CANBERRA (AAP) By Dr. Majid Khan-Federal Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton vowed to stay in the driver’s seat and keep fighting after his party suffered a historic loss in the by-election.
Labor won Aston voters in East Melbourne – the first time in 103 years that the federal government won a seat from the opposition in a by-election.
Dutton says the party will be soul-searching.
“We have a lot of work to do. As party leader, I take responsibility,” the coalition leader told an ABC insider on Sunday.
“I can say that I am more determined to rebuild this party and put it in a position to succeed by 2025.”
Dutton argued that state issues also contributed to the 6.5% switch to federal labor, given the state’s Labor government predominance, and the Liberals have always struggled to win seats in Melbourne. pointed out that “Obviously our difficulties at Victoria have not spread to Aston in the last five weeks,” he said.
“Even as of 2013, Victoria, with all of my predecessors, is the only state that has never won a majority of seats, and we have big problems at the state level as well.
Senior Liberal Party leader Jane Hume said cost of living pressure remained voters’ top concern, but other factors prevented the party from passing the by-election.
Liberals have accused Labor of running a “dirty” campaign locally, claiming voters accused him of having to go to the polls for the third time in 10 months.
“You’re never going to fix it with one thing or we would have fixed it,” Senator Hume told his AAP.
“There was a confluence of events and timing. Even with great candidates, we couldn’t get past that confluence. “
The by-election was called after controversial former Morrison government minister Alan Tadge resigned from politics, winning the seat by 2.8% over him.
Federal National Party leader David Littleproud said Mr Dutton was still the perfect person to lead the opposition.
He also blamed Liberal Party infighting in Victoria over the fate of a state MP who attended an anti-transgender rally that also included neo-Nazis. Moira Deeming was suspended from the party room for nine months.
“The Victorian Liberals did everything they could to destroy their brand there,” said Little Proud. But Victorian Liberal Party leader John Pesut said the by-election was federally focused, with several local issues intertwined.
“The issues surrounding the Victorian Parliamentary Party were not raised to the public before the election or on (election day).
Aston Liberal candidate Roshena Campbell was also criticized for not living up to her voters.
Little Proud said there are lessons for liberals.
“The fact that candidates are less likely to be local shows that we need to respect local voters and understand that they want locals. Senator Hume also endorsed Dutton as leader.
“I don’t think there will be much sentiment within the party [for her leadership change],” she said.
After losing the general election, Dutton led a cohesive team that showed little opposition, she said.
“Political parties always split in opposition. We never experienced that period of self-destruction,” he said. “I think they appreciate my leadership style. That’s why people are so supportive of me.”
Pest said all liberal leaders across the country must work together to take concrete action.
