Change or die: how the Liberal Party’s long resistance to reform has left it fighting for life

The Liberal Party of Australia has fallen on hard times. The party has struggled to attract voters and has gone through leadership uncertainty. In his first press conference as leader in February 2026, Angus Taylor said that his party needed to “change or die”. To try to modernise itself, the party announced a commission to gather ideas and build consensus for an organisational reform agenda. In May 2026, the commission released a discussion paper and a survey, addressing issues of…