‘Thoughtless offending’ blamed for Liberal poll rout
A scathing Liberal review of the party’s disastrous federal election campaign has highlighted the party’s ability to “recklessly offend” immigrants as the new leadership adopts a tougher stance on immigration.
The review of the party’s worst election result in history also highlighted the personality of then-leader Peter Dutton, his lack of coherent policy and weak campaigns.
The Liberals deferred to almost all demographics, especially women, young people and multicultural Australians.
“As others have observed, the party’s capacity to recklessly offend groups, including Chinese, was a widespread problem,” according to the report compiled by party elders Nick Minchin and Pru Goward.
“The 2025 federal Liberal campaign failure is widely regarded as the worst the party has ever fought.”
The Liberals criticized the lack of women’s policies in their presentations, while female candidates told critics that Mr Dutton did not like women and they did not want him to visit his constituents.
“Peter Dutton’s previous ministerial image as a tough guy required serious work across paid and unpaid media, but this did not materialize,” the review noted.
“Peter Dutton was seen as lacking in connection with women and young voters.”
This was compounded by Labor’s “negative portrayal of Peter Dutton with personal references to Voldemort and Mediscare”.
Mr Dutton’s fallout on US President Donald Trump, which he described as “rude words from a candidate like Temu Trump”, disrupted the campaign.
So did the then-leader, who attended a fundraiser in Sydney when his Brisbane-based electorate was flooded; Meanwhile, the prime minister was highly visible on the ground during the natural disaster.
His actions have been compared to former prime minister Scott Morrison, whose decision to take a holiday during the 2019 bushfires was a “political disaster”.
“This has contributed to the perception of Peter Dutton as an uncaring politician,” the report said.
“Voters expect to see and hear a cheerful and inspiring leader. All this was missing, and the tough and introverted demeanor of the leader, who wore the ubiquitous suit on all occasions, did not change during the campaign.”
A crackdown on working from home arrangements (which were later scrapped because they were unpopular) was one of the policies that alienated voters, and one regional candidate said it cost him his seat.
“After at least a decade of declining female votes, it remains a mystery that the party has failed to delve deeply into the reasons,” the review said.
Angus Taylor took over the party’s top job in February after stabbing the federal Liberals’ first female leader, Sussan Ley.
This resulted in the president of Hilma’s Network, an organization aimed at promoting Liberal women, resigning from her membership.
The review said the party needed to work more closely with the Hilma Network to improve women’s representation and policies.
Mr Taylor continues to take a tougher stance on immigration and has made subscribing to “Australian values” a cornerstone of his own speech.
The leader has kicked out moderate Paul Scarr from his immigration portfolio after urging colleagues to steer clear of anti-immigrant rhetoric.
The review also found that the Liberals’ election-eve opposition to Labour’s tax cuts “immediately affected the economic reputation of the coalition, which has historically been a strong part of the coalition brand”.
Mr Taylor admitted it was a mistake and promised to take a package of lower taxes to the next election.
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