The next leader of the Liberals has been urged to fight for Australians and to forgo ideological or culture wars.
Liberals deputy leader Sussan Ley and shadow treasurer Angus Taylor are vying for the top spot, with Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price joining forces with Mr Taylor in a tilt for deputy leader.
As the party tries to rebuild after its worst election defeat since World War II, ex-NSW Liberal president Jason Falinski has called on MPs to rethink their priorities.
“I don’t think we need to focus on left or right,” Mr Falinski told ABC radio on Monday.
“I don’t think Australians think along that sort of ideological spectrum.
“What we need to focus on is helping Australians get ahead.”
Mr Falinski used to hold the Sydney seat of Mackellar but came under scrutiny during the 2022 federal election after he attended an event with controversial Liberal candidate for Warringah Katherine Deves, who once claimed transgender children were being “surgically mutilated and sterilised”.
Both lost their respective battles in those seats during an election that arguably marked the start of the Liberal Party’s downward trajectory.
The former politician urged Liberals to move away from the culture wars over societal issues.
“You can’t say we want government out of the boardroom, just so we can put it in the bedroom,” he said.
“When the Liberal Party is framing its policies in terms of the so-called culture wars, we’re losing votes, we’re splintering our electorate coalition.
“When we are framing issues in terms of economic policy, we’re bringing our electoral coalition together.
NSW Liberal senator Dave Sharma warned that whoever wins the leadership can’t allow the party to break into warring left-right camps.
“They’re both honest about the scale of the challenge we face and they’re both committed,” he said of the two main contenders.
“It’s important to make a collegiate approach after this leadership ballot – there are not enough of us to break apart into warring camps.
“We need to all pull in the same direction.”
Senator Sharma also said the outside leadership contender, Victorian Tim Wilson, hadn’t been in touch with him but he was aware of the support being given to Mr Wilson by Mr Falinski.
Mr Wilson has claimed victory in the Melbourne seat of Goldstein over independent Zoe Daniel, although she is yet to concede.
“Tim is a fighter, and I think our supporters – any supporters of any political party after the loss that we’ve just had – want someone who’s going to fight,” Mr Falinski said.
“But it’s not really a pay-in to Tim Wilson.
“Whoever the next leader is has to embody that fighting spirit if we’re going to get ahead.”
The Liberals will elect the new opposition leader on Tuesday, while the National Party will go to a leadership vote on Monday.
The Labor government is likely to have at least 92 seats in the lower house, and the coalition 40, out of 150 spots. Some eight seats are still in doubt.
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