For the first time in its history, the Liberal party is now led by first-term MPs in three states – and all of them are women.
Ashton Hurn in South Australia, Kellie Sloane in New South Wales and Jess Wilson in Victoria have each risen rapidly to the leadership in the past three weeks. They’ve joined the federal leader, Sussan Ley, and the NT’s Lia Finocchiaro in an unprecedented lineup for a party long accused of having a “women problem”.
But does this moment signal a genuine shift? Or are these leaders perched on a “glass cliff” – a phenomenon known in politics and business, where women are elevated to leadership during times of crisis when the prospects of success are slim – and at risk of falling or being pushed?
The Liberal strategist turned pollster Tony Barry is optimistic.
“This is beginning to look like the start of a reform project for the Liberal party with the elevation of three professional women each of whom are overachievers,” he says.
Amanda Vanstone, a former Howard government minister, says the “glass cliff” is a better analogy for Labor governments, pointing to the experiences of premiers Carmen Lawrence, Joan Kirner and Kristina Keneally.
“Labor is a serial killer of women. They use them as bloody dustbins. They only turn to them when the boys have stuffed up and they need something cleaned up,” she says.
“These Liberal women are leading across the country … because they are the best person for the job. It sends a terrific message that there is a place for these women in the Liberal party – young, competent, effective women who believe in the Liberal philosophy.”
Charlotte Mortlock, a former political staffer and journalist who founded Hilma’s Network to help connect Liberal women and boost female preselection, says their rise sends a “really good signal” to voters.
With young families and demanding careers, the three leaders reflect the realities of many voters “who previously might have been on the fence or might have voted another way in the last couple of elections”, Mortlock says.
Striking similarities
Hurn, Sloane and Wilson share striking similarities. All are from the party’s moderate wing and were prominent opposition frontbenchers before becoming leaders – Hurn and Sloane in health, Wilson as shadow treasurer and, before that, the education portfolio.
Both Hurn and Sloane began their careers as reporters. Hurn later worked for federal MPs Anne Ruston and Christopher Pyne, and the former SA premier Steven Marshall – all of whom are moderates. Sloane headed up Life Education, the organisation behind Healthy Harold. Wilson, who describes herself as a “small-l Liberal”, is a former adviser to then-treasurer Josh Frydenberg and was a policy specialist at the Business Council of Australia.
Just as notable as their rise is the manner in which it happened. Each secured the leadership in a relatively bloodless fashion. In NSW and SA, Mark Speakman and Vincent Tarzia stepped aside; in Victoria, Brad Battin was removed in what one MP called the party’s most “clinical” spill in years. All were elected unopposed, giving them rare breathing space from the factional warfare that has undermined previous leaders.
But each new leader also faces a gargantuan task.
Hurn described it as a “hell of a mountain to climb” in her first press conference on Monday. She is just three months out from an election against a wildly popular first-term Labor premier, Peter Malinauskas. An October Demos poll put Labor at 66% two-party-preferred.
Sloane confronts similar difficulties against Chris Minns, while Wilson must win 16 seats to topple a Labor government – helmed by Jacinta Allan – that’s seeking an unprecedented fourth term next November. Early polling, however, gives Wilson a narrow lead, and Liberal sources say donations have surged since she took the leadership.
Barry argues Wilson is a “better candidate” than Allan, but Liberals must “unite behind her and build a policy platform with broad appeal”.
New ideas and perspectives
Mortlock expects having “more women at the policymaking table” will result in new ideas that resonate with women and young people.
She says the early signs are promising, pointing to Sloane’s first full day as leader, during which she highlighted the nation’s “baby recession,” pledged to return NSW’s IVF rebate and said she would consider a baby bonus.
Wilson’s first commitment was to create a standalone coercive control offence – a move Labor initially resisted but then adopted, handing her an early win.
She has also elevated housing and home ownership, issues Ley also says she’s focused on federally, and the economy – a move backed by Vanstone, who says fiscal responsibility was a key part of the Howard government’s success.
“She understands why Victoria needs to pay off its debt – otherwise you’re paying hundreds of millions a year in interest,” she says. “It makes you weep thinking what you could spend that on – health, schools. Instead, it’s just going to a bank in another country.”
Despite her moderate credentials, Wilson – the only state Liberal MP to back the federal voice to parliament referendum – has maintained a Battin-era policy to scrap the nation’s first treaty if elected. She also didn’t support a motion apologising to First Nations people delivered by Allan on Tuesday, due to its references to treaty.
Similarly, Hurn said on Monday she would repeal South Australia’s voice if her party wins government.
Will voters be convinced?
The Coalition also continues to face both a gender and generational divide.
The 2025 Australian Election Study, led by the Australian National University and Griffith University, showed that while 37% of men gave their first preference vote to the Coalition at the May poll, only 28% of women did. Among voters under 40, only 23% backed the Coalition.
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Dr Sarah Cameron, a political scientist at Griffith University, says this was the opposition’s “lowest level of support” in the history of the study. For the first time in 2025, more voters cast their vote for a minor party or independent candidate, than for a Coalition candidate.
She attributes women’s shift left to their increasing participation in higher education and the workforce, secularisation and the greater representation on the Labor benches in parliament. After the 2025 election, 56% of federal Labor MPs and senators were women, compared with 31% of Coalition MPs – a result of Labor’s gender quotas, introduced in the 1990s.
The Liberals have long resisted quotas, instead pointing to merit-based elevations. Alongside the new leaders, Sloane’s deputy is a woman and Wilson’s shadow cabinet is nearing gender parity.
Mortlock says under the leadership of the former NSW premiers Gladys Berejiklian and Dominic Perrottet, the number of female candidates has risen from 26% in 2019, to 39% in 2022. Women now make up 48% of the NSW party room.
Still, representation alone won’t solve the Coalition’s problem, Cameron says. When voters were asked what drove their vote at the 2025 federal poll, 56% nominated policy issues, 21% the parties as a whole, 12% the local candidate and only 11% the party leaders.
Or, as Barry put it: “It’s not enough to say you are changing – you have to actually demonstrate change.”
