Senior Coalition figures are warning the federal opposition faces an existential crisis and must urgently attract more women, calling for Peter Dutton’s replacement to overhaul policy development and candidate recruitment processes.
The calls came as Andrew Hastie ruled himself out of the race for opposition leader, despite having being urged by colleagues to stand.
A spokeswoman for Hastie told Guardian Australia on Monday afternoon that the shadow defence minister would not be a candidate for the Liberal party leadership.
The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, the deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, and the shadow immigration spokesperson, Dan Tehan, are all consulting on possible tilts at the Liberal party leadership, testing support with MPs who survived Saturday’s electoral rout.
The former home affairs minister Karen Andrews on Monday warned the opposition had reached a new low under Dutton’s leadership, saying the election loss had sent “shock waves” through the Coalition.
“The Coalition is facing an existential crisis. The first warning bell sounded in 2022 but the thinking of many in leadership positions didn’t change; if anything, they locked into the old ways,” Andrews said.
“Recriminations are disappointing to hear at this time. If those with the ability to influence the direction of the party had stood up and voiced their opinion when they had the chance, perhaps the situation would not be so dire now.
“It’s not too late to rebuild but action should start today.”
On current numbers, the Coalition will have fewer than 10 women in the 150-seat House of Representatives.
Helen Coonan, a former Howard government minister, told Guardian Australia the party needed to do more to build a pipeline of quality candidates, including women. But she stressed that quality policy offerings to improve the lives of Australians were essential to win over voters.
“If you ignore the contribution women make, and what their expectations are, for organisations, that’s not going to augur well.
“I think women have looked at the Coalition and not liked what they’ve seen in some policy positions, so have looked for something else.
“Politics, or at least what parties offer, should be about how to enrich people’s lives, how to enable people, and not just be a laundry list of things that might not have much relevance to them.”
Coonan said female MPs in the parliamentary Liberal party deserved credit for their advocacy.
“To attract women to run as candidates, whether you’ve got quotas or no quotas, if they haven’t got a good story to sell, if they don’t feel that they are part of a compelling narrative that appeals beyond being in a party, that’s not really going to help attract good women,” Coonan said.
“They will ask, ‘where is this going, where is my place?’”
Outgoing Liberal senator Linda Reynolds on Monday called for Ley to lead the party, calling the election campaign “a comprehensive failure”.
“You can see, through successive reviews in federal and state, in terms of where we have taken the wrong turn, but we haven’t comprehensively understood those lessons and we certainly haven’t implemented the reforms that are needed.”
Reynolds, a former defence minister, said the party’s male dominance was holding it back.
“Ten years ago I was part of a review into gender … and we recommended targets and how to get there without quotas. That’s been the Liberal party policy for 10 years but it’s just sat on a shelf,” she told ABC radio.
“We do have to have the hard conversations now about how we become more gender-balanced but also a broader diversity.”
Guardian Australia has been told Ley was central to the decision to ditch the controversial policy to restrict work from home arrangements for government employees, which was seen as toxic with voters.
One former Liberal MP said damage from the plan caused a fundamental shift in the campaign’s early weeks, stopping some prospective voters considering Dutton at all.
“For some ridiculous reason, somebody thought this was a good idea. It didn’t sound good from the moment it was mentioned.
“If you’re in a Canberra bubble, it doesn’t matter who the leader is. If you are not listening to your constituents, to our communities, to our women, to our battlers, you won’t get anywhere.
“I am a great believer in the strength of democracy and the party system, and when we get it right, we’ll get it right for the country.”
A leadership ballot is expected after results in a string of close seats are determined. Labor looks to have more than 85 seats in the new parliament, with the Coalition leading the count in about 40 seats.
