A26 EVOLVE 
DOLTONE HOUSE 2026

Friday, 20 February 2026

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E&OE……………

Friends – Welcome to Evolve!

It’s great to be here with you all.

Thank you for being here.

Two years and four months ago, everyday Australians made their way to polling booths to vote in our 45^th referendum.

They voted quietly.

But their vote – your vote – roared across the country.

That day, Australians rejected dividing our country by race.

Everyday Australians chose to preserve our values and democracy.

I was honoured to fight for Australians – to fight for our country.

But that victory wouldn’t have been possible without two great blokes I regard as friends.

Two blokes who love this country as much as I do who are responsible for ADVANCE.

Ladies and gentlemen – please help me in acknowledging and paying our respects to Matthew Sheahan and Steve Doyle!

Friends – it’s been a big week.

And can I say, it’s great to be back!

I am honoured to have been appointed by the Leader of the Opposition, Angus Taylor, as the Shadow Minister for Small Business, Skills and Training.

And I can’t wait to get out there.

To fight for small businesses that are the backbone of our economy.

To fight for those professions – and the skills and training that underpin them – that make our nation tick.

To fight for everyday Australians and the country we love.

So, it’s back to business with enthusiasm, friends!

So today I want to talk about the country we love.

Australia is a miracle of a country.

Have you ever really thought about that?

The dominant media and academic narrative about Australia is all negative.

The conflict, the convicts, the oppression.

Sure, our past is not perfect.

Name me one country whose past is perfect?

Indeed, Australia has fewer dark chapters than other countries.

But we spend so much time dwelling on those dark chapters and the sins of the past.

Instead, I want you to think about the good – about our successes and achievements.

Think about how British and European settlers came to a hostile land – full of drought and danger – and slowly and steadily built a nation.

Think of how that happened without a major revolutionary or civil war – something virtually unprecedented in the modern world.

Think of what it took to build institutions of education, of faith, and government – institutions that created stability and order.

Think of those who ventured inwards from the coast – to farm, to tame the land, to innovate, and to create a civilisation.

Think of how – after a little over 100 years – the disparate colonies decided we should be a nation – and we became a nation.

Think of the fact that this didn’t just take good intentions.

It took considered thought, agency, action, and much hard work.

It required a pride in our own land – in a sense of national identity.

We’re told – and our children are taught – to focus on the conflict with Indigenous Australians – which there was undeniably and unfortunately.

But we should also appreciate – and our children should appreciate – that many Aboriginal people grasped the change and opportunity before them.

Many created and built something themselves.

Think too of the gifts of the enlightenment – education, medicine, the rule of law, the right to democratic and economic participation.

All these things that have improved the lives of Indigenous people.

I got into trouble during the Voice referendum when I said that colonisation was a good thing.

The media and activists were outraged!

To them, my views were careless, insensitive and unspeakable.

But I stand by them.

The media asked me a disingenuous “gotcha” question.

Because there is no version of history where Australia isn’t colonised.

The only legitimate questions are: when was Australia going to be colonised – and by whom.

And we got lucky with the British.

But, more importantly, I stand by my words because we can see what’s around us.

Look at this country that Australians have built.

Look at the peace and stability that we have the privilege of knowing.

As a descendant of the original inhabitants, I’m in awe of the fact we get to share this land, together.

Whether we’re descended from Indigenous Australians, the original convicts and settlers, or migrants who have come in the generations afterwards.

You and I care about this country.

We all have a stake in its future – in our home.

So, let’s appreciate the miracle of Australia.

There’s no guarantee it will last forever.

If we don’t make a deliberate effort to cultivate and build on what made our country the best in the world, it’s very easy to lose the miracle.

And I worry that’s the path we’re on – right now.

Many of you know my own story.

I stand before you not as someone who learned about Australia from a textbook.

But as someone who has lived its successes and failures.

I come from a community where government decisions are not abstract ideas.

They are signed off in Canberra – and then they land in real homes, with real consequences, on real people.

At that point, the good intentions don’t matter.

The outcome is what counts.

And today, we not only have a government, but an entire media, academic, and activist class who are disconnected from the lives of real Australians and unable to see the outcomes.

