Since it was founded in the middle of the second world war, the Liberal party has been a leadership party. Its longest periods of government are the result of the skills of the men who led it – Robert Menzies and John Howard. And compared with the Labor party, it gives its leaders more power. They have a free hand in the choice of their ministry, and they are ultimately responsible for the development of party policy. There are consultative mechanisms in place, between the leader and the party room, and between the parliamentary party and the organisation. But the power ultimately lies with the parliamentary party, and within that with the leader. If the leader chooses not to consult, he cannot be made to do so; and if the party organisation is unhappy about a particular policy direction it can advise and warn, but it cannot veto.
The Liberal party’s two failed policy documents of last century, John Hewson’s Fightback! and John Howard’s Future Directions, were both produced out of the leader’s office. There was some use of outside consultancy firms, but almost no consultation with the parliamentary party or with the party organisation, including its joint standing committee on federal policy.
