Everyday Australians offer explanations for the Coalition's electoral wipe-out

Australia Broadcast Center

04-05-2025

Across the country, voters sent a clear message about who they wanted in Canberra.
But what exactly drove so many to turn their back on the Coalition?
Labor will return to Parliament House with a firm grip on power, representing seats many never would have expected to fall from the Coalition's clutches just years ago.
Nationwide, blue seats turned red, from the most northerly electorate of Leichardt in Queensland, south to Tasmania's bellwethers, Bass and Braddon.
In the cities, Liberals lost both marginal and long-held electorates, the likes of Deakin and Menzies in Melbourne, Petrie and Bonner in Brisbane, and Hughes in Sydney's south-west.
Meanwhile, Independents maintained their hold of blue-ribbon seats across the country.
Australians had much to contemplate when they cast their ballots after years of economic pain, and an increasingly challenging global landscape promising further uncertainty.
Why did so many reject Peter Dutton's Coalition?
Was it an unlikeable captain, poor policy offerings, a blundering campaign, culture wars debates, or anti-Trump headwinds?
The ABC has spoken to voters from these shifting seats across the country, and listened to their fears, fury and frustration with the parties and the political system.
Their stories provide an insight into exactly what brought Mr Dutton and the Liberals undone.
David Thompson and Debra Kruse changed their voting preferences this election.
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ABC News: Jessica Moran
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'Laughable portfolio of policies', say Tasmanians
The northern Tasmanian seat of Bass, which takes in Launceston and surrounding areas, is known for being marginal and often swings with the government of the day.
It is considered more Liberal-leaning than some other Tasmanian electorates, alongside nearby Braddon.
Residents in Bass did not hold back when they offered their views on the Coalition's campaign.
"I've never seen such a laughable portfolio of policies … worst portfolio anybody's ever brought in Australia," said swinging voter and IT consultant David Thompson.
"
I mean, the nuclear thing was just uneconomic, unproven … it just didn't resonate at all.
"
He felt the policy offerings from the Coalition were "shambolic" and many "thought bubbles" that were back tracked within days.
Lawyer Debra Kruse said she had changed her voting preferences this election.
The pressing issue on her mind was the environment and future quality of life for her three children and five grandchildren.
"We have grandchildren who will never be able to buy a house unless they get lots of help … I just didn't see anything from the Coalition that would help," she said.
Peter Dwyer was not surprised by Labor's landslide national win.
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ABC News: Jessica Moran
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Another Bass resident, Peter Dwyer, said while he did not vote for Labor he was not surprised by the swing away from the Liberal Party locally and nationally.
While he mostly backs the Coalition, he was not supportive of their nuclear energy policy, describing it as a "60s thing" that "we've left behind".
He feels the Liberal party has swayed too far to the right.
"I'm probably fairly typical of most Australians; we just look at elections today and just go, not another one,"
he said.
Mr Dwyer felt Peter Dutton had admiration for US President Donald Trump, which bothered him.
"I think the Coalition were very, very unwise to sort of align themselves to a large degree with [President Trump] … he's proving himself more and more to be a financial instability globally."
This sentiment was echoed by Mr Thompson, who said, "nobody wanted the craziness that is 'the Donald' in Australia".
Mr Dutton had been accused of inciting Trumpian rhetoric language and ideas, while also appointing Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as Shadow Minister for Government Efficiency.
The role echoed the one the US president created for controversial tech billionaire Elon Musk, but both Mr Dutton and Ms Price rejected the similarities.
A recent poll from the Lowy Institute found two thirds of Australians had little or no trust in the US, a historic low in the poll's almost two-decade history.
In other parts of the country, voters pointed to the national and personal issues that influenced their votes.
Deakin resident Cathy voted for Labor to protect the NDIS.
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ABC News: Jesse Thompson
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Fears for the future in city suburbs
Many Liberals are reckoning with the colossal losses across the major cities, with long-held suburban seats changing hands.
The Liberal Party's Keith Wolahan, who looks to have lost his Melbourne seat of Menzies, said his party "has an issue with people in urban Australia".
