New South Wales (NSW) Opposition Leader Mark Speakman has said the state Liberal Party will adopt a “sensible centre” approach following the crushing defeat of the Liberal-National Coalition in the 2025 federal election.
This comes as the Coalition reflects on its loss and begins to rebuild, with differing voices within the party offering their views on how they should progress forward.
During a press conference on May 5 ahead of the resumption of the state parliament, Speakman said the NSW Liberal Party would not get entangled with internal or external culture wars, but instead focus on its “timeless values.”
“The policies we‘ll be developing as an opposition will be evidence-based, they’ll be rigorous, they'll be prompt, and they will gravitate to the sensible centre of NSW politics,” he told reporters.
“Our values of aspiration, opportunity, enterprise, and hard work are timeless, and we will anchor our policies on those.
“But above all, be coherent, cohesive and focused on the issues that matter.”
Speakman said the state branch’s priorities would be housing affordability, the cost of living, schools, hospitals, and infrastructure.
At the same time, he said his party would remain committed to the 2050 net-zero target by encouraging renewable energy developments backed by batteries, pumped hydrogen, and gas.
“I can’t see nuclear energy happening in the foreseeable future in NSW, or Australia. But you never say never,” Speakman said.
The state opposition leader further guaranteed that his party’s policies would be released in a timely manner ahead of the 2027 state election.
As of May 6, the Coalition is projected to win 39 seats, with four on Sydney’s urban fringes.
Meanwhile, Labor is set to secure 85 seats, and other minor parties are expected to win 10.
Liberal Senator Blames Preference Deal With One Nation
Speakman is not the only senior figure in the Liberal Party who is advocating for a return to “centrist values.”He argued that this move had pushed centrist voters away and damaged the party’s image.
“I don’t think preferencing One Nation is a good idea for the Liberal Party. [Former Prime Minister] John Howard was right about that,” Bragg told ABC Radio.
“It’s a very bad optical position for our party… We need to recapture the centre. Elections in Australia are won in the centre.”
Left Media Scares Liberals from Adopting Trump Policies: Billionaire
Meanwhile, mining billionaire and Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart has voiced concerns that the Liberal Party avoided adopting Trump-style policies during the election due to the pressure from left-leaning media outlets.She said the Liberal Party was becoming a “me too” party in recent years, which caused it to shy away from introducing policies to cut government red tape, bureaucracy, and wastage.
“The left media did a very successful effort, frightening many in the Liberal Party from anything ‘Trump’ and away from any Trump-like policies,” Rinehart said in a public statement.
“No doubt the left media will now try to claim that the Liberal loss was because the Liberal Party followed Trump and became ’too right.' The two simply don’t add up.”
In addition, the billionaire stated that what the Liberal Party needed to do now was to educate voters on “true principles of common sense and truth” so that they knew how to vote correctly.
“Too many Aussies seem very short on understanding that new investment is needed to create revenue and living standards,” she said.
“And hand in hand, it’s necessary to have sensible policies to attract investment in the first place so that investment occurs and living standards, opportunities, and jobs can be sustained.”
She then cited examples of young voters in the United States who became Republicans despite being educated under left propaganda after awakening to the harsh reality of the country.
“Why are Americans getting it, and we aren’t?” she asked.
