He distilled the problems plaguing the Victorian Liberals into three categories: “Brand Liberal”, organisational structures, and an ageing voter and membership demographic.
Mirabella said that after the state election last year he had calculated the Liberals would have won five more seats if 200 people had switched their vote, and there were another five in which fewer than 1000 decided the outcome.
Supporters of Moira Deeming at the state council on Saturday.Credit: Penny Stephens
Labor won 56 seats in November, one more than the 2018 landslide, and the Liberals 19, two fewer than in the previous election. Labor’s primary vote fell by more than 6 per cent, but the Coalition was unable to capitalise on that – its primary vote also slipped by 0.71 per cent.
Mirabella said the Liberals needed to be ahead of the curve in Melbourne’s west and north-west, where there had been swings against Labor, and focus on winning over Millennials.
“There is a demographic time bomb, and it is this problem that we haven’t been addressing for years,” he said.
On the “hurdle that is the climate change question”, he said the party needed to stop arguing over the facts of climate science and begin offering solutions.
Mirabella also revealed that a review of the Aston byelection – which was not conducted by the party but that he said was “pretty solid” – showed candidate Roshena Campbell had the highest recognition and positivity among Liberal names, even when compared with outgoing federal Liberal MP Alan Tudge.
Campbell lost the outer-eastern suburban seat to Labor’s Mary Doyle in a byelection last month.
Mirabella said that while there was some element of truth to the criticism that the party lost the seat because it had not preselected a local candidate, it was not the biggest factor.
Loading
“The reason we lost Aston is simply a continuation of the same reasons for the results in the state election and the federal election, and that is our brand in the mind of the consumer,” he said.
“I’ve developed a concept which I’ve called brand fragility. Our brand is not just fragile, it doesn’t take much for people to roll their eyes [when they hear Liberal Party].”
The new Liberal state director, Stuart Smith, who starts on Monday, introduced himself to members at the gathering and said now was the time to focus on federal Labor’s inability to control inflation and scrutinise budget blowouts.
Meanwhile, the state council passed two motions on Sunday to force the state parliamentary team to develop a housing policy and hold the government to account over its response to last year’s floods, which are still affecting regional Victoria.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.