Soul-searching begins for Libs
A BATTLE for the future of the Liberal Party has erupted, as the deeply wounded party tries to find its true north in the wake of Saturday’s electoral wipe-out.
As bloodletting started in earnest on Sunday, one furious MP said outgoing Prime Minister Scott Morrison should have quit months ago when polls showed he was despised – but instead “strapped himself to the Liberal Party like a suicide bomber and blew the whole show up”.
With the party losing a swath of seats in the wealthy inner city, but also bleeding supporters in working-class suburbs and regions, deep soul-searching is under way into how the party must position itself for the future.
With the party to lose at least 17 seats, its moderate wing has been almost wiped out, and the dominant Queensland arm looks set to hold extra sway.
Moderate standard-bearer Senator Simon Birmingham was first out of the blocks publicly, saying the party was paying the price for failing to lock in climate and energy policy – in the form of the national energy guarantee – during the era of Malcolm Turnbull.
Outgoing Treasurer Josh Frydenberg also called on the party to be better at “articulating” its achievements on climate change. “Australia has not been well served by the culture wars on climate change,’’ Mr Frydenberg said.
But outspoken Queensland Nationals Senator Matt Canavan warned the party against reflexively chasing the leftleaning voters who were swept up in the teal wave in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.
“If ‘left’ is code for higher taxes, more government regulation and woke policies, I can’t see how that’s a recipe for success,’’ Senator Canavan said.
He also urged calm after Senator Birmingham appeared to suggest there could be a split in the Coalition partnership.
“I would hope that we can continue to work together, but obviously the National Party needs to – need to look at where the Liberal Party has felt this pain and reflect upon how it is that we, together, can manage to form a majority government in the future and what will be necessary,’’ Senator Birmingham told the ABC.
“I see no need for that,’’ Senator Canavan said in response. “We’ve got a very good working relationship.’’
An outgoing Liberal minister said the party was grappling with how to bridge the divide between wealthy inner-city voters and the rest of Australia.
He said it was possible the divide was too wide to bridge.
Several Liberal sources defended Mr Morrison’s performance, saying he had been a victim of Labor’s effective character assassination strategies.
A number of MPs urged calm and to wait for the “dust to settle’’ before any decisions were made about ideological direction.
Some argued there needed to be a move to the “centreright”, others a rebuilding of the moderate faction and increases in female representation, while some called for the party to stop pandering to “the left”.
Outgoing Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews, who suffered a primary vote haircut to the Greens in her Gold Coast seat, said the Liberals needed to “go back” and “look at our values ... to make sure we are properly representing the Australian people”.
But others within the party said the results in inner-city seats proved it could not “outleft the left”, or that the party had lost credibility by refusing to discuss nuclear energy as a path to net-zero emissions.