After an election in which voters snubbed both major parties, the campaign postmortems have been coming thick and fast. Michelle Grattan tells University of Canberra acting vice-chancellor Frances Shannon that in the longer run it’s going to be extremely difficult for Malcolm Turnbull to regroup.

“He’s got a divided party. He’s got conservatives within his party who are going to be much more assertive than they’ve been able to be so far during his brief prime ministership. He’s got a diabolical position in the Senate where he’ll be fighting to get controversial pieces of legislation through,” Grattan says.

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.