The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is heading for Brisbane – a political carnival so far to the right it makes Tony Abbott look like Greta Thunberg. A sort of Think Splendour in the Grass, but with less music, more coal, and a complete prohibition of multiculturalism.
It’s called a “festival of ideas” but it’s more a three-day recycling talk fest of out-of-date culture-war slogans: climate denialism, trickle-down economics, Islamophobia, and the absolute belief that every social problem can be blamed on migrants, activists, or people with solar panels.
Don’t be mistaken: CPAC Australia is not really Ozie, it is an import from America inspired by the US Conservative Political Action Conference, the favourite stage of President Donald Trump.
As in America, it provides a platform for right wing ideas that have been tried, tested — and failed, now repackaged for Down Under.
But the political theatre at CPAC Australia is less about local ideas and more about imported grievance, conspiracy, and spectacle. The price tag for the attendees alone belies the idea that this represents the wishes of ‘ordinary sensible people’.
Some of the promotors of CPAC’s dangerous, stupid and failed ideas
Dan Wootton
A NZ import to the UK tabloid swamp, Wootton specialises in outrage and conspiracy, often targeting Muslims and Islam. He clearly frames Islam as a problem and frequently hosts anti Muslim guests. Once suspended from GB News, he is too loud to ignore, proving that outrage can be a career.
Connor Tomlinson
This British commentator is clear he would never vote for a Muslim politician, comparing them to communists in terms of undesirability. On his platforms, he warns of “Islamist infiltration” in government, turning fear into a daily broadcast. At CPAC, he’ll probably explain to attendees why Muslims are incompatible with western values and should be kept out and remigrated.
Liz Truss
This lady did for the British pound what The Titanic did for luxury cruising. Her 49-day tenure as UK Prime Minister sank pensions and was an economic disaster but she maintains that she was sabotaged by globalists. Look out for her keynote speech to bundled up with a complimentary crash course in economic self-sabotage.
Pauline Hanson
Still auditioning for I’m a Politician, Get Me Out of Here 25 years later, Hanson remains Australia’s champion of selective outrage – the indigenous people, Asians, Muslims, and refugees. Sure to be a lot of dog whistles so high-pitched, pets need to take refuge.
The Murdoch Contingent — Sky News presenters (Rita Panahi, James Morrow, et al)
From the stable of one of the world’s most evil men, Rupert Murdoch, these Sky News apparatchiks are a therapy session for people impervious to facts, despise migrants and defenders of genocide. Panahi, critiques Islamic symbols as political statements. Combined with Morrow’s rants, the CPAC audience will get a live-feed of issues to feel indignant about,
Ian Plimer
This geologist believes volcanoes emit more CO₂ than humans. If denial were renewable energy, Plimer could power Queensland for decades. Real science is ignored in the blind support for fossil fuels and denial of climate change
Daniel Wild & Adam Creighton (IPA)
The ideas from this so called “think tank” are as predictable as the balance sheets its donors like Gina Rinehart who bankrolls climate denial and economic deregulation, calling it “freedom.”
Jacinta Price, Warren Mundine, Alex Antic, Amanda Stoker
The Australian culture-war Avengers. Price and Mundine were the figureheads of the Advance-funded “No” campaign against Indigenous recognition. Antic and Stoker rally against “radical gender ideology” and progressive representation. Together they demonstrate how CPAC recycles failure: imports ideas from the right wing of the US and the UK with a liberal does of Trumpian theatrics, applauded as patriotic courage.
The conference is a masterclass in selective outrage — climate change is dismissed; renewable energy derided; social justice framed as Marxist infiltration. And there is no compassion for people actually in need like refugees fleeing war or Indigenous Australians seeking justice.
Ironically many of CPAC’s self-proclaimed Christians applaud policies that detain asylum seekers indefinitely or undermine Indigenous rights. It’s a festival of contradiction: moral righteousness paired with moral blind spots.
Bring the popcorn to this comedy show
CPAC claims to be “voices the mainstream won’t allow” and visionary. But they are the mainstream providing a stage for the elite to maintain their power and for the promotion of failed ideas. Brexit was a disaster.
Truss collapsed the economy. Hanson is divisive and racist. Tomlinson and Wootton propagate anti-Muslim rhetoric. Plimer is anti-science. IPA defends the fossil fuel industry. No repressed voices here and not a single visionary for a better future.
Let’s imagine the CAPAC merch — Ian Plimer’s climate denial colouring book, Pauline Hanson’s anti migrant fridge magnets, Liz Truss’ “Crash the Pound” tea towels, and limited-edition IPA stubby holders reading “Don’t regulate me.” VIP packages include earplugs for the dog whistles for the front-row seats to the culture wars.
The absurdity of watching Truss, Hanson, Wootton, and Tomlinson and the rest parade their grievances is laughable and entertaining. But CPAC Australia is more than comic spectacle.
It’s a platform where climate change denialism, neo liberal economics, anti-Muslim rhetoric, selective cruelty to minorities and migrants together with recycled conservative failures imported from Trumpian America are celebrated as strategy.
And thanks to groups like Turning Point USA, UK, and Australia, these ideas aren’t just recycled; they’re actively exported to influence students. For all the laughter, the stakes are serious.
These voices shape media, politics, and public opinion posing as moral guardians. Bring popcorn. Bring fact-checkers. And for the planet’s sake, bring carbon offsets. You’ll need them.
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