Liberals re-examine gender quotas in slew of proposals to make party ‘fit-for-purpose political machine’ | Liberal party

The Liberal party is also exploring views on gender quotas as possible interventions to increase the number of women in parliament, saying this is critical to the movement’s long-term survival.

The idea has resurfaced in a new discussion paper from the Liberal Party Commission, an internal group set up to review the party following a succession of major federal election defeats under former leader Sussan Ley.

The discussion paper, distributed to supporters on Wednesday, looks at options to replenish the party’s aging membership base, elect “competitive candidates”, build better relationships with multicultural communities and young people, and improve its internal structures and campaigns.

Queensland senator James McGrath, the commission’s chairman, wrote in a preview of the report: “We have too few seats in urban areas, core demographics continue to drift away from us without looking back, our members are aging and campaign resources are being depleted.”

“Our fundamental question is: How can we transform the Liberal Party into a political machine fit for purpose in the 21st century?^st century?”

The discussion paper acknowledged that the parliamentary team did not represent the average Australian, describing it as a 38-year-old woman who is not involved in politics but feels the Liberals “do not look like her or speak for her aspirations”.

The newspaper noted that only 33 per cent of Liberal and (Queensland LNP) MPs nationwide are women, while men outnumber women four to one in the lower house in Canberra.

“This situation needs to change urgently if the Liberal Party is to survive in the long term,” the newspaper said.

The party’s problem with women’s representation has been well documented for years, but attempts to address this issue, including gender quotas, have failed due to strong internal resistance.

Opposition leader Angus Taylor opposes gender quotas and has publicly rejected the idea after discussion of potential interference after the 2025 election.

But the discussion paper warned that new measures would be necessary if “serious progress” was to be made.

“None of it will be easy or without complications or resistance from some,” he said. “But if we want a different outcome, we have to be prepared to do some things differently.”

The article lists six options and presents arguments “for” and “against” each without making any recommendations.

The options are:

• Gender quotas that require a portion of winnable seats to be filled by female candidates.

• US-style “open primaries” that allow all voters in a particular seat, not just Liberal members, to have a say in the primary.

• It’s a local version of the UK Conservative Party’s “A-list”, which names 100 potential candidates.

• Giving female candidates “bonus weighting” to increase their chances of winning the primary.

• Requiring a minimum number of women to participate in primary voting.

• Requiring state chapters to target female candidates in winnable seats.

The argument in support of gender quotas was that existing models, including Labour’s, improved that party’s gender balance over time.

The counter-argument was that quotas invalidated merit-based selection, which the newspaper said was “contrary to Liberal values”.

Many options, including open primaries, have been floated in the past but never adopted.

The discussion paper also addresses the need to win back multicultural communities and young voters, two large groups that left the party in the 2022 and 2025 elections.

The newspaper said last year’s election defeat showed that negative perceptions of the Liberal party in multicultural communities were “deep-rooted”, adding that some of its federal policies had been “misused by opponents as hostile or racist”.

“Alongside increasing participation, the party needs to instill message discipline to ensure such positions are not exploited by rivals,” the report said.

Many young Australians viewed the Liberal party as “less trustworthy” on issues important to them, including climate action.

“These brand perceptions among young people are now structural. These perceptions cannot be ignored by saying that voters will ‘get old’ to vote for the party,” he said.

The paper discussed options to replenish the party’s aging membership base, including $10 annual memberships aimed at time-poor professionals and parents.

More than 55 per cent of Liberal members are over 60, according to internal figures published in the report.

“A narrower and less representative membership base risks a growing disconnect between internal party culture and the coalition of voters needed to win elections. This puts campaign mobilization at risk and could weaken the Party’s candidate pipeline over time,” the report said.