Liberal Leader Sussan Ley Vows Party Overhaul After 'Totally Smashed' Election Defeat

First female Liberal leader outlines comprehensive reform plan, pushes for more women candidates

Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley delivered a blunt assessment of her party's election performance Wednesday, telling the National Press Club that the coalition "didn't just lose" but got "totally smashed" in last month's federal election.

Speaking in her first major address as opposition leader, Ley outlined an ambitious reconstruction plan for the Liberal Party, including two comprehensive reviews and a commitment to dramatically increase female representation in parliament.

"What we as the Liberal Party presented to the Australian people was comprehensively rejected," Ley said. "The scale of that defeat, its size and significance is not lost on me nor anyone of my parliamentary team sitting here today."

The coalition lost 33 seats in the House of Representatives over two elections, with their primary vote falling more than 9 percent and two-party preferred vote down more than 6 percent. The party now holds just two of 43 inner metropolitan seats and seven of 45 outer metropolitan seats.

Ley, who became the first woman to lead the Liberal Party in its 80-year history, announced the appointment of Prue Goward and Nick Minchin to conduct a "root and branch review" of the election result, to be completed by year's end and made public.

Party Reform Push

The new leader also flagged a broader organizational review of the Liberal Party's fundamental structures, to be overseen by Senator James McGrath. This review will examine divisional constitutions and membership growth strategies.

"I believe there is a need for the party as a whole to have a deeper look at the existential issues we face," Ley said.

On the critical issue of female representation, Ley made her strongest commitment yet to increasing women's participation in the party, saying she was "agnostic on specific methods" but "a zealot that it actually does happen."

"Our party must pre-select more women in winnable seats so that we see more Liberal women in Federal Parliament," she said. "Current approaches have clearly not worked, so I'm open to any approach that will."

When pressed on whether she would support quotas, Ley said individual state divisions could choose their own methods, including quotas if they wished.

"What is not fine is not having enough women," she said.

Ley went further when questioned about potential federal intervention in state divisions that fail to improve female representation, declaring: "I'm not prepared to accept that we won't."

"I'm the first woman in my position and I don't believe anyone in my position has had the resolve that I have right here, right now," she said. "Watch this space."

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