With public spending on an unprecedented scale and previously unimaginable restrictions on our daily lives, 2020 hasn't been a great year for "small government conservatives". But with "pandemic pragmatism" tempering the instinct for lower spending and greater freedom, there's now scope to focus on the other main element in the conservative creed: namely love of country and appreciation of our history. And there's more need for that too, as the Australia that emerges from the pandemic will not only have more debt and bigger government. As things stand, it's likely to be less self-confident about what holds us together as a nation.