The WA Liberals were left shell-shocked by the result, which was worse than they had anticipated. They're now facing another four years in the political wilderness and will have to find a way to broaden their appeal to prevent an even longer stint on the opposition benches.
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00:00A despondent Libby Metham fronting up after another massive defeat.
00:07Is this the result I hoped for? Of course not. Is this what we have been working for?
00:17Absolutely not.
00:19The party started the night with high hopes.
00:21It would be nice to get to 20 seats and two thirds of the way to government at least, but let's see how this goes.
00:26But any hope quickly faded as the votes were tallied, early figures giving the Liberals just five seats, well short of expectations.
00:34It's been quite a disastrous result.
00:36No, I think Anthony's spot on. It is a disaster, but there are some green shoots.
00:41A former party elder agreeing, but only if the party learns the right lessons.
00:46We're not listening, so we've got a lot more listening to do.
00:50I'm sure he's right. I'm sure there are many lessons to be learned.
00:54Those lessons will try to understand why former strongholds like Hillary's and Riverton didn't bounce back.
01:00Kalamunda was an exception, the metropolitan seat where the Liberals secured their biggest gains, which could result in them taking the seat.
01:07Candidate Adam Hort isn't over the line yet, but says his focus on local issues has worked.
01:13It comes back to less about that party politics and potentially more about the individual and their ability to be a strong voice.
01:19A strong result here in Kalamunda and healthy swings away from Labor in surrounding seats offers a glimmer of hope for the federal Liberals,
01:27with outer metropolitan seats looking to be a key battleground in the looming federal election.
01:33Their federal leader taking heart in the result.
01:35Roger Cook has made a number of decisions that were in WA's best interests,
01:39whereas Anthony Albanese and Tenya Plibersek are making decisions that will hurt WA.
01:43In fact, that's why Roger Cook has spoken out against some of the decisions.
01:47Before then, the state branch needs to come to grips with some fundamental issues.
01:51The Liberal Party of today is clearly not resonating with the people of Western Australia the way a great political party should be.
01:59There are obviously some lessons that we will be taking going forward and we will start working straight away to learn from that.
02:10Staring down 12 years in opposition, Party Faithful will be hoping those lessons are learned soon.
02:17For more information visit www.fema.gov