They are full of good intentions.

But their focus is not on the miracle of Australia.

Their focus is on the negatives.

On victimhood.

On oppression narratives.

Their slogans, their theories, their managerial mindset have replaced solutions.

Their ideology has crowded out common sense.

They take the miracle for granted.

And they assume they can indulge in their unproductive, divisive, and damaging activist projects without consequence.

But, just two months ago, we saw the real-life ramifications of their thinking that slogans and press releases can solve problems like antisemitism and the social division caused by mass immigration.

The Bondi attack demonstrated in the starkest, most shocking way this fact:

The empty-suited, progressive, bureaucratic style of Labor and the Teals can’t meet the moment we’re in.

I’m here today to talk about a different way.

A reorientation towards the miracle of Australia.

Towards building and creating.

Away from the road to managed decline that we’re on right now.

This conference is called EVOLVE.

And that word matters.

Because Australia – and our political movement – must evolve away from policies that keep people dependent, divided, and diminished.

We must reach for policies that restore dignity, responsibility, and opportunity for every Australian.

For too long, we’ve been told that compassion means lowering expectations.

For too long, we’ve been told that fairness means treating people differently based on identity.

For too long, we’ve been told that progress means apologising for who we are – rather than building confidence in what we can become.

I reject that.

I believe in equality before the law – not equality of outcome.

I believe in personal responsibility – not permanent victimhood.

I believe that the role of government is to empower people to stand on their own feet – not trap them in cycles of dependence.

And I’ve seen firsthand what happens when ideology drives policy.

When bureaucrats in Canberra make decisions for communities they will never live in.

When activists speak over the very people they claim to represent.

That isn’t justice.

That isn’t compassion.

And that certainly isn’t progress.

EVOLVE is about recognising that if we keep doing what we’ve always done, we’ll get what we’ve always got.

I know the polls.

I know the precarious position the Liberal Party is in.

And I think the rise in One Nation votes is evidence that people understand things need to change.

Tinkering around the edges is not going to cut it.

Incremental change isn’t going to cut it.

Trying to manage issues politically to try to win this one city seat or that one rural electorate is not the answer.

This way is failing.

Failing families.

Failing communities.

Failing the national interest.

We need to evolve how we talk about disadvantage.

Not as something inherited or permanent.

But as something that can be overcome – with the right settings, the right expectations, and the courage to tell the truth.

And there’s a truth that is almost unspeakable right now:

The truth that “disadvantage” is not structural or systemic.

Aside from those with genuine disability or illness, it’s possible for almost every Australian to improve their circumstances.

It’s the progressive establishment that encourages those doing it tough to wallow in their circumstances.

But we need to empower them.

We need to give them a greater sense of meaning.

Because the meaning on offer from the progressive establishment – one derived from entrenching disadvantage and victimhood – is false meaning.

Even when bad things happen, the miracle of Australia is that you can be the architect of your success.

Yes, we need a safety net for those who need it.

But a safety net based on need – not on race or identity.

We need an orientation towards being a part of this country – not isolated and in despair.

And we need to evolve our approach to energy, security, and sovereignty too.

Australia cannot afford policies that make power more expensive, our nation weaker, and our people poorer – all the while pretending the costs do not exist.

It’s a bitter irony that Labor, the Greens and the Teals – the political coalition most pleased with themselves about caring for the poor – openly and aggressively support an energy policy that damages our economy and condemns people to poverty.

After all, the only reliable, repeatable way of lifting people en masse out of poverty is through cheap, reliable, and abundant energy.

But their so-called “good intentions” about saving the planet mean Australians can’t afford their power bills – and in many cases, have to choose between heating and eating.

Of course, we must also evolve our ideas about democracy itself.

Free speech is not a privilege granted by the loudest voices.

It’s the foundation of a healthy nation.

When dissent is silenced, when debate is shut down, when Australians are told what they are allowed to think, we’re not progressing.

We’re regressing.

There’s a famous saying that’s become popular recently:

“The purpose of a system is what it does.”

It’s a simple way of saying that your intentions don’t matter – what matters is the outcome.

