...the Liberals have lost their way after Scotty just like GOP lost theirs, in pushing further out to the right from centrist-right.
...It didn't learn its lesson from Morrison to elect Dutton as their leader. And they would continue not to learn the lesson if they were to elect defence hawk Andrew Hastie.
...Yet there are not many well qualified nor strong leadership options to choose from: Angus Taylor, Dan Tehan, Susan Ley (unlikely, can't imagine LNP would elect a female leader).
Albanese makes history, the Liberals have no soul to search
This win is so emphatic, Labor is virtually guaranteed a third term. There is nothing anywhere for the Liberal Party to hold on to as encouraging. Phillip CooreyPolitical editor
Updated May 3, 2025 – 10.49pm,first published at 10.29pm
Anthony Albanese will enter the pantheon of Labor’s leading prime ministers.
It was always going to be a night of strange happenings, but nobody predicted this. If they say they did, they’re talking out of their hat.
While the polls were right in that Labor was set to hold on to power, either in minority or a small majority, they hugely undershot. With at least 11 Coalition scalps in Labor’s column, and plus two from the Greens and one independent, this looms as a big, old-school majority – well into the 80s in terms of seats. Close to 90, perhaps.
Think of the lead-up. A run of 12 successive interest rate rises, a once-in-a-generation inflation and cost-of-living crisis, and the disastrous Indigenous Voice to parliament referendum, all managed with a threadbare majority. To hang on to power would be triumph enough. To build in such a manner is extraordinary.
By comparison, the existential crisis gripping the Liberal Party appears irreversible. This is its second outright repudiation in as many elections. It is in no position to win the next election. Rather than fight its way to a winnable position for 2028 under a two-term strategy, it has gone backwards. Many reasons for loss
At the start of the night, a poor result for the Coalition was deemed to be between 60 and 65 seats. At this stage, the Coalition will be lucky to finish in the mid-40s. Barring unforeseen events of a tectonic scale, it makes it almost impossible to win from there. Labor is almost guaranteed a third term.
The reasons for the loss are many and will be ventilated over coming days and weeks – Donald Trump, nuclear power, a poor campaign, an unpopular leader, poor policy processes and Labor’s superior campaign.
Trump is reason singled out by Albanese in his victory speech and the comparisons with Canada cannot be ignored. An opposition going from a winning position to a rout in just over two months and its leader losing his seat. Radicalism and culture wars, or the perception of, on both sides was punished. The Greens lost two of their four seats and leader Adam Bandt faces a nervous count.
On Saturday night, pundits spoke of the need for soul-searching in the Liberal Party, but there is no soul to search.
In 2019, the rise of the teals wiped out a swag of future leaders and ministers. Last night, those who were left were either extinguished or were hanging on for grim death. These include Julian Leeser, James Stevens, Michael Sukkar, Keith Wolahan, Aaron Violi, Zoe McKenzie and David Coleman. Giselle Kapterian, who would have been a valuable addition, is unlikely to win Bradfield.
Most are these moderates. Just like last time. The broad church is no more.
“There is nothing anywhere for the Liberals to hold on to as encouraging.”
Peter Dutton lost his seat, which, in itself is bad enough. But that it happened in Queensland, the state that was supposed to be a Coalition stronghold, amplifies the disaster. Labor held just five of the 30 seats in Queensland and was hoping, at best, to pick up one – Leichhardt. That, along with Dickson, Petrie, Bonner and maybe Forde, and the two Greens seats of Griffith and Brisbane, are more than enough to offset one or two losses elsewhere.
Another disaster is Victoria. With its toxic state Labor government, Victoria was supposed to be the state that delivered the Coalition the most seats. Instead, it has gone backwards there, losing at least two. The most telling result was the outer suburban seat of Aston. Both sides wrote it off as a Coalition gain weeks ago. It swung strongly towards Labor.
NSW was a wipeout. Gilmore, like Aston, was supposed to be in the bag. It wasn’t even close. Banks fell, as did Hughes, last held by Labor in 1996.
Tasmania has been painted red, with the Liberals losing its two seats there.
Western Australia, after swinging to Labor at the last election, has gone even deeper into the red. The once-conservative stronghold is now Labor heartland. In South Australia, the Liberal seat of Sturt has fallen. The Liberals have only two seats left in SA.
There is nothing anywhere for the Liberals to hold on to as encouraging. The teals look certain to take another of their blue ribbon seats, Bradfield, in northern Sydney and increase the margins in the other six electorates won in 2022.
The first item of business is to find a leader. The pickings are slim. Either the underperforming Angus Taylor, the virtually unknown Andrew Hastie, the hapless Sussan Ley or Dan Tehan are the only options. Then it must dump nuclear power – clearly a policy that was more crazy than brave.
As for Albanese, it’s back to work on Monday, buoyed by the security of a big majority, and knowing that he, in joining Bob Hawke and Gough Whitlam as the only leaders of his party to win two elections, will enter the pantheon of Labor’s leading prime ministers.
His dear late mother, and his mentor, the late Tom Uren, would be proud.
