UK, Australia Ex-PMs Johnson and Abbott Laud Tories’ High Polling in Canada, Emphasize Importance of Freedom

(L-R) Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and host John O’Sullivan, president of the Danube Institute in Budapest, speak at a panel on the opening day of the Canada Strong and Free Network conference in Ottawa on April 10, 2024. Omid Ghoreishi/The Epoch Times

OTTAWA—Former conservative Prime Ministers Boris Johnson of the UK and Tony Abbott of Australia predict their Canadian partisan cousins are on their way to winning the next federal election.

“It’s fantastic to be here in Canada, where we’re just seeing incredible sense that the Conservative Party is not only resurgent, but is poised for victory,” Mr. Johnson said on the opening day of the Canada Strong and Free Network 2024 in Ottawa on April 10. Mr. Johnson was leader of the British Conservative Party from and prime minister of the UK from 2019 to 2022.

Mr. Abbott, who was Australian prime minister from 2013 to 2015, shared a similar sentiment, describing Australia’s right-leaning Liberal Party, which he led from 2013 to 2015, as “the conservative party in Australia.”

“It’s great to see the Canadian Conservatives looking like you’re on the verge of a great win,” he said.

The conference organized by Canada Strong and Free Network, formerly known as the Manning Centre, is a networking session to bring together grassroots conservative Canadians and politicians from Conservative parties.

Freedom

The two former leaders emphasized the importance of freedom and said that’s what conservative parties stand for.

“We support the family, small business, and institutions that have stood the test of time, but above all else, as patriots, we believe that our country is the best place on earth to live,” Mr. Abbott said.

“We are the patriot party, and that is why, if we are true to ourselves, we should be the natural party of government.”

Mr. Johnson said the value put on freedom is what sets conservative parties apart from others.

“The difference between us conservatives and our opponents is that every time their instincts are always about control and expropriation and coercion and taking your money and spending it on your behalf,” he said. “We are on the whole in favour of freedom.”

Ongoing Wars

The two former prime ministers addressed ongoing international conflicts and said the West should continue to support Ukraine and stand by Israel in its fight against Hamas.

“What we need to do is keep supporting Ukraine ... that, I believe, should be the conservative position around the world,” Mr. Johnson said.

Mr. Abbott agreed that the West needs to continue supporting Ukraine and said the country should eventually be allowed to join NATO.

“The only way that smaller countries can be secure against much larger and fairly aggressive countries is through collective security,” he said.

On Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, Mr. Abbott said the conflict was resulting in the “world’s oldest prejudice—anti-Semitism” rising around the world. He also said there was a “kind of quasi-Marxism” emerging among many on the left, which “sees the whole world in terms of oppressors and oppressed and the Israelis have somehow become the oppressors, and the Gazans are somehow the oppressed.”

Mr. Johnson said Israel’s small population size makes the killing of 1,200 people in the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack the equivalent of many thousand deaths in the UK. “What would any elected prime minister do in those circumstances? Of course, you have to find the people who did it, and you have to make sure that they can’t do it again,” he said.

Climate Change Policies

Unlike their views on the ongoing wars, the two leaders’ views on climate change policies diverged.

Mr. Johnson said while he used to be a “massive climate change skeptic,” he had since been convinced by scientists of the need to use technology to reduce global emissions. He said conservatives need to show that the “green agenda” can also produce good-paying jobs.

“I want the Green Revolution, which means jobs and growth in the UK. I do believe that,” he said.

During his tenure, Mr. Johnson committed to net-zero goals and has urged current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to stay the course.

Mr. Abbott said there was no “climate emergency” and warned that trying to remake the global economy to reduce emissions to zero by a set deadline was “folly of the first order.”

“The green agenda has given us much higher power prices and in the process we have effectively de-industrialized by exporting most of our emissions-intensive industries to countries which are less fastidious about this,” he said.

“The truth is that everyone wants to save the planet [but] we have got the idea that we should impose massive costs on our citizens ... it’s simply crackers.”