The Young Liberals want the Coalition to distance itself from Sky News and appeal to voters through a wider variety of media outlets, blaming Donald Trump-style culture wars for Peter Dutton’s historic election rout.
In a submission to the party’s election postmortem, obtained by Guardian Australia, the New South Wales Young Liberals division said the “fringe right” of the Liberal membership had too much influence over policy and campaign media, causing “a mirage of the Maga movement” which turned off women and multicultural voters.
The 31-page assessment, handed to the review being led by Liberal elders Pru Goward and Nick Minchin, is scathing of the campaign run by Dutton and his frontbench team, describing them as badly outplayed by Labor and out of touch with traditional Liberal constituencies.
The document has not been released publicly and was provided to Guardian on the condition of anonymity.
“The 2025 election proved that being one of the loudest media voices in the room does not mean voters are listening to you,” it said.
“Viewership data shows that most Australians do not engage with overtly political commentary on traditional media, such as evening commentators on Sky News. Yet much of our party’s policy agenda and media appearances during the campaign were stuck in a conservative echo-chamber.”
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Labor won 94 seats, its biggest victory in decades, while the Coalition was reduced to 43 seats in the lower house.
Pointing to Dutton directly, the submission said the parliamentary leader must “front up” to a range of media outlets, including those not considered “traditionally friendly” to the Liberal and Nationals parties.
‘We got smashed’: Sussan Ley reflects on Coalition’s historic election defeat – video
Ahead of his 3 May defeat, Dutton did the opposite. He was criticised for not regularly fronting the Canberra press gallery in the lead-up to the campaign and dubbed the ABC and Guardian “hate media” in the final days before the poll.
The Young Liberals called out senior figures for demonising Chinese-Australians and exacerbating division related to war in the Middle East.
Frontbencher Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was criticised for declaring a Dutton government would “make Australia great again,” echoing Trump’s slogan just as the Coalition was trying to distance itself from the unpopular US president’s policies and rhetoric.
“The Coalition must refrain from pursuing culture war issues and respect the intelligence of the Australian people by formulating nuanced, meaningful policy,” it said.
On promises to voters, the submission was equally downcast. It said major policies should be announced with more lead time and accompanied by sufficient costings detail. It criticised Dutton’s signature plan for development of nuclear power in Australia, and the decision to oppose Labor’s tax cuts.
“Coalition policies such as the promise to cut 40,000 public service jobs, Peter Dutton’s refusal to stand before the Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander flags, and a crackdown on ‘woke’ culture in schools all reinforced the perception of a party more interested in symbolic battles than addressing serious domestic and international issues,” it said.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has commissioned Minchin and Goward to assess the loss, and ordered a second review into the Liberal party’s structure.
One question being considered is how to boost female representation in Coalition ranks. The Young Liberals have called for a 2015 party review to be implemented, including an aspirational national target for 50-50 gender parity in parliament, but suggested Labor-style quotas could be required.
“Ultimately, the Liberal Party doesn’t look like modern Australia. Australians notice, and it matters,” the submission said.
Submissions to the review were due by Friday, with a report expected by the end of the year.