Australia’s opposition party is grappling with a historic defeat following Saturday’s federal election, which is shaping up to be one of its most devastating losses ever.
Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton not only led the party to a crushing defeat but also lost his own seat of Dickson in Queensland—a position he had held for nearly a quarter of a century.
Labor’s sweeping victory has left the Liberal Party in disarray, urgently seeking new leadership and trying to understand the missteps that led to such a significant setback.
Some within the party are demanding a thorough internal review. One former adviser described the defeat as the collapse of “the Dutton experiment.”
Dutton has now made history as the first federal opposition leader to lose both the general election and his parliamentary seat simultaneously, effectively removing him from national politics.
His defeat in Dickson came at the hands of Labor’s Ali France, further cementing the scale of the Liberal Party’s collapse.
In his first comments following the election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Sydney that the outcome reflected Australians’ preference for “unity over division.”
The Liberal Party saw its most substantial losses in major metropolitan areas, including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide, where it has nearly lost all representation.
Keith Wolahan, a Liberal MP from Victoria’s Menzies electorate, echoed calls for an in-depth examination of the party’s internal issues, stating that “something clearly went wrong” and urging the party to seriously reflect on the electorate’s message.
Although he refrained from directly blaming Dutton, Wolahan acknowledged the need to listen and respond to voters’ concerns. He also noted that his own seat might be at risk.
Other voices were less diplomatic. Andrew Carswell, a former adviser to the last Liberal Prime Minister, bluntly called the situation “a complete catastrophe,” attributing much of the defeat to the failure of Dutton’s leadership and Australians’ clear unease with him.
Some commentators have suggested that comparisons between Dutton and former U.S. President Donald Trump may have further damaged his already unsteady campaign.
With Dutton out, the race is now on to choose a new party leader. Carswell expressed optimism about the next generation of Liberal MPs stepping up.
Potential successors include Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor and Deputy Leader Sussan Ley, with other names like Dan Tehan and Andrew Hastie also being mentioned.
However, in the absence of a clear favorite, the Liberal Party faces the difficult task of regrouping quickly and rebuilding trust with the voters they’ve lost.
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