Liberals grapple with age, gender problems in new party paper

analysis Liberal Party quietly publishes paper grappling with party's failure to attract women, young people Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 5:00am The Liberals have quietly published a paper that floats offering a cut price $10 digital membership to join the party, in an effort to offset its declining numbers, which it says without renewal, leave the party effectively operating as a leaky bucket. Under the proposal up for discussion, the party would offer a range of memberships from a community tier priced between $40 to $60 that would "target people seeking identity, discussion and social connection rather than heavy activism". This would also give people access to some events, including possibly the right to vote at a local preselection. The publication of the discussion paper, led by senator James McGrath, coincided with the weekend of the Liberal Party's federal council, held in Victoria. It also proposes to address the lack of young people in the party, with a $10 digital-only tier aimed at targeting "time-poor professionals, parents, younger people and those wary of time commitment". The paper argues this kind of membership is intended to create a pipeline for full membership, but allows a more flexible path to involvement with the party, exclusively designed for online participation, with the paper warning the party should consider reducing its reliance on meeting-driven branch culture. "Many prospective members do not want to attend procedural meetings," the report reads. "They want purposeful activity and interesting events with meaningful impact. The party should treat membership as a core growth engine: if membership is stronger, more representative, and more engaged, the party is better positioned to win and to govern. Improving the membership experience should be considered both an organisational necessity and an electoral growth strategy." The gender issue The discussion paper also spoke about the need to get more women into the party, but again stopped short of proposing the adoption of quotas. "The party has seen a significant decline in support among professional women," the paper notes. "In 2019 the Liberal Party held 23 out of 50 electorates with the highest number of managerial and professional women. We now hold just two." That sobering assessment demonstrates the significant challenge the Liberal Party faces in winning back seats it lost to the teals, Labor, independents and most recently to One Nation at the Farrer by-election, where its candidate came third. The 32-page discussion paper also outlines what the party sees as the average Australian: a 38-year-old woman who was either born overseas or has at least one parent who was. In what must be a stark warning to the party, it says: "She's not particularly engaged in politics. But she's concerned the Liberals don't look like her or speak to her aspirations." The document states that in both the House of Representatives and Senate, women account for only 33 per cent of the Liberal party room, while women in Labor's caucus make up more than 50 per cent. "It is increasingly clear that if serious progress is to be made in delivering greater gender balance in our parliamentary team, additional measures will be required. None of them would be easy or without complication or resistance from some. However, if we want a different outcome, we need to be prepared to do things differently." The document outlines six options it could consider to address the lack of women running in winnable seats, including quotas: a long running contentious debate within the party. In a sign of how split the party is over the introduction of quotas, the discussion paper offers arguments both for and against the model. Tony Abbott's big job Discussion about how to get more Liberal women elected will be one of the jobs for former prime minister Tony Abbott, who was officially appointed as the party's federal president, which drew a mixed response from within the party. Former federal Liberal MP Fiona Martin, who resigned her membership to the Liberal Party over how the party treats women, said the election of Abbott as president would make the party's prospects of coming back from its demise harder. "At a time when the Liberal Party is in an 'existential crisis', when they have lost women voters and young people, basically every group, why have they elected Abbott? That to me is the nail in the coffin," Martin told this column. "And why aren't the moderates standing up and saying this?" She went on to say: "We need whatever is left of the moderate faction to have courage, and push for change; change in the right direction." The sentiment of Martin's comments is shared by others within the party, who see an uphill battle in reclaiming enough seats at the next election to form government. No-one in the Liberal party has been closer to the crude hard numbers than its outgoing director Andrew Hirst, who did not mince his words in his final speech on the weekend. Addressing the Liberal Party's federal council meeting in Melbourne on Saturday, Hirst warned his party faced a demographic crisis among young people and women, and said that "One Nation are not going away". He revealed staggering figures. Since 2010, the number of Australians describing themselves as a lifetime Liberal, National or Labor voter had halved. "More and more voters are making decisions election by election, issue by issue," he said. Hirst said the Liberals needed to deal with internal membership issues. "More than 55 per cent of Liberal Party members are aged over 60," he said, with census data showing only 23 per cent of the Australian population was in that age bracket. He added that less than 10 per cent of the party's membership was aged between 16 and 30. "If you look at that party membership for those aged between 16 and 45, membership skews heavily male," Hirst said. "Political parties cannot remain strong if they become disconnected from the broader community they seek to represent. "One Nation are not going away, they're not our friends, and ignoring them is not an option." LoadingOne Nation gains momentum Jane Buncle, a barrister and member of the Administrative Committee of the NSW Liberal Party, is also a member of the Future Reform Commission for the Liberal Party of Australia led by McGrath. She says the paper, now up for discussion, is a key moment for the party to rebuild. "This is a very important project for the party. If we don't do something now we will see a more rapid decline," Buncle told this column. The desperation of the party to be relevant again comes as One Nation continues to occupy the opposition's political and media real estate. Last week offered another example of One Nation outmanoeuvring the Coalition, with Pauline Hanson announcing an alternative policy in response to Labor's tax changes. Under the One Nation plan, negative gearing would continue for everyone, but would be capped at a maximum of two properties per investor. It's simple to understand. And with the government intent on making housing the centrepiece of its budget, not complex changes to tax policy, Hanson's straightforward policy manages to do two things: tap into the accepted reality that Australia's housing system is broken, without presenting a radical shake-up. One Nation is increasingly operating as a header church. Here are two examples that demonstrate this point. One Nation MP David Farley has said he will display the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander banners in his offices alongside the Australian flag, a policy deeply different from that pushed by Hanson herself. Pressed on this yesterday Hanson seemed surprised but didn't rebuke him. "It's not something that I would … I do myself and actually my view is there won't be, if I was to be prime minister or leader in this country, there won't be three flags on the floor of Parliament," she said. "I can assure you that and there won't be a Welcome to Country either. So anyway, we have a point of difference there, don't we? But that's his office, he can do whatever he wants to. But our policy is only one flag and that's the Australian flag." It comes as a newly elected One Nation MP broke down during an emotional maiden speech, telling South Australia's parliament he has a Muslim boyfriend from Indonesia and "loves migrants". Jason Virgo won the MacKillop seat in the South Australian House of Assembly at the state election earlier this year. Asked about this, Hanson wished them well and pivoted to radical Islam. A new MP who wants to display the Indigenous flags and another with a gay Muslim partner? That's certainly a far cry from the traditional image of One Nation and a sign that the party's popularity is bringing a more diverse pool of people outside of the mould you'd expect. If the Liberal Party wants to grow, it will need to appeal to more people or it will continue on its decline at a time when big ideas and more political competition is needed in the country. Patricia Karvelas is host of ABC News Afternoon Briefing at 4pm weekdays on ABC News Channel, co-host of the weekly Party Room podcast with Fran Kelly and host of politics and news podcast Politics Now.