The path to victory is different with compulsory voting - the party that holds the center always wins

Peter Dutton’s campaign was focused on making this election a simple, binary choice. His success in framing things this way simply meant that more people abandoned him.

The Liberal’s imported advisors and ideas from the United States and built their campaign around the leader. Both were big mistakes. Australia has compulsory preferential voting, whereas America has a first-past-the-post system and Dutton was unpopular. Then, to top it off, the party held policies back until it was too late for them to bite.

But what this means for the future is the real story for the coalition.

Although it’s clawed back a couple of seats as counting has continued, a defeat of this magnitude will leave it so far behind it’s almost certain it will sit on the opposition benches for at least the next six years, if not longer. In that time the country will be permanently re-shaped.

And because the party’s few remaining MPs come from its right-wing rump, the chances of it regaining the centre quickly appear slim.

As former moderate Senator Simon Birmingham insists, “the response must now be even more dramatic and touch upon all aspects of the party. Nothing can be sacrosanct if the party is to find a pathway to relevance with new generations of voters.”

"Respect, inclusion and freedom can stand together, with support for all families and enterprises. But not alongside judgmental attitudes that exclude or isolate some. Beyond the presentation of ideology, there must be a reshaping of the party to connect it with the modern Australian community.”

This call has dramatic resonance for people with disability. It insists that the meaning of life is about more than money - it is about companionship and community.

The coalition’s had prominent advocates for disability issues in the past (just think of Hollie Hughes and Bridget Archer, both of whom will leave parliament this election), but these members and senators have not held the ear of the leadership team.

If the opposition ever wants to re-gain government it will need to come up with a positive way to engage with the sector.