Editorial: The journey for coalition post election has been messy but its on them to get back on track

In the lead up to the election that delivered him a second term as Prime Minister and unassailable authority over his party, Anthony Albanese had a favourite put-down for the Coalition. “They haven’t done the work”. They hadn’t spent the time figuring out what they stood for, who they were targeting, or the details of their policies. And as a result, the Coalition simply were not in a position to govern. Mr Albanese’s line had cut-through because voters could see the truth of it. They saw that under Peter Dutton, the Opposition had presented very few policies. Those it did take to the election were hazy at best and subject to backflips at worst. Some were just “aspirations”, like the last minute announcement that at some point in the future a Coalition government would like to index personal income tax to prevent bracket creep. Australians couldn’t be expected to hand government to an Opposition that hadn’t figured out what they wanted to do with it. Now, with that bruising loss in the rearvision mirror, the Coalition deal finally sorted out and a shadow cabinet assembled, it’s time for the Opposition to catch up on the work they should have done years ago. The three weeks since the election, which have seen leadership battles within both parties as well as an aborted split between the two, have been difficult. Messy personal battles have been dragged into the open, playing out under the public glare. Nationals leader David Littleproud in particular has lost some skin. But it hasn’t necessarily been time entirely wasted. The Liberals in particular had been devastated on May 3. Clearly parts of the Nationals harboured strong resentment towards their Coalition partners. It would be unreasonable to expect the Liberals and Nationals would be able to operate as usual directly after a crushing loss without a period of convalescence. The acute phase of that period is done, but there’s still a long way to go. Now it’s time for the Coalition to come to terms with the message sent to them by voters, and learn from it. The Liberals must get back to their roots as a party for mainstream Australia. That means they need to meet those mainstream Australians where they are, and then devise policies to serve them. That will take time. They’ve got plenty of it. Realistically, there’s little chance that the Opposition front bench announced by Liberal leader Sussan Ley on Wednesday will bear much resemblance to the Coalition’s cabinet when they next govern. If they want that to happen within the next decade, they must learn from their mistakes, and do the work. This has been a painful, ugly process. But it’s necessary, and not just for the Coalition themselves. All Australians benefit from having a capable, thoughtful opposition which is able to hold the government of the day to account. The onus is on the Coalition now to get themselves out of the headlines and make themselves relevant again.