 Higgins faced the task of rebuilding a party that had just suffered one of the worst defeats of a sitting government at the state or territory level in Australia.Although the CLP had fewer members than the independents, the CLP was recognised as the Official Opposition after the Solicitor-General advised that the five independents could not realistically form an alternative government.Although the CLP was well short of the numbers for official status in the chamber, the new Labor government of Michael Gunner promised that the CLP would be properly resourced as an opposition.