Infighting and audits reveal ‘teals’ stripped Libs of more than seats

Liberals are scrambling to point the finger at MPs losing seats to ‘teal’ independents, as senior figures reflect on what went wrong in the federal elections, and who went wrong.

Senior Liberals have blamed local MPs who lost their seats for running low energy campaigns that failed to engage voters and in some cases wound up helping their opponents, as the Coalition continued to rake over the results of the federal election.

Sources close to the campaign pointed to the efforts of Dr Fiona Martin, who lost the inner-west Sydney seat of Reid to Labor’s Sally Sitou, as well as Trent Zimmerman in North Sydney and Dave Sharma in Wentworth who both lost their seats to “teal” independent candidates, as examples of what went wrong.

According to one source, Dr Martin was the subject of what was described as an “intervention” when an audit of its campaign management software found that she had done “zero” doorknocking or social media.

However another source disputed this and said, “Fiona had done some social media and doorknocking but not as much as others.”

Another source said that by continually campaigning on the issue of climate change, Sharma and Zimmerman were essentially “fighting on their side of the field.”

Trent Zimmerman joining a line of early voters at Crows Nest in 2022 which stretched around the block. Picture: David Swift.

“In electorates like Wentworth and North Sydney, climate change was the number one issue for these more affluent electorates,” this individual said.

“But every time they talked about climate in general terms, they were reminding people of their opponents, rather than talking about the economy, which is the Coalition’s strength.”

Liberal member for Wentworth Dave Sharma speaks to voters during Australia's general election at a polling station at Bondi Beach in Sydney. Picture: Steven Saphore

“This was obviously a dumb strategy,” they said.

However, all sources acknowledged that in North Sydney and Wentworth the sheer weight of money being spent on the independents’ campaigns was, as one put it, “almost insurmountable.”

“The challenge with Wentworth is that there was plenty of (Liberal campaign) money but it wasn’t necessarily being directed the right way, and it was often driving issues the wrong way,” said one.

“I think in North Sydney and Wentworth the sheer scale of resources put into (the teal) candidates by Climate 200 and various entities that were funding them, it was on a scale that was next level.”

“When you travelled to other parts of Sydney even marginal electorates, they raised good money but this was an entirely different level.”

MP for North Sydney, Kylea Tink, poses for a photograph with her supporters at Jeffrey Street Wharf in Sydney. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

However Sharma denied that his campaign was off message and said that he campaigned on what his community cared about.

“My campaign locally focused on a number of issues, including our economic recovery plan, our investments in national security, local infrastructure upgrades, and our support to key public services.

Climate is a big issue in Wentworth, including for Liberal voters, and our research consistently showed it was at the top of concerns the electorate wanted to see addressed by government. So naturally our plan to responsibly transition to lower emissions formed a key plank of my campaign. To have ignored this issue would have made my prospects even more difficult,” he said.

The infighting came as Liberals prepared to face off over the future of the party and particularly whether delayed preselections hurt Scott Morrison’s re-election efforts.

On Tuesday NSW Senator Andrew Bragg said that the Liberals had become a dictatorship in an email to members.

Gladys Berejiklian and Andrew Bragg at Northbridge Golf Club in 2021. Picture: Supplied

Calling for changes to the party’s constitution, Bragg wrote, “Your right to have your say and select our candidates is the most important reason to be a member.

Yet this precious right was taken away as our constitution was twisted and buckled. We are determined to ensure that this never happens again,” in an email co-authored with women’s council delegate Jane Buncle.

Bragg’s and Buncle’s email is believed to be a reference to the long-running fight over preselections that went all the way to the High Court on the eve of the election.