Why Liberal Senator James Paterson is relishing his time in opposition
A year after the 2025 election was wiped out, James Paterson has a clear message to colleagues still suffering from the electoral grind: The Coalition did not deserve to win.
“I don’t think we’re doing the intellectual heavy lifting, the policy development, or the personal development,” he says.
“I think it’s fair to say that we collectively couldn’t wait to get back into government. We thought it could or should be easier, that we deserved to get back into government, and we thought we were on the right track, especially after the success of the Voice referendum.”
The Liberal senator and Coalition defense spokesman, who was awarded the 2026 McKinnon Award as political leader of the year, says he has discovered he can have a much greater impact on policies fighting opposition to reforms than he ever managed as a supporter of the Morrison government.
“Our country is not as well run as it should be and that’s because parliament isn’t functioning as it should and part of that is that we need to be a better opposition,” says Paterson, indirectly acknowledging the chaos within his own ranks since Peter Dutton’s defeat.
The annual award is given to political leaders who demonstrate courage, integrity and commitment to the national interest. Paterson is respected across all political persuasions for his willingness to challenge some of the most important debates of our time, from security threats to hate speech to climate.
He regularly appears publicly advocating the Coalition’s cause and will accept invitations to do so from a variety of media organisations.
He is now at the forefront of the fight against One Nation, which is trying to undermine the Coalition’s vote and win over its supporters, and is infuriated that his Liberal and National party colleagues are talking openly about preference deals and coalition deals with the populist party.
“I understand why Labor wants to talk about this [preferences]It pushes the Liberal vote down and the One Nation vote up,” Paterson says.
“And I understand why One Nation wants to talk about it. But those who want to increase the Liberal vote shouldn’t engage in this debate because we can’t answer the question from that far away.”
“They are a very high-risk potential dance partner because of their failure to adequately vet policies and candidates. They are not a party I want to be officially associated with this far from the election.”
The son of left-wing Melbourne academics, Paterson joined the Liberal Party at 17 and proved a strong member of the right wing. A political veteran at just 39, Paterson entered the Senate in 2016, at the age of 28, in a vacant position following the retirement of Michael Ronaldson, and has embraced the Senate’s arcane committee system with at times aplomb.
He backed Dutton against Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison in the Liberal leadership spills and then took on a sub-shadow cybersecurity role in opposition after the 2022 election; here he quickly proved he could both make headlines and prosecute a case, forcing the government to inspect and then replace Chinese-made security cameras in parliament, and then proving ruthlessly effective as Home Affairs spokesman during the Supreme Court prisoner crises.
“Some of my colleagues who are ministers in the government found the transition process [to opposition] Much harder than me. I didn’t have the impact of losing a department or staff, I just embraced the opportunity to do something [once on the frontbench]”he says.
Paterson campaigned as the party’s official spokesperson in the 2025 election campaign; The opposition leader and Jacinta Nampijinpa have come to the fore and taken questions about a campaign riddled with errors that have unfolded in real time, with members of his team like Price making unforced errors and regularly creating unnecessary distractions. His outspoken performance in 76 brutal interviews – more than anyone else who saved Dutton on the campaign trail – proved he could think on his feet under attack.
That defeat in 2025 cleared the opposition benches, including Dutton and conservative caucus leader Michael Sukkar, and paved the way for a new generation of conservatives led by Paterson to take over the leadership.
Opposition leader Sussan Ley removed Paterson from the leadership group in her early months as opposition leader, underlining Paterson’s importance as a stabilizing influence within the Coalition, but quickly reversed the decision.
Despite being an ally of Angus Taylor and the conservative Andrew Hastie, Paterson initially remained loyal to Ley to play the role of honest broker. But the critical moment in Ley’s collapse was the decision to broker a meeting between Taylor and Hastie to find a way forward.
Some in the party have suggested Paterson should run for the lower house seat, but the senator is having none of it: he relishes his role as power broker and dealmaker.
“Menzies makes a wonderful quote in one of his books about how opposition should be seen as a great constructive period in the life of a party; properly considered, it is not a brutal period but a period of preparation for the higher responsibilities that you hope will come.”
This article is part of a content partnership between. Herald, Age and McKinnon, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization focused on the importance of democracy and good government.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up for our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.
James Massola is the chief political commentator. He was previously national affairs editor and Southeast Asia correspondent. He won the Quill and Kennedy awards and was a Walkley finalist. Connect securely to Signal @jamesmassola.01Connect with: X or email.