In the neighbouring electorate of Deakin, Coalition front-bencher Michael Sukkar lost his seat to Labor's Matt Greg.
The electorate had become increasingly marginal, with Mr Sukkar securing it by only 0.2 per cent of the vote in 2022, and a redistribution shrinking the margin even further.
Prior to this, the seat had only been held by a Labor member three times since 1972.
"I just feel like Labor is more compassionate to ordinary, working class people like me," said Cathy, a local Deakin resident.
She hoped the Labor government would provide more support to renters and protect the National Disability Insurance Scheme — which her daughter accesses.
One of Labor's less expected gains of this election was the south-western electorate of Hughes, where voters appeared concerned for the future.
The electorate takes in parts of Liverpool, Campbelltown and the Shire, and has been held by Liberal MPs since 1996.
Here, residents told the ABC their biggest concerns were for future generations.
"I'm not struggling but I feel sorry for the younger people … I am happy Peter Dutton lost his seat," one man told the ABC.
Another woman, who didn't give her name, said she had deep concerns for the country, but is "not really happy" about Anthony Albanese's re-election.
"The young ones can't afford to buy a home anymore, everything is just too expensive … the younger generation are going to be our future," she said.
"
We just needed someone to give us better direction with things … I don't know if Albanese is the right person for the next three years.
"
Thomas Paff (right) says he had a lot to contemplate at this year's federal election.
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ABC News: Emma Siossian
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Regional voters looking for change
In regional areas, some locals said housing, social and cost-of-living policies ultimately determined their vote.
Thomas Paff lives in the beachside town of Coffs Harbour on the New South Wales Mid-North Coast, with his wife and newborn baby.
The 28-year-old said he and his wife had a lot to contemplate at this national poll.
They live in the regional electorate of Cowper, which became a closely-watched contest where the Nationals were threatened by a local independent.
Ultimately, the incumbent Pat Conaghan beat Caz Heise, maintaining the long tradition of National representation in the electorate.
Mr Paff said he took more time to consider his political choice this election after having his first child, and was happy with Labor's win at a national level.
He and his wife were convinced to change their usual voting preferences due to what they saw as Labor's "family-friendly" policies.
"There were a few things about childcare that my wife and I thought were appropriate to us," he said.
"This isn't the way we normally vote, but this time with the newborn, we thought we should look at different policies, and that's why we chose Labor,"
he said.
"We are happy with the result, we get a few days of childcare, and there was a 20 per cent HECS debt reduction [pledge], and my wife and I both have a HECS debt, so that was good as well."
He said the big dream for the young couple was "to get into the housing market soon".
Cairns local Kurt McDonald was looking for housing solutions.
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ABC News: Christopher Testa
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Regional centres have felt the pinch of rising house prices in recent years, and in the far-northern electorate of Leichhardt, voters said it was a key issue for many.
"Ultimately, I think everyone wants to own their house one day," said Leichhardt local Kurt McDonald.
The 30-year-old lives in Cairns, the heart of the electorate, a major regional centre, a popular tourist spot and a destination for cashed-up, city-based sea-changers.
"Places in Cairns, over the last couple of years, have doubled in rents, housing values have doubled [it feels like]," Mr McDonald said.
Labor had been eyeing off Leichhardt, hoping to steal it from retiring Liberal Warren Entsch, and managed to secure it with a more than 10 per cent swing.
Mr McDonald believes the Liberals failed to prove they had long-term solutions for the pressing economic problems many locals faced.
"The Liberal party didn't really seem like they knew which way to go depending on the day," he said.
"
It jumped from culture wars one day, to cost of living the next, so it was quite difficult to be taken in by that sort of approach.
"
Voters across the country made it clear they found multiple reasons not to back Coalition candidates.
From foreign relations and campaign rhetoric to housing and energy policies.
The Liberal and National parties now have the difficult job of trying to build a new strategy to gain support of those in the cities, seaside and everywhere else across the vast nation.
They have three years to try and regain their lost base.