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ABC News
ABC News
National
political reporter Tom Lowrey

Liberal election review to focus on teal independents and preselection problems

The Liberal Party has so far lost 18 seats to Labor, the Greens and "teal" independents. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Just days after its election defeat, the Liberal Party has announced the terms of its post-election review, focusing on the loss of seats to "teal" independents, and problems in the preselection process.

It will also consider how the party can broaden its appeal, looking specifically at how it fared among different demographics of voters.

Former party director Brian Loughnane and former superannuation minister Jane Hume will lead the review.

The party has lost 18 seats to Labor, the Greens and teal independents, and the seat of Deakin remains too close to call.

All parties regularly conduct post-election reviews, focusing both on what worked and what went wrong.

But the loss of once-safe Liberal seats such as Mackellar, Curtin, Kooyong, Goldstein and North Sydney to independents will be a specific focus.

Moderate Liberal MPs such as former finance minister Simon Birmingham have suggested the loss of those seats is the "loudest message" to come out of the election defeat.

Jointly leading the review is Liberal senator Jane Hume. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Asked for his thoughts on the losses, former prime minister Scott Morrison described the campaigns in those seats as "brutal".

"They were very vicious and very brutal campaigns, talking to my colleagues about them," he told Nine Radio.

"They played things very hard on the ground. Politics can be a tough and brutal business."

Review to look at preselection problems

The Liberals' campaign was hampered at the very start by significant preselection problems in New South Wales.

Candidates for a number of key seats, including those of former immigration minister Alex Hawke and Sussan Ley, a frontrunner for the role of deputy Liberal leader, were confirmed only days before the election was called.

Former party director Brian Loughnane will jointly lead the review. (Andrew Taylor: AAP)

Preselections in about a dozen seats were determined after a federal takeover of the process, denying rank-and-file members a say.

And the very late preselections denied candidates an early start to their campaigns, which often begin months in advance of an election being called.

While this process was used to secure the preselections of sitting MPs such as Mr Hawke and Ms Ley, it was also used to confirm the preselection of controversial Warringah candidate Katherine Deves.

Independent candidate Zali Steggell won in Warringah over Liberal candidate Katherine Deves. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)

Some senior Liberal Party figures, including NSW Treasurer Matt Kean, called for Ms Deves to be disendorsed during the campaign over her comments about transgender people. 

Senator Birmingham has suggested Ms Deves's candidacy damaged the campaigns of moderate Liberals running in neighbouring seats.

In a joint statement, Mr Loughnane and Senator Hume said they wanted input from across the party.

"We will consult widely across all parts of the party," they said.

"We welcome input from all party members and encourage submissions from all involved in the campaign."

Stark warning from West Australian Liberal women after two election disasters.
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