Liberal Party Faces Mounting Pressure Over “Women Problem” After Election Defeat

Aug 25, 2025

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The Liberal Party’s struggle to win back women voters has resurfaced after fresh academic research linked the decline in female support to policy shifts dating back to the John Howard era.

In an interview on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Dr. Blair Williams of Monash University said the Liberal Party, once considered the party of choice for many women, has steadily alienated female voters through decades of socially conservative and neoliberal policies.

“The Liberal Party were the party for women for their first 30 years,” Williams said. “I wanted to know what happened, what shifted. Through tracing policy documents, academic literature and media coverage, it seems a lot shifted in the late ’70s to the 1980s, where the party adopted a more neoliberal and socially conservative approach.”

Heated Exchange in Senate

The debate comes amid heightened political tensions in Canberra. During Senate question time, Liberal Senator Jane Hume labeled Finance Minister Katy Gallagher a “mean girl” during an exchange on superannuation policy.

“Minister, what assurance can you give Australians that have seen time and time again that when Labor run out of money, they come after yours?” Hume asked.

Gallagher responded by criticizing the opposition’s tactics, prompting Hume to interject. “On a point of order, Madam President, why is it always that the mean girls go personal?” Hume said.

The remark was later withdrawn following a request from the Senate president.

The confrontation underscored the growing scrutiny of gender politics within the major parties.

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Liberal Leader Calls for Renewal

At the Liberal Party’s national conference last week, Opposition Deputy Leader Sussan Ley urged members to modernize and broaden the party’s appeal following what she called an “electoral humiliation” in May.

“A review of the Liberal Party’s election loss is due later this year, but we already know we must modernize and broaden our appeal to win back voters,” Ley told delegates.

The remarks set the stage for renewed debate over how the party addresses gender representation, both within its ranks and among voters.

Academic Findings Trace Decline to Howard Era

Williams’ new paper argues that the Liberal Party’s decline in female support is not a recent phenomenon but has been building for decades. She pointed to Howard’s influence as a key turning point.

“Then-treasurer John Howard in the Fraser government, and later during his time as opposition leader, championed a framework that combined neoliberal economics with a socially conservative approach to policy,” Williams said.

A 1987 policy document titled Future Directions exemplified that shift, Williams explained. “It was very much about a white mum and dad and kids and a white picket fence. It emphasised a markets-and-motherhood approach to politics, which positioned women primarily in the home.”

According to Williams, this marked a departure from the party’s earlier history under Robert Menzies, who saw women as an emerging political force after World War II and campaigned directly on women’s issues.

“In the 1949 election, the Liberal Party actually took a women’s platform to an election — the first time we had seen that in Australia,” Williams said. “They had a ‘status of women’ section in their platform that addressed women’s issues specifically.”

Long-Term Shift in Voting Patterns

For decades, women voted for the Liberals in greater numbers than men, Williams said. That pattern began to shift in the 1990s and turned decisively in the 2001 election.

“We haven’t seen women really vote en masse for the Liberals more than men since that election,” she said. “It’s just gotten worse since 2013, and in the last two elections, women have drastically shed their votes for the Liberal Party.”

She noted that female representation inside the party has also dwindled, intensifying the challenge.

Internal Warnings Ignored

Williams said female members of the Liberal Party in the 1970s and 1980s warned leaders against abandoning women’s issues, particularly as feminism was increasingly framed as a “radical left concern.”

“Some women in the party were saying, ‘Why are we abandoning this? This will have ramifications,’” Williams said. “Those concerns were ignored, and it’s gotten worse over time.”

She pointed to the 2010s as a particularly damaging decade for the party’s standing with women. “The Abbott-to-Turnbull-to-Morrison era — with the bonk ban and a one-woman cabinet — really poured fuel on the fire,” she said.

Broader Gender Divide in Politics

The research highlights a contrast with Labor, which historically presented as a male-dominated union party in the mid-20th century. Women were often pushed out of the workforce after the war, Williams said, reinforcing traditional roles.

“Labor was very blokey, very union-heavy,” she said. “Whereas Menzies saw women becoming more politically engaged after the war and leaned into that.”

Williams said the Liberal Party’s early embrace of women’s platforms set it apart in its formative decades. But as policies shifted, that advantage was lost.

Party at a Crossroads

The Liberal Party now faces pressure from both inside and outside to address the gender gap. A formal review of the election loss is expected later this year, though academics say the underlying issues stretch far deeper than one campaign.

Williams said her findings show that addressing the problem requires more than just candidate selection. “This is structural. It’s about policy, messaging, and representation,” she said.

Ley’s call for modernization reflects growing recognition within the party that it must act to reverse the decline. But critics argue that without concrete changes, the slide in women’s support could continue.

Historical Context

Williams’ research emphasizes how stark the reversal has been. In its first decades, the Liberal Party pitched itself as the natural home for women, with policies that appealed directly to their concerns.

By contrast, the policy documents of the Howard era framed women more narrowly, according to Williams’ analysis. That shift not only changed the party’s identity but also reshaped its electoral base.

“The irony is that the Liberal Party once led the way on women’s platforms,” she said. “Now it is seen as struggling to even represent them.”

Looking Ahead

As the party undertakes its election review, the question of how to reconnect with female voters is expected to dominate internal debates. Williams said any successful strategy will have to grapple with the long-term historical shifts her research outlines.

“It’s not just about a bad campaign or one leader,” she said. “It’s about decades of positioning that have made women feel less represented.”

The issue looms as a critical test for the Liberals as they seek to rebuild after their electoral defeat.

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