And when you look at what happens when Labor is in power – and when they work with the Greens and the Teals – we always end up with less free speech and more censorship.

The purpose of their way of governing is to shut you up.

They would love nothing more than to ensure that an event like this can never happen again.

But the larrikin and irreverent spirit that built the miracle of Australia is a spirit of free speech and free exchange.

Our prosperity and freedom are impossible without them.

But the left is killing our freedom and undermining our prosperity.

So, how do we evolve?

In order to deliver the change we need, we not only need ideas and people.

We also need the campaign know-how.

And that’s where ADVANCE comes into the picture.

I’ll be frank:

Right now, the campaign capacity at the institutional level of the Liberal Party is not in a good way.

I’m working with my colleagues – and with party members – to fix this problem as best I can in my backyard.

We’re up against a massive, well-funded, professional, disciplined, and ruthless Labor campaign machine.

Through the unions and various institutional fellow travellers, Labor has massive resources.

Not just financial resources, but personnel resources too.

And they are in it to win.

I think those of us on the right have a bit of an instinct against the always-campaigning, always-fighting posture of Labor.

After all, most of us would prefer the government to stick to the basics, to keep the show on the road, and otherwise leave us alone.

We think it’s just about being sensible, measured, and mature.

But the Howard “relaxed and comfortable” era has passed.

Labor and the Teals and the Greens have no intention of letting Aussies be relaxed and comfortable.

That means our approach to politics and campaigning must evolve.

I can’t tell you how many MPs like me are grateful that ADVANCE is here to help fight the left.

Your movement is breathing new life into campaigning on the centre right.

And it gives me hope that we can turn this country around and bring back the Australian miracle.

Before entering the Senate, I was the ADVANCE spokeswoman.

When I was elected to the Senate, I had the honour of leading ADVANCE’s Fair Australia “No campaign” for the Voice referendum.

My experience leading the No campaign was phenomenal.

Working with ADVANCE gave me the confidence that we could deliver a targeted, high impact, and professional campaign.

From strategy to message, to infrastructure and advertising, the campaign was bang on.

There’s been a lot of rewriting history about the referendum already.

People who say it was always going to fail.

People who say that as soon as the Coalition opposed it, it was doomed.

People who say ADVANCE didn’t really do much.

Of course, those with these views are always the lefties!

But trust me, I was there.

Winning the referendum was not a foregone conclusion.

When you start a campaign on the wrong side of 60/40, being right isn’t enough.

The polls weren’t only in favour of the Voice.

The Yes campaign was also backed by every major corporation, institution, media organisation, most churches, most high-profile leaders, and, of course, the government itself.

But the ADVANCE campaign showed the country that, not only can we keep up with the left – we can beat them too.

We can beat them with fewer resources – and with all the establishment against us.

The No campaign victory wasn’t only about putting some ads on TV and online.

The campaign run by the ADVANCE team also included coordinating on-the-ground volunteers – including manning polling places and delivering materials.

The campaign proved that with discipline, research, and a strong and persuasive message, winning is possible.

That’s the message I want to hammer home today.

If we are willing to evolve, we can win.

If we are willing to evolve, we will win again.

It might seem dark right now, like all the odds are against us.

But here we are, in this miracle of a country.

I am proud of this country.

Proud of its history.

Proud of its freedoms.

And proud of its capacity to change when change is needed.

But evolution requires courage.

The courage to say that strong families matter.

That work matters.

That culture matters.

That national unity matters more than endless division.

The courage to stand up to fashionable ideas that sound kind, but are harmful or ineffective.

The courage to believe that Australians – regardless of background – are capable of rising when we stop holding them down with low expectations.

That’s the Australia I am fighting for.

An Australia that is fair, confident, secure, and united.

An Australia that does not apologise for its values – but lives them and celebrates them.

Let’s evolve.

Not by abandoning who we are, but by rediscovering what works.

Let’s recapture the miracle.

Let’s use our God-given agency and aspiration to take action and build this country up again.

Let’s move forward with honesty, strength, and resolve.

We must fight for Australia because Australia is worth fighting for.

Thank you.

[Ends]