Liberal candidate trounced on Saturday takes aim at ‘woeful’ campaign
A state election Liberal candidate has written a devastating post mortem email of his party’s failings, which has since been leaked.
Victoria State Election
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The state election rout will “pale into insignificance” compared to what awaits the Liberal Party at a federal poll unless drastic changes are made, a marginal seat candidate says.
In a long and scathing leaked email of what went wrong on Saturday, Albert Park Liberal candidate Andrew Bond takes aim at the party’s “woeful” campaign.
Mr Bond said he kept hearing people say “for the first time in my life I am not voting Liberal” and those voters were at risk of staying away in the future.
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“This group are comfortable, asset rich, employed professionals or retirees, and small business owners,” he writes.
“However they are also non-religious but not anti-religion, somewhat concerned about the environment but not Greens, and compassionate about their fellow humans, but not Social Justice Warriors.”
He said that many people “reluctantly” voted Liberal on Saturday on state issues.
“These people fully intend not to vote Liberal at the next Federal election, and if drastic changes are not made federally, Saturday’s poor state performance will pale into insignificance compared to what is awaiting the Federal Party.”
The Port Phillip councillor said about a week before polling day he was told by the campaign headquarters he was the most marginal seat in the state.
After the election, the Liberals were smashed at the ballot boxes and suffered a 10 per cent swing against the party.
“Was our polling so wrong, or was I as a candidate fed false information?” he writes.
Mr Bond also took aim at the party’s campaigning software program and the fact Matthew Guy was viewed as “unelectable”.
“Many of our policies were woeful, or non-existent,” he said.
Taking particular aim at the vacuum in the policy areas of environment, housing and homelessness and metropolitan public transport, Mr Bond said more must be done to establish a “suite of practical, economically responsible, and easily communicated policies”.
“While the ALP were talking about level crossing removal, education and health, we were obsessing over injecting rooms, proposing to return religious instruction to state schools, and giving away half price TV’s,” he writes.
“Any wonder we got the outcome we got.”
Mr Bond declined to comment.