Politics With Michelle Grattan: Keith Wolahan On When Liberals Should Preference One Nation

(MENAFN- The Conversation)

The Liberal Party is now“fighting for its existence”, according to one of its own former federal MPs.

After the low of the 2025 federal election defeat, the party's position as the major force in Australian conservative politics in under threat from an ascendant One Nation.

This weekend's meeting of the party's federal council in Melbourne will install former prime minister Tony Abbott as federal president. Behind the scenes, it will also see some internal soul-searching, whatever brave face the party seeks to put on publicly.

Former MP Keith Wolahan was one of the victims of last year's election rout, narrowly losing his Melbourne seat of Menzies. Wolahan is a rare creature in today's Liberal Party: a moderate, and an outspoken one at that.

He joined the podcast to talk about issues facing the Liberals, the party's future, and how it should deal with One Nation.

Wolahan said his party was now“fighting for its existence” and shouldn't have been surprised by a recent Redbridge poll, showing One Nation could win more than a third of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives, with the Coalition predicted to win just 12.

Working with One Nation to avoid 'permanent opposition'

Asked whether the Liberals should preference One Nation, Wolohan said they should be open to it if that helps form a future Coalition government.

Proposed changes for permanent residents

On Angus Taylor's migration plan to deny future permanent residents access to welfare benefits, Wolahan said Australian citizenship should“mean something':

The 'huge gap of voices' inside the Coalition

Asked about the shrinking proportion of moderate Coalition MPs, Wolahan said he was more struck by how few metropolitan seats the Coalition now holds – despite the majority of Australians living in cities.

'No mandate' for Labor's housing tax changes

On the negative gearing and capital gains tax (CGT) changes in the budget, Wolahan condemned Labor for breaking election promises not to make changes.

Yet he has also previously written about the need for some negative gearing reform, noting that 82% of investor loans went to existing housing, rather than helping build new homes.

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