be addressed by NSW Senator Andrew Bragg and state Liberal ministers James Griffin and Natalie Ward.

“The mobilisation of messaging and money makes for a more malleable political machine. The problem is, making the Liberal Party into an election-winning bureaucracy has transformed it into the very thing it was established to fight.

“Command and control politics is entirely consistent with Labor’s DNA. But for us, as the political custodians of individual freedom, we cannot play by Labor’s rules.”

There was widespread anger in the Liberal Party over head office’s failure to allow members to choose candidates for many NSW seats in the May federal election, and over the quality of former prime minister Scott Morrison’s captain’s pick of Katherine Deves in Warringah, whose comments on trans students sparked a decisive culture war.

Liberal candidate for Warringah Katherine Deves made inflammatory comments about trans people during her failed campaign. Former prime minister Scott Morrison supported her candidacy.Credit:James Brickwood, Supplied

MPs who have dissented from the party over issues, such as Fiona Martin – who crossed the floor over laws allowing discrimination against transgender and gay students – also say they were frozen out by the federal party’s former leadership.

Bragg will tell the forum that reclaiming liberalism involves dumping culture wars, such as those over the environment and trans youth, and putting a greater focus on tax, superannuation and small business policies that could be clearly differentiated from Labor’s.

“Many of the culture wars are not front of mind for voters,” he said. “Trans stuff, I don’t think should be weaponised. I don’t think people like it. Obviously, I don’t think making energy policy a culture war has helped us, at all.”

Natalie Ward, the most senior Liberal woman in NSW parliament, said the future of liberalism was tied to the party’s ability to broaden diversity at the top.

Senator Andrew Bragg says many of the culture wars are not front of mind for voters.Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Across the country, women were continuing to lead change and growth across every industry, but “this isn’t reflected in the number of liberal-minded women leading the charge in our highest offices,” she will tell the forum.

The Liberal Party needed to be clearer about what it stood for. “We have lost the battle if we cannot see ourselves in the people who seek the privilege of leading us,” Ward said.

Environment minister James Griffin will urge the party to promote its green credentials – such as NSW’s ban on single-use plastic bags and its recycling program – while Jason Falinski, who lost his seat of Mackellar to Teal indepedent Dr Sophie Scamps in May, will argue that the party needs to better engage with voters.

“We seem like the best accountants in the room, not a political party attuned to people’s hopes and dreams,” he told the Herald. “The fact is that we have failed to nourish and promote and argue about liberal ideals … and that has hurt us politically in Australia but I think it’s also hurt us a country.”

David Cross, the chief executive of the Blueprint Institute, said liberalism was under threat from reactionary populism, “from high-profile commentators and parliamentarians who are increasingly exploiting the public’s mounting cynicism with government for personal gain,” he said.

“[They are] appealing to the frayed emotions of the electorate by disregarding factual accuracy and evidence-based policy and simply telling people what they think they want to hear,” he said.

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