If the Liberal Party wants to survive it must expand its base.

The membership needs to see a rapid influx of women, and drastic lowering of the average age.

If we are serious about getting re-elected in three, six, or nine years, members and politicians alike should want this too, because until we have a membership that reflects broader society, our policies won’t resonate.

Politicians from both major parties are hamstrung by their base, knowing that if they don’t provide the red meat for their preselectors, their days are numbered. The problem for the Liberal Party is that it’s becoming increasingly hard to create policy that simultaneously appeals to voters in broader society, and also our membership.

This is largely due to the fact that our membership is at odds with society; our average member is a male in his 60s, and our average Australian citizen is a 37-year-old female. It also goes without saying that we lack ethnic diversity. Of course age, gender and race are not the only thing that mould opinions, but we know it plays a significant part.

My argument is not about making the Liberal Party more moderate or more conservative, it’s simply about making it more aligned with broader society. With voters.

True Liberals will see my argument not as ageist or ungrateful for what the party has achieved so far, but as a recalibration. A push to get back to the core ethos of the party; to growth, opportunity, fairness, and most importantly – community.

In order for the party to prosper we need a much bigger and more diverse community. We need a variety of life experiences influencing how we run and what we present to the public. We need as many brains as possible to soundboard our policy before it’s released to the ether. We need it to be competitive to win a preselection so we can ensure we are putting our brightest minds and hardest workers forward. We need people inside the tent to disagree and challenge us, so we can grow, improve and evolve for the future.

Across the world we have seen women moving away from right-leaning political parties. With women making up 51 per cent of the population in Australia, our only option if we ever want to be reelected is to try and get them back. Part of the problem is that our policies aren’t appealing to them. The other, I think larger problem, is that they’re not even listening to our policies. We have a branding issue when it comes to women and we need to find a way to turn the switch on again to ensure the new policies have cut through. That means we need to be re-energised in our efforts to engage.

While I grew up voting Liberal, my involvement really only intensified in the last 18-months. Some will see that as a flaw, I see it as my greatest strength. I will be of little use to the party once I too have been institutionalised and desensitised to the mechanisation of the party. Right now, I see the party – its strengths, and its weaknesses – with fresh eyes and have the fire in my belly to try and help.

With these fresh eyes, the biggest issue I can see is the preselection process. I love democracy. I am a huge advocate for democratic processes. But the problem is, I don’t think the party base will ever preselect as many women as they do men. And that’s not fair. So what do we do about that?

Well, let me be clear that I hate quotas. Why would anyone want quotas? No woman wants to give anyone the opportunity to devalue her achievements. It’s humiliating for us that our own party base doesn’t back us enough to vote us in, but they are the cards we have been dealt. We continually hear members, both men, and women, saying they are dying to support a female in preselections, but sadly, they just can’t this time! The woman isn’t quite right. Or the man they’re going up against is just too good.

I have watched as the preselections have taken place and I think the most rewarded quality in preselection candidates is not merit, but long service. Who has been a member for the longest? Who has handed out or captained booths on election day? Who has helped with campaigns or done the groundwork in the factions?

They’re all fair things to reward, because it shows loyalty, dedication, and discipline. But the problem is, statistically women are primary caregivers. Find any study you like and see who has more spare time. It is always men. So men have more of an opportunity to volunteer for the party and do those favours that predecessors will inevitably reward them with a vote at a preselection down the line.

The other issue with rewarding long service is that it’s not competitive. In corporate Australia, if a new person comes along who is better than you, sadly, they get the gig. It is sad, it is fair, and it is aligned with our party values.

No one wishes we didn’t need quotas or targets more than the exhausted and humiliated women in our party. But the situation is what it is. We have tried for decades without them, and we’ve gone backwards. Three decades backwards in the House of Reps. Party members said they’d rally around women without mandates, and they didn’t. So unfortunately, we’ll need to try something new.

I completely acknowledge and am appreciative of the work of the party faithful, but we have now reached a crossroads and we will never get our time back.

I believe those who love the party the most will allow concessions for the party to reinvent itself to remain relevant and a viable option for government. That is a legacy. But sadly I believe there are many who would prefer our great party continues to lose, than to ever allow us to modernise.

It would also be naive to believe that everyone agrees with me in my attempts to open the floodgates and get new talent in the pool. To be completely honest, it’s not in everyone’s interest to welcome new members. I think there are many who are immensely threatened by fresh blood and they’re more concerned with maintaining power over this tiny sliver of governance the rest of society has no idea even exists, than to welcome new people into the fold. And that’s pathetically self-interested.

I personally think that this is so fundamental to our party’s future, that unless there is a genuine concern of branch stacking, branches shouldn’t be allowed to reject new members.

Social media and the pandemic have made young people more politically engaged and yet the major parties aren’t working hard enough to win them over. This is competitive business. Young people will take a day off work or school to protest, but we’re not elucidating the value in sustained efforts through our established and (arguably) functional democratic system.

The ‘rusted on’ political allegiance no longer exists for major parties. Young adults are no longer simply voting for who their parents vote for, and that’s a good thing for democracy, but it requires more work from us.

I’m aware this is easier said than done as we see memberships in political parties decline right across the world. But I believe this has more to do with us not marketing properly to the young and middle-aged as opposed to an apathy or disinterest.

This is why I launched Hilma’s Network, a recruitment drive to get more women signed up to the party. The purpose is explicitly to expand our base. It would be great to get some females that wanted to run for Parliament in the process – but that’s not my focus. I want to affect the membership.

I don’t think women will hate parties on the right forever. I believe we can win these women back, but we have to show them why we are worth it. And that’s through policy, representation, and crucially, engagement.

If I am honest, I really don’t know if Hilma’s Network will solve our women issue. But it’s something new, and with more than 500 women signed up, I believe it has struck a chord. Which is why this year Hilma’s Network has expanded to Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia with a dedicated representative running events every two months in each state.

Even if you don’t vote Liberal – you should still want our party to be the best it can be. In my opinion, it’s naive to think either of our two major parties would simply die out in the next few decades. You could argue for a Scandinavian model with lots of smaller political parties, but I fear this will further silo and polarise an increasingly fractured society.

The best thing for democracy, and Australia, is to have both major parties as strong and viable options to govern our country, something the Teals and independents will literally never be able to do under the Westminster System.

It’s time for the Liberal Party to put its time in opposition to good use and rebuild a party that will serve us for decades to come.