Nadir of the Liberals
Sir: 'What does the Liberal Party. . stand for? What is it saying? It stands for nothing and it says nothing' — but your editorial of 16 September, gloomily accurate though it may be, does not go on to suggest to the . Liberal Party any means whereby it can pull itself out of the mud and hammer out policies to suit the problems of the age. If it is to survive the Thorpe affair and become a viable political force, it needs such advice urgently. The Australian Democrats, under Senator Don Chipp, have over the past eighteen months done just that. Arising from nothing, they have come an accepted 'party of the centre', with policies on matters such as unemployment, finance, drugs, public transport and automation which owe nothing to the tired thinking of the Left and the Right. Admittedly, their ranks are swelled by the disillusioned from both sides, but that is only the negative side of the story. For a quick shot of positive policy-think, all Mr Steel needs to do is to drop a line to Senator Don Chipp, Parliament House, Canberra.
A. Shepherd Chairman, Cook Branch, Australian Democrats, Grays Point 2232, New South Wales
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