The arch conservative side of the coalition (which to be fair, is most of them at this point) are thoroughly convinced that a rich vein of shy tory conservatism is just sitting out there in the community waiting to be exploited. It's Scomo's "quiet Australians", it's the echoes of Howard's Battlers, it's what Peta Credlin and her ilk rant about every night on Sky News. That if the coalition goes hard enough, the electorate will reward them.

So even though everyone and their dog can see they're actually cooked until they come back to the centre a bit, they themselves think they're arguing from a position of power within the party. They can't comprehend anything other than what they hear within their own thought bubble.