‘Lot of work to do’: Senator Jane Hume speaks out on shocking election loss

A former Liberal minister has weighed in on the party’s way forward, saying there was a “lingering issue” from the federal election defeat.

A former Liberal minister has weighed in on the party’s way forward following a shocking federal election defeat.

Liberal senator Jane Hume said climate change and the “lingering issue over women for my party” were the two drivers behind losing seats across the nation.

“Women who were professional, well educated, chose not to not to vote for us as they had done before,” she said.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do to make sure that we are properly representing the views of women, professional women, also older women who have gone through a break-up with their partner and have had to go back into the job market again – with very limited superannuation.”

Liberal senator Jane Hume said the party had a lot of work to do following their 2022 election defeat. Picture: Supplied

Senator Hume said the election outcome revealed that women spoke up and said “well, we count” and made it “very clear what their views are”.

The 54 seats won so far by the party – in comparison to the 77 filled up by the Coalition in 2019 – has prompted the Liberals to do some “soul-searching”.

“It‘s a very tough time for my party at the moment,” Senator Hume said.

“We need a strong and successful Liberal voice to really come forward.”

Ms Hume said she was “going to consider my position over the next day or so” after being touted as the next deputy leader of the Liberal Party.

In inner-Brisbane, the Greens won the blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Ryan and red Labur seat of Griffith.

Greens candidate Elizabeth Watson-Brown defeated Liberal MP Julian Simmonds in the seat of Ryan, in Brisbane‘s western suburbs, which has been won by the Coalition at every election since 1972.

Greens representative Max Chandler-Mather outvoted key Labor candidate Terri Butler for the seat of Griffith

The Greens' Max Chandler-Mather won the Queensland seat of Griffith. Picture: Dan Peled/Getty Images.

Mr Chandler-Mather said the Greens’ result in Brisbane was a “beacon of hope” for Australians ”that you do not have to settle for the political status quo”.

“I think we had a massive swing here because we spent 14 months knocking on over 90,000 doors, running community campaigns about everything from flight noise, helping clean up after the floods,” he said.

“We took a philosophy we needed to embed in our communities and in people‘s lives.”

Originally published as ‘Lot of work to do’: Senator Jane Hume speaks out on shocking election loss