Alan Tudge blames Dan Andrews’ Covid lockdowns for Liberal loss
Dan Andrews has been bizarrely linked to the Liberal Party’s election bloodbath in Victoria for one reason.
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One of the last Liberals standing in Melbourne has laid the blame for the Victorian bloodbath squarely at Dan Andrews’ feet.
Embattled MP Alan Tudge managed to hold onto his seat of Aston in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs but suffered a 11.9 per cent slump in his primary vote.
Reflecting on the loss, Mr Tudge told Sky News many votes turned against the Liberals in part due to “Dan Andrews lockdowns”.
“We've had a pandemic, which was particularly hard in Melbourne,” Mr Tudge said.
“That had an impact on us because people were blaming us in Melbourne, in part for the Dan Andrews’ lockdowns, and not being strong enough to take it up to him.”
Mr Tudge said the anti-Chinese Communist Party rhetoric hurt the Liberals and acknowledged the party would need to rebuild trust and re-evaluate the language used.
The lack of policy differentiation from the Coalition and Labor’s “aggressive” campaign to “destroy” Scott Morrison’s also played a role, he said.
“They did that relentlessly over two years. We didn't respond strongly enough. And we didn’t define Anthony Albanese strongly enough,” Mr Tudge added.
Saturday’s election saw the Liberals almost completely wiped off the map in Melbourne.
Previously safe seats of Kooyong, Goldstein and Higgins fell to so-called teal independents and Labor respectively.
Meanwhile, two other Liberal seats, Deakin and Menzies, are on a knife edge.
Asked if he would step aside in Aston to pave the way for Josh Frydenberg to return to federal politics, Mr Tudge laughed.
“I just got re-elected,” he said.
Originally published as Alan Tudge blames Dan Andrews’ Covid lockdowns for Liberal loss