The Moderates, also known as Modern Liberals, Small-L Liberals or Liberal Left, are a faction comprising the members, supporters and voters of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

who are typically economically, socially and environmentally liberal. The faction has been described as

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

. The faction has supported ideologies such as

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...

centrism Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

and

social liberalism Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

, having a combination of economically liberal and socially progressive views. Since May 2025, the offices of Leader of the Liberal Party and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

have been occupied by

Sussan Ley Sussan Penelope Ley (pron. , "Susan Lee"; ; born 14 December 1961) is an Australian politician who is the current Leader of the Opposition (Australia), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal ...

, who is the first woman to hold either position. She is a member of the Moderates and identifies as a republican, as do many other members of the faction. They compete with the Liberal Party's other two major factions: the Centre Right and the National Right.

Geographical base

Moderate Liberals often represent inner-city and wealthy

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

seats or are in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. The Moderates are noted as having very little presence in the states of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

; however, in Victoria, the nominal Moderate faction is not affiliated with those of the other states. The Moderates are the dominant faction in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and have provided all of the past three Liberal leaders in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

(all of whom served as

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Membership

Prominent moderates include former Prime Minister

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as Liberal Party of Australia, leader of the Liberal Party an ...

, former Foreign Affairs Minister and former Deputy Leader

Julie Bishop Julie Isabel Bishop (born 17 July 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia), Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2018 and Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia#Federal deputy leader ...

, former Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, former Attorney-General

George Brandis George Henry Brandis (born 22 June 1957) is an Australian former politician. He was a Australian Senate, Senator for Queensland from 2000 to 2018, representing the Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal Party, and was a Cabinet (Australia), cabin ...

, and former Liberal-turned-independent MP Julia Banks. Prominent moderates in the

Morrison government The Morrison government was the Australian Government, federal executive government of Australia, led by Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia, between 2018 and 2022. The Morrison governmen ...

included Senate leader Simon Birmingham, Marise Payne, Paul Fletcher and Linda Reynolds. At the state level, three Liberal leaders are from this faction:

Mark Speakman Mark Raymond Speakman (born 6 November 1959) is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 2011 New South Wales state election, 2011, representing Electoral district of Cronulla, Cronulla ...

(the

Opposition Leader),,

Jeremy Rockliff Jeremy Page Rockliff Tasmanian House of Assembly, MP (born 5 February 1970) is an Australian politician currently serving as the 47th premier of Tasmania. Rockliff's Premiership of Jeremy Rockliff, premiership began in 2022 following the resign ...

(the current

) and

Vincent Tarzia Vincent Anthony Tarzia (born 24 September 1986) is an Australian politician who is currently serving as the South Australian Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the South Australian Liberal Party, representing the House of Assembly seat of ...

(the

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

Opposition Leader). Prominent Moderates in New South Wales include

Gladys Berejiklian Gladys Berejiklian (; born 22 September 1970) is an Australian businesswoman and former politician who served as the 45th premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party from 2017 to 2021. Berejikl ...

(the 45th

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales actin ...

Matt Kean Matthew John Kean (born 16 September 1981) is a former Australian politician who is the Chair of the Climate Change Authority. Prior to this, he was the Treasurer of New South Wales in the second Perrottet ministry of New South Wales betwee ...

(the faction's leader in New South Wales and former deputy leader of the party), Rob Stokes (a former Cabinet minister) and Natalie Ward (the party's deputy leader in New South Wales). Prominent Moderates in other states include Georgie Crozier and David Southwick in Victoria; John Gardner, Josh Teague (current South Australian Liberal deputy leader) and Tim Whetstone in

; and

Peter Gutwein Peter Carl Gutwein () (born 21 December 1964) is a former Australian politician who was the 46th premier of Tasmania from 2020 to 2022. He was a Liberal Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly from 2002 to 2022, representing the electora ...

and Will Hodgman in Tasmania (who both served as

Current federal House members

''.'' * Bridget Archer (

Bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, Tasmania) * Angie Bell ( Moncrieff, Queensland) * David Coleman ( Banks, New South Wales) * Warren Entsch ( Leichhardt, Queensland) * Paul Fletcher ( Bradfield, New South Wales) * Julian Leeser ( Berowra, New South Wales) *

–

( Farrer, New South Wales) * Jenny Ware ( Hughes, New South Wales) * Tim Wilson ( Goldstein, Victoria)

Current federal Senate members

* Andrew Bragg (New South Wales) *

Richard Colbeck Richard Mansell Colbeck (born 5 April 1958) is an Australian politician. He has been a Senator for Tasmania since 2018, representing the Liberal Party, and served a previous term in the Senate from 2002 to 2016. Colbeck served as the Minister f ...

(Tasmania) * Jane Hume (Victoria) * Dave Sharma (New South Wales) * Maria Kovacic (New South Wales)

Former federal House members

* John Alexander * Katie Allen * Julia Banks *

* Trevor Evans * Jason Falinski *

Joe Hockey Joseph Benedict Hockey (born 2 August 1965) is an Australian former politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament for Division of North Sydney, North Sydney from 1996 Australian federal election, 1996 until 2015. He was the Treasurer ...

* Fiona Martin * Christopher Pyne *

Ken Wyatt Kenneth George Wyatt (born 4 August 1952) is an Australian former politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives (Australia), House of Representatives from 2010 to 2022, representing the Division of Hasluck for the Liberal Party of ...

* Trent Zimmerman

Former federal Senate members

* Simon Birmingham *

* Marise Payne

Notes

References

{{Liberalism Liberal Party of Australia factions Centrism in Australia Conservative liberalism Liberalism in Australia Progressive conservatism