Sweeping policy reset needed to reconnect with voters, senior Liberals say – as others call for lurch further right

Simon Birmingham backs quotas to preselect women, while Alex Antic says it’s time to make the party great again

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Senior Liberals are warning that the party must urgently reconnect with traditional supporters, women and younger Australians if it is to find a pathway back to relevance, describing John Howard’s broad church as “broken” after Saturday’s election drubbing.

As remaining MPs and party strategists begin to consider the scale of the loss under the outgoing opposition leader, Peter Dutton, most agree that a major policy and messaging reset is needed to return the party to its roots under its founder, Robert Menzies. But, in a sign of the fight to come, some leading Liberal figures are pushing for a move to the right, arguing that the party has not been conservative enough.

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