'It was all bullsh**t': Liberals and Freshwater set to split after polling disaster
The Liberal Party's pollster has faced intense scrutiny and a fierce backlash since the election loss. Now it's set to lose, or walk away, from one of its biggest contracts.
In the final days of the federal election campaign, Peter Dutton and senior Liberals believed they had a secret weapon: numbers no one else could see.
While some commentators, off the back of a clear shift in public opinion polls, had by this point started to envisage a Labor majority, insiders say the opposition leader and Liberal federal director Andrew Hirst remained unnervingly calm.
Inside Liberal campaign headquarters, there was still talk of gains — not losses. Six seats, possibly more. Enough to drag Anthony Albanese into minority government. Enough to keep Dutton in the job.
This confidence was all based on internal polling.
Specifically, a final tracking poll conducted on the Tuesday before the vote by Freshwater Strategy — a firm Dutton had entrusted to take over the Coalition’s campaign.
