Australians have unleashed at the Liberals after their humiliating election losses, with many laying the blame on the centre-right “conservative” party’s weak immigration policy.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton lost his own seat on Saturday night along with at least 12 other Liberal Party MPs after a two-party swing of more than 3% to Labor dealt the Coalition a crushing defeat.
It was also a bad night for the Greens, who lost two seats with another two in doubt amid a 0.3% fall in their national vote as of Sunday afternoon, and One Nation fell short of expectations, receiving only 6.2% of the vote so far after pre-election polls indicated a 7-10% share.
Right-wing and conservative voters responded to the results by saying the Coalition should have taken a stronger stance on immigration, free speech and wokeness.
Congratulations to @AlboMP on last night’s election victory.
As we Liberals reflect on a shattering loss, two things matter.
First, we mustn’t lose heart. We have come back from demoralising defeat before.
Second, we mustn’t sell our soul. We won’t win elections or govern…
— Tony Abbott (@HonTonyAbbott) May 4, 2025
“What an embarrassment. All Dutton had to do was campaign on ending immigration, ending DEI and Net Zero …and he would’ve won in a LANDSLIDE,” one Australian wrote in a viral X post.
“Instead… he was a weakling and even lost his seat It’s almost like he did this on purpose.”
“This defies all logic. By any measure, Albanese ran the worst government in our nation‘s history. They should have been smashed,” former Liberal MP turned NSW Libertarian candidate Craig Kelly, who looks unlikely to have picked up a senate spot, wrote, but his commenters blamed Mr Dutton’s approach.
“Millions of recent immigrants who have only paid tax for a couple of years voted for massive socialism. No defiance of logic at all,” one commenter wrote.
“Liberal didn’t offer an alternative Craig. If Dutton came out saying he would put freedom of speech in the constitution and reduce immigration by 80% he would have won in a landslide. It was just a case of the devil you know. Entirely unsurprising to me,” said another.
This defies all logic.
By any measure, Albanese ran the worst government in our nation‘s history.
They should have been smashed. https://t.co/o7eLCSYR0O
— Craig Kelly – Libertarian (@craigkellyXXX) May 3, 2025
Former Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader Tony Abbott received similar responses to his election post-mortem, where he urged Liberal voters not to lose heart or become an “echo of Labor”.
“Trying to out-Teal the Teals or be Labor-lite is not a winning strategy Australia craves stability and effective and responsive leadership,” wrote former Liberal candidate Katherine Deves.
“This was the easiest election to win but the liberals have sold out and wouldn’t touch the two biggest issues: mass immigration and housing affordability. Dutton supported mass immigration (only supported inconsequential cuts) and wanted house prices to keep going up,” wrote another Australian.
“Liberals lost because Dutton turned into a simpering softcock who refused to go hard on immigration!” said a third.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese brought in 1.5 million immigrants over the past three years, driving housing, rental and cost-of-living crises and pushing the foreign-born proportion of the population to the highest level since Federation.
But Mr Dutton repeatedly refused to commit to immigration cuts, instead promising to bring in more Indian migrants, bring back a “golden visa” for rich Chinese, and blocking Labor’s international student caps.
He eventually committed to a cap just 11% smaller than Labor’s, promised to reduce permanent migration by 25%, and finally committed to reducing net overseas migration by 100,000 people a year, which on current levels would still put it far above the historical average.
Header image: Left, Peter Dutton pandering to Chinese voters in Sydney (Facebook). Right, vote results showing Labor seat gains (ABC News).
