Peter Dutton has accepted responsibility for the party’s historic loss in the Aston byelection, but says he has no plans to step down as leader of the Liberal party.
Last month Dutton told ABC radio he was happy for the byelection to be a “verdict” on himself and Anthony Albanese, as well as the campaigns both parties were running.
On Sunday he conceded he had failed.
“By not winning the election, we’ve failed that test that has been set for us by the Victorian people,” he said in an interview with ABC’s Insiders.
“That’s the reality. Now, the question is how we rebuild from here, the policies that we have, the brand rebuilding that we need to do in Victoria and it is a very significant issue for us.”
The count in Aston is ongoing, but Labor has claimed the seat with a decisive 6% swing, making Mary Doyle the first government candidate in more than 100 years to win a seat off an opposition in a byelection.
Despite the result, no leadership spill is planned for the federal team, with one Liberal MP telling the Guardian in the wake of the result “there is no one else to get behind”.
Liberal frontbenchers Sussan Ley, Angus Taylor, Paul Fletcher and Dan Tehan have been floated as potential future leaders, but none have the numbers within the party room as it struggles to rebuild after its 2022 election loss.
Dutton himself said he has no plans to move on. Asked if he should stay on as leader, Dutton appealed to his party room.
“Of course I should. I can tell you it makes me more determined to rebuild this party and be in a winning position by 2025,” he said.
“I have been in a marginal seat the last two years, won by 22 votes, won by 9% and low and high-water marks. That is the nature of politics. Ours is now an opportunity to rebuild. We will do that over the course of the next couple of years and we will go into the next election in a position that will see us win it.”
Dutton blamed the Liberals’ standing in Victoria for the loss, which he said had been in a decline since John Howard won government. But he did not offer an explanation for the trend.
“There are issues that we need to address within the division here in Victoria,” he said.
“That is a statement of the obvious and that has been going on for a long time. I intend to do everything I can from a federal level to be able to rectify that.”
jeez Peter - just tell the truth. Victoria is a small l liberal state and the Liberal Party egged on by the Murdoch media has moved further and further to the right. The last time the Liberal Party went ahead in Victoria was 2016 when Julia Banks won Chisholm #InsidersABC
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) April 1, 2023
Dutton said one of his biggest strengths had been holding the party together after its federal election loss, which saw it lose seats in every major Australian city.
“It is because we’ve been able to hold the show together, because I have respect for my colleagues,” he said.
“I have a leadership style which I believe they appreciate, which is why people very strongly are expressing their support to me and no doubt to you in relation to the mood in the party room at the moment. But we have a particular problem in Victoria. There is no question about that. And we have to learn the lessons and rebuild.”
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said his opponent was focused on the party room and not the Australian public.
“Australians don’t want any major party that’s focused on themselves and on their internals,” he said.
“What they want is a government and an alternative government that’s focused on their needs, on their issues, on their lives and improving them.
“Peter Dutton isn’t doing that. Because he is focused just on his internals in his own words. That’s why he’s just saying ‘no’ to everything, and not being a part of any solution. He’s become an observer of Australian politics rather than a participant.”
The Coalition is out of government across mainland Australia, with Tasmania and the Brisbane City Council as exceptions to the rule.
