On Saturday, when observing the booth results reported in Farrer, what came to mind was the opening line of Kipling’s poem ‘If’. To paraphrase, if you keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, you will inherit success.

There will be sober reflections in the Liberal camp, and its longstanding members, such as myself, will do all we can to navigate a path between our own figurative Scylla and Charybdis.

Above all, we must remain true to our values. Many of the very “forgotten people” that Menzies exhorted us to represent now see a better champion in One Nation. Our articulation of these values must seek to renew the public’s confidence in us and in our commitment to solving the problems they face every day.

To achieve this, we must not succumb to the temptation to sound and be like One Nation. Nor be seen as fellow travellers alongside One Nation as part of a broader conservative movement. This would be a betrayal of our........

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