Andrew Constance believes the Liberal Party failed the women of Australia in their election campaign and believes they need to do some serious soul-searching in the wake of their cruising defeat.

The former NSW Treasurer, who failed in his bid to unseat Labor incumbent Fiona Phillips in Gilmore last weekend, has walked away from politics after two unsuccessful tilts at the South Coast federal electorate.

“The Liberal Party is going to have to, I think, work hard to find its heart and soul again. And you can't live in the past,” he said.

“The Liberal Party is a fantastic movement but the strength of the movement is made up of the policies that count.

“We have let the women of Australia down, quite frankly. We've got a lot of work to do to re-engage the aspirations of young people, and women in particular if you look at the results on Saturday.

“And that stems from everything from leadership to policies, to values. Our party and its history is one of an incredible party supporting the individual. That's what our founding beliefs are about.”

Constance describes himself as a progressive member of the Liberal Party and is adamant the Coalition should modernise its views on issues like the environment or risk spending multiple terms out of office.

“We're not an anti-environment party, we should be a pro-environment party. We're a party that should be strong on issues to do with community and workforce participation, particularly for women,” he added.

“I think workplace flexibility and working from home and telling the world we're going to sack 41,000 people and all of these things - it all adds up. To be honest with you, we probably looked a little mean, and that's got to change.

“I'm not going to be one of these people who will hide in the backdrop and not put my name to what I believe in relation to what went wrong. I'll just call it how it is if I'm asked about it.”

The party was founded by Australia’s longest-serving Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies in the 1940s but some of their thinking is stuck in the past, according to Constance.

“I do think that we have to do some soul searching in the times ahead,” he said.

“Our values and our principles are right. The movement that Menzies founded around supporting the forgotten people of Australia, supporting all walks of life, supporting the individual to be the best that they can be. That's a given.

“But you've got to have modern-day policies which reflect modern Australia. And there are things which need to be immediately taken off the table.

“The community has spoken on the energy transition. They've made that crystal clear. So we need to listen to the community.”

He took a dig at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s election campaign trope of holding out his Medicare card to say that is all people need to receive medical treatment.

“I hope they're held to account on that, because that means that every time you go to the doctor, regardless of which medical practice you're in, you're only going to need your Medicare card. Well, let's see how that goes,” he said.

Constance said he thought he had been part of one of the best governments in the state's history under Gladys Berejiklian, Mike Baird and Barry O’Farrell, they completed lasting infrastructure and were able to operate effectively because they had harmony between the progressive and conservative elements of the Coaltion.

“I'm very proud to be a party progressive. Being a moderate is important. But I'm a Liberal first and foremost. And that's where the party, I think, everyone coming together is really important.

“Be a Liberal first and foremost, be a progressive conservative underneath that, but get the best out of each other. I think the party's got to reconcile its focus and that’s why we got the result that we got.

“Young people, women in particular, they've got to reflect the dynamic not only within the party organisation, but they've also got to be able to connect with the policies and the approach we want to take forward.”