A plan to resurrect the coalition from the ashes of its election loss will be revealed by the opposition leader as she vows to represent modern Australia.
Sussan Ley will become the first Liberal leader to address the National Press Club since 2022 and the first female opposition leader to use the platform when she outlines her vision to win back voters on Wednesday.
Australians handed the coalition its worst loss at the federal election in May and, although Ms Ley has said her appointment to the opposition’s top job represented a fresh approach, there is still some way to go.
“Let’s be honest and up front about last month’s election. We didn’t just lose, we got smashed,” she will say in her address.
“We respect the election outcome with humility, we accept it with contrition and we must learn from it with conviction.
“The task before me – and my team – is to lead a Liberal Party that respects modern Australia, reflects modern Australia and represents modern Australia.”
Polls before the election suggested the coalition would not form government but the depth of the defeat was a shock.
The coalition was left without a leader and with less than half as many seats as Labor.
Policies such as an end to working-from-home arrangements for public servants and vague threats to cut jobs in government departments were blamed for its unpopularity with voters, alongside a perceived tendency to wade into culture wars.
These platforms failed to win over women and younger Australians, in particular.
But Ms Ley has committed to bringing them back into the Liberal fold, vowing to represent young and older Australians, professionals, everyday workers and families.
“Aspiration is the thread that connects every single part of Australian society,” she will say.
“Aspiration is the foundation of the Australian promise.
“That promise feels distant for many Australians today.”
By promising to reward, back and empower Australians, Ms Ley hopes to offer a strong alternative vote at the next federal election.
The coalition has been urged to move back towards the political centre, but many of its moderate members were wiped out at the election, leaving a significant contingent of conservatives that could threaten Ms Ley’s leadership during the next three years.
She also has to navigate the relationship with the National Party after the long-term coalition partners split briefly during the fallout from the calamitous election result.
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