Former New South Wales premier Nick Greiner warned the Liberal Party’s federal executive that suppressing a review of the party’s disastrous 2025 federal election campaign could trigger internal backlash and intensify divisions within the opposition.
Greiner raised the concerns during a meeting of the Liberal federal executive, the party’s most senior organisational body, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
The internal review, conducted by former ministers Pru Goward and Nick Minchin, examined the circumstances surrounding the Coalition’s heavy defeat at the 2025 election.
The report had been expected to be released before Christmas but was delayed after former Liberal leader Peter Dutton raised objections to elements of the findings, including criticism of his leadership and the campaign structure.
Sources briefed on the report say it delivers a harsh assessment of the party’s performance, describing the 2025 campaign as the worst run by the Liberals.
The review reportedly criticises the decision to allow the parliamentary leadership to sideline the party’s central campaign apparatus and run key aspects of the election strategy directly.
It recommends that future Liberal leaders should not be permitted to bypass the party’s organisational headquarters during national campaigns.
The federal executive ultimately voted to shelve the report rather than publish it, a move that has angered some party figures who believe transparency would better assist the party’s rebuilding efforts.
One senior Liberal described the decision to suppress the report as likely to become “a monster” as details inevitably leak.
Both Goward and Minchin have publicly expressed disappointment with the decision.
Former Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian, who narrowly lost the Sydney seat of Bradfield in the election, said releasing the review would help the party develop a coherent strategy.
“I think it would be made much easier for a holistic strategy to be put in place if we had that report come to light for everybody,” she told the ABC.
The report is also understood to contain criticism of current party leader Angus Taylor and deputy leader Jane Hume, who were responsible for key elements of the Coalition’s economic platform during the campaign.
Taylor, then shadow treasurer, supported the party’s decision to oppose Labor’s income tax cuts, a policy that drew criticism during the election.
Hume, then shadow finance minister, championed a controversial proposal to end work-from-home arrangements for public servants before it was later abandoned.
Comments by Hume about “Chinese spies” during the campaign were also cited internally as having damaged support in electorates with large Chinese-Australian populations.
Taylor defended the decision not to release the report publicly, arguing the party should concentrate on rebuilding rather than assigning blame.
“There has been a whole lot of finger pointing at this point about the election,” he said.
“We know it was a bad outcome. We know there’s much to be learned from it.”
The dispute highlights continuing tensions within the Liberal Party as it attempts to recover from the election defeat and rebuild its political strategy ahead of the next federal contest.
