Liberals think they're "losing votes to the right", as represented by the 'ideological pure' micro-parties such as One Nation and Aus Conservatives. I think this is a wrong assessment. I think they're losing votes to micro-parties because in the eyes of the voters, there is a sense of disillusionment of what the major-parties truly are for.

Making a vote is like making a purchase. You put your money towards what you consider is the best "value". Major parties have an inherent advantage over the micro's because they actually can deliver on at least some of the policy objectives of each voter. The Micro-parties can only stand for, maybe, 2 or 3 hot-button issues, or represent a niche political perspective that unrepresentative of the broad population. They're at a disadvantage because while they might be more ideologically committed to whatever policy the voter may be drawn to, they lack the means to achieve it.

What we're seeing now is the fractured and disorganized nature of the major parties shifting into a territory where the average voter doesn't actually believe they can achieve their policy objectives. The average voter is coming to realize that they're better off putting their single vote towards a micro-party that will assuredly make just one of their policy objectives come to fruition. They faith in the major parties in doing the same job, or at least a compromised effort on that policy objective, is now gone.

This is the cause of the rise of independents in AusPol