When Anthony Albanese and Labor stormed home to victory in last year’s federal election, the general consensus was the Liberal Party had drifted too far toward the populist right under Peter Dutton, and its efforts to mimic Donald Trump’s style and tone had backfired spectacularly with voters.
Most of us assumed the next Liberal leader’s challenge would be to correct course by moving back to the centre. The aim would be to win back voters in wealthy urban seats that were once the party’s stronghold but where it is now in danger of going extinct.
That remains a big problem for what has historically been Australia’s natural party of government. But it is now abundantly clear it is not the most pressing issue the Liberals face.
As the latest Capital Brief/DemosAU polling shows, the Liberal Party and its former Coalition partner, the Nationals, are under serious siege from the populist right, with One Nation eating into their support base at a rapid clip.
