Post-election opposition leader is one of the most thankless jobs in politics. Almost always, it’s a poisoned chalice of party dysfunction and abysmal polling numbers. Who, after all, remembers Brendan Nelson, Billy Snedden or Bill Hayden?
But Peter Dutton is proving to be made of sterner stuff. While still plagued by the low poll numbers that are a new opposition leader’s lot, the honeymoon is clearly over for Anthony Albanese. With an especially galling broken election promise about to hit Australians hard in the hip pocket, and the “Voice” referendum steadily tanking, the political field is wide open for Dutton.
And he’s charging in, guns blazing, on both fronts.
Peter Dutton has slammed the government over its promise to cut power bills.
The Opposition Leader told 2GB that Australians were struggling with a cost of living crisis and that energy prices were rising under Labor’s policies. He warned the threat of energy disruptions was increasing “everyday” and that the government should examine potential benefits from nuclear energy as the nation transitions towards renewable energy.
There’s a lot going on in this broadside. Albanese during the election campaign repeatedly promised – over 90 times – that he would lower electricity bills. Instead, they’re spiking by an astonishing 25 per cent. The surge in power bills is directly linked to Labor’s “Net Zero” policies.
Higher electricity prices will intensify costs of living pressures on households, already struggling under soaring inflation and rapid increases to interest rates.
The increase from July will also add to future inflation reads, adding yet more pressure on the Reserve Bank of Australia to increase interest rates.
The Australian
When Australians are paying through the arse for power, and everything else, and still having to put up with brown-outs, they’re going to get angry.
Dutton’s floating of nuclear power taps a growing sentiment in middle Australia. Of course, it’s anathema to Labor and the Greens, but their demented screeching in reply will be just another signal to middle Australia that the left are simply out of touch with household reality.
Dutton has also found his mojo on the “Voice” referendum. In a replay of the 1999 Republic referendum, the left dominate the media and big business, but Dutton, like John Howard, is correctly tapping into growing unease in middle Australia with a racially divisive Constitutional amendment, driven by a left-dominated elite.
And the ‘bed-wetters’ in his own party are increasingly being shown up as isolated and irrelevant LINOs (Liberals in Name Only).
A gathering of Liberal Party branch members was due to be held in Sydney last night to discuss the case in favour of the Indigenous Voice.
Almost no rank and file members showed up. And the ‘wets’ are realising they’ve backed the wrong horse.
The mood amongst those few who are still publicly on board turned to dismay this week. Hopes have fizzled of building and launching a strong “Liberals for Yes” campaign, along the lines of a similar group that swung behind the case for same sex marriage.
Which is a perfect metaphor for these dripping-wet wannabe lefties. Jumping in bed with the green-left might win them plenty of praise on Twitter – but Twitter is very far from the real world voters live. Bridget Archer, take note. Conservative Australians who were bullied into supporting the gay marriage “voluntary postal vote” are seeing the result, as men in dresses flash their dicks in girls’ change rooms and groom children in libraries.
Voters aren’t being so easily burned and brow-beaten, this time.
And Dutton knows it.
The second body blow for Liberal supporters of the Voice came on Monday, when Dutton delivered a full-scale denunciation of the Voice proposal in parliament. His speech on the legislation to enable the Voice referendum went much further than many were expecting.
Dutton repeated his well-worn critique about the Voice gumming up the courts and the workings of government. It then veered into more alarming territory.
“Alarming” only to the post-truth left.
The Liberal leader warned the “referendum on the Voice will undermine our equality of citizenship”. He said it will “have an Orwellian effect where all Australians are equal, but some Australians are more equal than others”.
Dutton even suggested “the Voice will re-racialise our nation”.
And he’s right, on both counts.
Former prime minister Scott Morrison told parliament yesterday the Voice would create “different rights for one group of Australians over others, based solely on race”.
This is simply undeniable. No matter how much Labor try to deny it. The only group to have a constitutionally-mandated “Voice” will be a group defined by race.
Dutton is now throwing everything into the No campaign as if his leadership depends on it. Which perhaps it does.
ABC Australia
And Albanese’s even more so. Put simply, Dutton can afford to lose, Albanese can’t. The PM owns this referendum. He conjured it out of nothing, after running completely silent on the issue during the election.
If – or, polls indicate, when – it fails, his leadership will be fatally wounded.