What the Liberals Should Learn from the Dunstan Defeat?

Published on March 25, 2024

Commentary  The spate of recent elections should be a wake-up call to the state divisions of the Liberal Party across Australia. The result in Tasmania—where the party is endeavouring to form a minority government—is but one sign that the state Liberal brand is tarnished. More telling was the result of a by-election in South Australia for the state seat of Dunstan. For the first time in 116 years, a sitting premier has appeared to win a by-election while in government. Where opposition parties usually perform well against sitting governments, the opposite occurred in Adelaide. The result should not have come as a complete shock to the party. In 2020, then-Premier Steven Marshall only held the seat by 260 votes. Mr. Marshall had been a member for some 14 years. The Liberals lost government in 2022 after just one term, handing the reins to Labor leader Peter Malinauskus....

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