Better reflecting the community

Senator the Hon James McGrath, Chair of the Liberal Party Commission, July 2026

The Liberal Party Commission has released a discussion paper examining how the Liberal Party can improve its membership experience, select competitive candidates, engage with a modern and diverse Australia, improve its party and campaign structures, and better reflect Australian communities – including by increasing women’s representation.

One focus of the discussion paper is women’s representation within the Liberal Party and its parliamentary teams.

The paper notes that women make up just 33% of Liberal Party and Queensland LNP parliamentarians nationally, with men outnumbering women four to one in the federal lower house. It also argues that the parliamentary team does not sufficiently reflect the broader Australian community, including the 38-year-old woman who is not currently engaged in politics but feels that the Liberals “don’t look like her or speak for her aspirations”.

The discussion paper outlines six options for consideration to improve women’s representation:

1. Open primaries or “community preselections”
2. ‘A-List’ modelled on the UK Conservatives
3. Bonus weighting provided to female preselection candidates.
4. Require a minimum number of women stand in preselection contests
5. Targets reinforced by the option of Federal Intervention
6. Quotas

The paper also considers broader questions about the Liberal Party’s future, including how it can win back support among multicultural communities and young voters and become a “fit-for-purpose political machine in the 21st century”.

Feedback will be collated and incorporated into the Liberal Party Commission’s Final Report.