Christopher Pyne claims Liberals must address gender imbalance, reset message after election loss

Former Coalition Minister Christopher Pyne gave his honest opinion in where his party went wrong, highlighting the “number one” problem the Liberals need to address.

Former Cabinet Minister Christopher Pyne has delivered a critical assessment of the Liberal Party’s crushing defeat in the 2025 federal election, urging the party to prioritise improving its representation of women if it hopes to return to government.

Describing the Coalition as “the mean party” on ABC’s Gruen Nation Wednesday night, Payne warned that without a genuine commitment to increasing female representation, the Liberal Party risks further alienating voters.

“They’re going to start by addressing their problem with women, that’s number one,” he said.

“If I was advising liberal parties advertising, I’d say, if we can’t fix the problem with women, we’re never going to get back from the brink.”

The comments come after a bruising federal election in which the Liberal Party lost a string of traditionally safe seats, including many held by moderate MPs, to independents and Labor candidates, with it being viewed as a rejection of the party’s current direction.

Former Defence Minister Christopher Pyne has delivered a critical assessment of the Liberal Party.

Christopher Pyne said Liberals became the “mean party”. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Pyne pointed to the underrepresentation of women in the party as a major issue, suggesting that the perception of imbalance is hurting the Liberals at the ballot box.

“You can’t pretend you’ve got 50 per cent women members if you’ve got 12 per cent,” he said.

Will Anderson, host of TV show 'Gruen Nation'. Pic ABC.

“It’s not beyond changing, there’s no reason why the Liberal Party should assume that it’s all over, but they are going to have to address the issue of where they are positioned on women.”

Pyne, who served under both Howard and Turnbull governments, noted that the party’s appeal had eroded, citing the Howard era as a time when the Liberals successfully captured the middle ground.

Now, Pyne believes the party has taken the stance of the “mean party” and have alienated key groups of voters.

He described the Coalition’s message in this election as divisive, citing proposed public sector job cuts as an example of policies that may have pushed away voters.

“We’re the party saying we’re going to sack 41,000 public servants because we don’t like public servants,” the former Minister for Defence said.

“But there’s public servants all across the country, not just in Canberra and they’re all thinking to themselves they don’t like public servants, and hundreds of 100,000s of voters thought that party’s not for us.”

Originally published as Christopher Pyne claims Liberals must address gender imbalance, reset message after election loss