Liberals warned against a further shift to the right

Dominic Giannini | April 2, 2023

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is being warned against dragging the Liberal Party further towards the hard right after a historic electoral loss in Victoria.

The Liberals became the first federal opposition party in 103 years to lose to a sitting government in a by-election after the voters of Aston delivered a 6.5 per cent swing to Labor.

Mr Dutton says there are lessons the party needs to learn from its defeat in Melbourne’s east, which was traditionally a Liberal heartland. 

“Now, the question is how we rebuild from here, the policies that we have, the brand rebuilding that we need to do in Victoria, and it is a very significant issue for us,” he told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.

Mr Dutton said winning seats in Victoria had always been hard for the coalition, even in the years they were in government.

The Liberals are now down to two inner-city Melbourne seats -Deakin held by Michael Sukkar on a margin of 4.6 per cent and Menzies held by Keith Wolahan with a margin of 0.7 per cent – from six before the 2022 federal election.

Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull took to Twitter to chastise the party for becoming too right-wing.

“Victoria is a small ‘l’ liberal state and the Liberal Party egged on by the Murdoch media has moved further and further to the right,” he said.

Labor strategist Kos Samaras said the Liberals had alienated more progressive voters in the southern states by trying to pander to its more conservative Queensland base.

“Eastern Melbourne was the Liberals’ stronghold, their demographic heart. One seat after another is being swept into the political dustbin,” he posted on Twitter.

“Dutton made references to what ‘outer suburban’ parents think about trans issues. He has no idea what they think. His party does not represent them.”

But Mr Dutton vowed the Liberals will come together and rebuild as the party faces serious soul-searching.

While Mr Dutton took responsibility as leader for the loss in Aston, he vowed to fight on, saying he heads a united team.

“I can tell you it makes me more determined to rebuild this party and be in a winning position by 2025,” he said.

Former unionist and breast cancer survivor Mary Doyle, a self-described suburban mum won the seat over former councillor and barrister Roshena Campbell.

Ms Doyle said she was humbled and honoured to have claimed a historic victory and vowed to always put her community first. 

“I promise to every single one of you, whether you voted for me or not, I will always listen,” she said on Sunday.

“I will always do the best I can for this area and I will always put locals first.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Ms Doyle would make a difference to her local community. 

“Mary Doyle’s compassion, dignity and just common decency really shone through during the campaign,” he said, standing alongside his newest caucus member.

Mr Albanese said Australians had conflict fatigue and wanted the government to get things done, as he accused Mr Dutton of being obstructionist. 

“Just as he is saying no to all of the policies that are being put forward, Australians said no to him and the people of Aston said no to him,” Mr Albanese said.

The Aston by-election was widely considered to be an early test of Mr Dutton’s leadership, and political pundits incorrectly tipped the Liberals to retain the seat.

Ms Doyle failed to win the seat from Morrison government minister Alan Tudge at the May federal election, although she did whittle his double-digit margin down to 2.8 per cent.

Even the most “optimistic true believers” had her pitted as the underdog in the Aston campaign, she noted on Saturday night during her victory speech.

“We were the underdog, but boy, have we shown that we have a big bite,” Ms Doyle said.

The by-election was triggered after Mr Tudge quit politics in February.