Australian Federal election 2025 recap: Ley reveals next steps for Libs after Dutton’s election bloodbath

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Labor MP Josh Wilson says Fremantle voters have not followed how to votes, as he faces a challenge from Climate 200-backed independent Kate Hulett in the port city seat.

With 75 per cent of the vote counted, Mr Wilson had polled nearly 40 per cent — an almost five point drop from the 2022 election, while Ms Hulett had 23.5 per cent.

The race has come down to the wire, with both the Liberal and Greens candidates preferencing Ms Hulett above Mr Wilson, leading to a narrow count between the pair.

Asked about the race on Sunday, Mr Wilson said he had fought hard for the community in his nine years in Parliament.

“Every election is different because of the candidate mix — there’s a different mix in Freo,” he said.

“We have to wait see how the preferences go in circumstances where both the Liberals and the Greens have preferenced away from me.

“But I’m grateful that the thoughtful and good judgement of the people of Fremantle is indicating to us that there are a significant number of people who aren’t following those instructions, and I hope that that’s because they respect the work I’ve done steadily on their behalf.”

All metropolitan federal seats in South Australia are now held by the Australian Labor Party, as has been the national trend in the 2025 federal election.

The most attention was on Sturt, where the Liberal Party’s James Stevens was desperately trying to cling to office by less than half a per cent.

But, 7’s Mike Smithson writes that by mid-afternoon on Sunday, Labor’s Claire Clutterham was already being celebrated as new royalty in the eastern suburbs.

Her two-party preferred lead was a whopping 57 per cent to Stevens 43 per cent.

That represents a 7.5 per cent swing to Labor in a seat which was considered there for the taking, but by no means guaranteed.

Former Sturt MP Christopher Pyne could only watch as the 50-year Liberal glow in Sturt was snuffed out, and will be hard to regain anytime soon.

Boothby was another marginal seat snatched last time around by Labor’s Louise Miller-Frost.

The much-hyped return of former Liberal member Nicolle Flint proved to be yet another blue mirage.

Labor’s factions are set to start scrambling on Monday for two vacant positions in Anthony Albanese’s second-term ministry, with insiders believing the Prime Minister’s landslide victory has given him more internal authority.

As Labor ministers and MPs celebrated Saturday’s shock win, focus shifted to who would form part of Labor’s senior government.

The two vacancies — from former Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones and Bill Shorten — offer up a position to a left and right-aligned MP respectively.

READ THE FULL STORY BELOW

Western Australia’s newest seat is also the State’s closest, with only 108 votes separating Labor candidate Trish Cook and Liberal rival Matt Moran in Bullwinkel.

A three-way contest complicated the count, with star Nationals recruit Mia Davies dragging attention away from the Liberal campaign.

But the former State Opposition Leader appeared stranded in third place on a primary vote of 16.4 per cent, with her preferences flowing Mr Moran’s way.

READ JESSICA PAGE’S FULL STORY BELOW

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Ben Small has won the tight race in Forrest, retaining it for the Liberals.

While Mr Small, previously a senator for WA, claimed victory on Saturday night, the race was too close to call for many.

Now with 81 per cent of the votes counted - with only abent ballots left to process - Mr Small had 52.5 per cent of the vote.

He said he “bursting with pride” with the campaign, which ran off the back of 18 years of representation by retiring Liberal MP Nola Marino.

“Having earned the trust of South West locals to represent them in Canberra, there’s no doubt that tonight has been a difficult night for the Liberal Party elsewhere,” he said.

“I am so happy to have seen the votes come in tonight and to have earned that trust from local people.”

Andrew Hastie has vowed to “drive change” within the Liberal party, as he joins a shortlist of leadership contenders in the wake of Peter Dutton’s election wipeout.

The shadow defence minister stopped short of formally putting his hand for the tough repair job - but didn’t say no - when The West Australian caught up with him in Mandurah on Sunday.

“I’m having discussions with colleagues at the moment, I certainly want to have a voice,” he said.

“I certainly want to be able to drive change within the party itself and what that looks like will be up to my colleagues to determine.

“But I want to keep serving. I love this country, the people of Canning and Australia come first.”

Pressed on whether that was a “yes” on the question of a leadership tilt, he again refused to rule himself in or out.

“I’m not going to talk about the leadership at the moment,” he said.

Read Jessica Page’s story

Acting Liberal leader Sussan Ley paid tribute to Peter Dutton, thanking him for 25 years of service and describing him as an “outstanding” parliamentarian, cabinet minister, and party leader.

Beyond a formal statement from Ms Ley, there was little to no public thanks or farewell for the outgoing Liberal leader after his historic loss on Saturday.

Ms Ley, who served as deputy for the past three years, acknowledged it was a tough time for the party, and offered a respectful nod to Mr Dutton’s lengthy political career.

“Last night was a very difficult night for the Liberal Party and today we reflect on these results with humility,” she said.

“I want to pay particular tribute to Peter Dutton and thank him for his 25 years of deeply valued service to our country,” she added.

“He has been an outstanding Member of Parliament, senior Cabinet Minister, Leader of our Party and friend. We wish him, Kirilly, Bec, Harry and Tom all the very best for their future. They will rightly be very proud of his outstanding service to Australia.”

As the fallout continues, Ms Ley said she had consulted with senior party leadership and noted there were still several seats requiring preferential vote counts before a formal leadership meeting could take place.

“In the meantime, the Member for Durack, the Hon. Melissa Price MP is the Acting Chief Opposition Whip and will communicate further about these arrangements in due course.”

Ms Ley also thanked party members: “Finally, I thank our many dedicated Liberal and National Party members, Australia-wide, for supporting us so well during this campaign and at this time.”

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has revealed he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and will undergo surgery tomorrow.

The New England MP told ABC that he received the diagnosis after his GP insisted he undergo a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test, which had returned an elevated result.

A subsequent MRI and biopsy confirmed the worst.

“Prostate cancer, if you get it early, is very, very treatable; in fact, about 97 per cent successful,” he said.

“I’ll have the operation on Monday and I will then have a couple of days in hospital and will recuperate after that.”

Mr Joyce has no plans to resign and is postive about his prognosis.

The race is officially on to find the next Liberal leader after Peter Dutton’s dramatic loss in the Federal Election — not just of the top job, but his Queensland seat of Dickson.

Coalition MPs say Angus Taylor and deputy Sussan Ley are the early frontrunners, while Dan Tehan is another name being floated. Whoever steps up will inherit the smallest Liberal party room in modern history — potentially just 25 seats — and the enormous task of rebuilding after what senior figures have described as a “bloodbath.”

Mr Dutton has gone quiet in the wake of the defeat, remaining in hibernation on Sunday after becoming the first Opposition Leader in Australian history to lose their seat at an election.

The scale of the loss has sent shockwaves through the Coalition.

After holding 56 seats, the party is now on track to slump into the low 40s, with only 36 confirmed as of Sunday afternoon.

Seats like Monash, Flinders, Longman and Forrest remain in play, but the party’s collapse has already claimed several key figures — including Michael Sukkar, James Stevens, and outspoken moderate Bridget Archer.