Federal Liberals are starting to consider if they might need to change the way they campaign ahead of the next federal election. The flurry of concern comes after a disastrous state election result for the Liberals in Victoria - prompting questions over how the next six months of federal campaigning should play out.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has held a crisis meeting with Victorian MPs in Canberra on Monday after Labor secured a landslide victory in the state poll over the weekend.
Returned Premier Daniel Andrews says the election result shows voters have rejected Liberal scare campaigns. Issues surrounding crime, African gangs, Muslim extremism and immigration were central to Liberal leader Matthew Guy's state agenda, supported by federal politicians including Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.
Victorian Labor will return to government with 16 more seats after the Liberals lost seats once considered untouchable conservative heartland. A string of federal Liberal seats are now at serious risk if the swing to Labor is replicated at a national level.
While closed-doors talks are held across Liberal ranks, multicultural groups are loudly calling for a change to campaign messaging coming up to next year's federal poll.
