Liberal luminaries to lead post-election review, controversial NSW branch heads dumped

Goward was a member of the NSW Parliament for 12 years, also serving in multiple frontbench roles.

The context: The pair will report back by the end of the year, having analysed the reasons behind:

• The party’s historically low primary vote
• Its performance in among “different voter segments”
• The long-term challenge posed by independents.

The latter is particularly important given that expectations of reversing the so-called ‘teal wave’ in 2022 did not materialise in May.

While the party reclaimed the Melbourne seat of Goldstein, it lost Bradfield to teal independent Nicolette Boele.

The 2022 post-election review, conducted by Senator Jane Hume and former federal director Brian Loughnane, found the Morrison government struggled to appeal to female and younger voters – two dynamics which continued in 2025.

Asked about the review on Tuesday, Liberal leader Sussan Ley said she was “very pleased that eminent Australians will chair [it]”.

Elderly Victorians Alan Stockdale and Richard Alston, appointed to oversee the NSW division, would be dumped from its committee – which has had its term extended until March.

Stockdale caused controversy last month, after suggesting to the branch’s women's council that women in the Liberal Party had become “sufficiently assertive” that men may require quotas.

The comment, which Stockdale later described as “a lighthearted but poorly chosen remark”, drew criticism from senior Coalition women – including Ley.

What they said: “The review will include an examination of the performance of – and lessons arising for – the federal secretariat/CCHQ, the Parliamentary party, the divisions of the Liberal Party … and consultants and service providers,” the Liberal Party said in a statement.