ANDREW CARSWELL: Importation of a Donald Trump-style anti-woke agenda won’t win the Right votes

Go anti-woke, blow up in smoke.

Sure, not as catchy as that overused slogan of proud right-wingers who love nothing more than railing against progressive social policies and their self-righteous preachers.

But an important point nonetheless. A point that could save conservatives from the worst versions of themselves.

It may sound a little strange, given the trumpets sounding from centre-right parties around the world, heralding a brand new day, but there are inherent risks for the Federal Coalition from Donald Trump’s emphatic return to power.

In Trump’s wake lies a fractured Democratic Party, a party that became so beholden to identity politics that it lost its soul and its purpose. A party that became so afraid of offending progressive activists and the marginalised that it gave up its platform to them, sacrificing core issues like the economy and national security on the altar of appeasement.

And so ordinary Americans, vastly unhappy with where their country was heading, held their nose, closed their eyes, and voted for a convicted felon, choosing country over character.

But it’s essential to dissect Trump’s win holistically. His appeal wasn’t just about opposing woke culture; it was driven by economic distress and a sense of insecurity around borders. The woke politics was simply a confirmation for many that Democrats had completely misplaced their priorities and ignored the economy and everyday challenges of voters.

If you weren’t talking about the cost of living, you weren’t talking.

This is the danger for the Federal Coalition: that its agenda becomes hijacked by agitators within its own ranks who believe Trump’s rise was driven solely by a successful anti-woke crusade. They argue that the key to victory for the Liberals and Nationals lies in rekindling the culture wars — a tactic they believe chipped away at the left’s base in the US and undermined its credentials.

Relying on this approach would be perilous, if not an act of self-harm, given it not only misinterprets Trump’s appeal, it overlooks the nuanced priorities of Australian voters.

If the Coalition allows itself to be swept up in these divisive debates, it will find itself catering to a narrow base while alienating mainstream Australians who want pragmatic solutions, not ideological battles.

Unlike the US, Australia hasn’t seen a significant wave of ideological battles over transgender rights, hyper-diversity mandates, or campus free speech. There’s no equivalent of critical race theory being widely discussed in schools, nor do we see large-scale movements demanding reparations, defunding the police, or banning books.

Issues that polarise the US don’t have the same resonance here. Australians, by and large, aren’t rallying in the streets over ideological overreach; if anything, many regard such topics with indifference.

There are glimpses. There are outbreaks. There are businesses, governments and bureaucrats that push the envelope. But on the woke stakes, the US is the wild west compared to our relative civility.

We don’t really have a Prime Minister who could be considered woke. Weak maybe, but not woke. He can accurately describe what a woman is. He has avoided polarising discussions around pronouns, identity politics and cancel culture, and has stayed well away from advocating for sweeping changes to national symbols and celebrations to appease minority groups.

So to import such divisive social debates to Australia, to elevate them unnecessarily when the evidence on the ground doesn’t justify it, is to talk yourself out of relevancy.

And paint yourself as a zealot.

Want to win the next election? Ruthlessly prosecute the Albanese Government on its abject failure to address the rising cost of living or its inability to make housing more affordable. Where there are a myriad of examples of inadequacy and contempt for ordinary Australians.

And then repeat that. And now repeat it again.

Not fight some imagined culture war.

Yet we are seeing this start to rise.

Just days after Trump’s resounding victory, a cohort of Nationals MPs and Senators, drunk on right-wing euphoria, suggested Australia should walk away from the Paris commitments on climate change. Because, well, Trump said he would. Again.

Are the Paris commitments perfect? Certainly not. Are we even going to meet them? Absolutely not. Is it important to have a balanced approach to climate change that takes into account our economy and energy stability? Indeed.

But to walk away from our climate commitments, lumping them in with the woke agenda that was torched in the US, would be consigning yourselves to opposition for the foreseeable future.

If the Nats want the teals’ party room to outnumber their own party room then yes, pull out your best big-boy crayon and pen such a regressive policy.

Thankfully it was quickly knocked on the head by the adults in the party room.

But it was an early alarm to be careful.

Because if the extremists on the right insist on picking a culture war, their parties might just end up being the inadvertent casualties.