An internal review into the Coalition’s landslide election loss has pinned some of the blame on US President Donald Trump for turning voters away from Peter Dutton.

Parts of the review were leaked to Nine newspapers, which found Dutton’s decision in February to give an Elon Musk-inspired role to firebrand Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price ultimately hurt the party’s campaign.

Dutton’s reshuffle of the shadow cabinet included creating a platform based on “government efficiency” that aimed to crack down on “wasteful spending”, which reflected the US Department of Government Efficiency.

The report was commissioned almost six months ago, with its publication delayed until after the final sitting of parliament.

Opposition aged care spokeswoman Anne Ruston had not yet seen the review, but said Liberals had to face the reality of what went wrong in the election.

“We understand that there were a lot of reasons why we did so badly in May this year at the election,” she told ABC RN on Wednesday.

“We have to be very honest with ourselves about what caused such a catastrophic election result so that we can regroup and rebuild … going into the election in 2028.”

The review is not far from conclusion. It is not known if it will be publicly released in full, with the party’s federal executive considering whether to keep embarrassing or sensitive campaign details sealed.

The long-running Australian Election Study, which recently released its findings from the 2025 election, found Dutton was the most unpopular prime ministerial candidate in its 40 years of analysis.

“According to voters, the leadership qualities [Dutton] most lacked were inspiration, closely followed by compassion,” study co-author Ian McAllister said.

“He has made a career of promoting division, punching down on vulnerable people, seeking to divide the community, engaging in culture wars.”

The same Australian National University-backed study found Labor was judged best manager of the economy.

While sentiment turned against Trump in his early days in office, election opponents compared Dutton to him throughout the campaign.

“I think he’s darkened his own brand,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told ABC’s 7.30 in April.

“He has made a career of promoting division, punching down on vulnerable people, seeking to divide the community, engaging in culture wars.”

Labor won 94 of the 150 House of Representatives seats in a landslide victory in May, with the Coalition dropping to 43 seats, sparking months of infighting.

Sussan Ley, elected as Opposition Leader after the loss, has not been able to shake speculation around her leadership as the party reviews its policies.

A recently announced policy to drop a commitment to net zero came amid rumours of a Liberal leadership challenge from conservatives Andrew Hastie or Angus Taylor.

Next up is consideration of a fresh immigration approach, which will involve another behind-the-scenes debate between the Liberals’ moderate and right-wing factions.

–AAP