Dutton now prime ministerial

by DAVID FLINT – THE fact that no highly respected economist is lauding the budget, and the public is clearly unimpressed, is bad enough for the Albanese Government. 

Worse, opposition leader Peter Dutton’s budget reply speech significantly increased the trend of him being seen as prime ministerial in a way that Anthony Albanese is clearly not. 

Apart from immigration being out of control, Albanese is incapable of exercising even minimal control over spending, defending the realm, controlling criminal detainees and ensuring potential terrorists do not sneak into the country.

The level of broad support for his call for a significant reduction in immigration and a ban on foreign investment in housing indicates that he could well be the next prime minister.

Without the Teal’s seats, that would seem difficult. But because they are increasingly dismissed as an ineffective, single-issue, Labor-lite Party, obsessed with pushing “renewables”, their support is declining significantly.

DISASTERS

And as Australians increasingly conclude that “renewables” are excessively expensive environmental disasters that will not change the temperature in the slightest, the Teals’ hold will be consequently weakened.

This will be accelerated if Nick Cater’s well-documented argument on ADH TV that they have been mainly and significantly funded by “renewables” investors becomes widely known.

The Teals have enjoyed generous media support since the 2019 launch of the campaign by a then independent, Zali Steggall, in Tony Abbott’s seat.

To broadcast her launch live from the Domain, a popular current affairs program was even cut short, an unprecedented decision.

But in addition to the Teals probably losing support, Labor’s hold on some of its seats may be weakened as rank-and-file electors find that under Dutton the Liberals will not be pushing unattractive Labor-lite policies.

Instead, Dutton is offering a strong range of real solutions to the many failures of the Albanese Government.

Apart from immigration being seen as out of control, the Albanese Government is incapable of exercising even minimal control over spending, defending the realm, controlling criminal detainees and ensuring potential terrorists do not sneak into the country.

Traditional Labor support has fallen following the growing realisation that the parliamentary Party has long been bent on eliminating working class jobs.

This began with sending manufacturing to China and is now reaching its zenith with the ideological campaign against fossil fuels.

Blue collar workers are increasingly realising that Labor, including union leaders, too often adopt positions that destroy their very supporters’ livelihoods.

Just recall what they did to the merchant navy and motor vehicle manufacturing.

ABANDONED

It seems that the future Labor support base will consist of a rump of working-from-home public servants, assorted well-educated wealthy virtue-signallers, and those who have abandoned work for the endless dole or other modes of generous lifelong support by taxpayers.

They will be represented in parliament by career politicians, most of whom, it can be said, have never had a “real job”.

As voters get to know Peter Dutton, they are seeing a distinct difference, a man who has had a successful life outside of politics both as a policeman and as a small businessman. In addition, they will acknowledge that he has been a no-nonsense minister and an achiever.

Dutton only began to emerge in the public consciousness as a potential PM during the Voice referendum. He was widely commended both in his choice of the impressive Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as Indigenous Shadow Minister and his strong and courageous statements of policy.

The result was that the No vote was so successful that the Labor-supporting media, a large segment, did what they usually do with all bad news for Labor governments.

They treated it as though it never happened.

More recently, voters will have noticed Dutton’s firmness in the face of Beijing’s aggressions, his rejection of Albanese’s and Wong’s rewarding of Hamas terrorists, and his overarching commitment to national defence.

Meanwhile, Labor’s anti-dam policy ensures that immigrants pour into Sydney, Melbourne and, to an extent, Brisbane.

RUSHING

There, instead of standing up to Canberra, Labor premiers are obediently rushing to crowd the cities with too-often jerry-built high-rise buildings and without the range of essential services needed.

Other leading election issues will be the cost of energy, the cost of living generally, crime and defence.

In all of these areas, Dutton is closer to the electorate than the Albanese Government.

As to energy, Dutton has sensibly indicated that the nuclear energy ban will be repealed.

To avoid the inevitable scare campaign, he would be wise to indicate that decisions on specific locations are best reserved for the States and the people, as the constitution always intended.

Perhaps wisely, Peter Dutton has proceeded without challenging the theory of man-made global warming.

Apart from the theory being challenged by many eminent scientists, there is a very important political consideration.

The likely Republican candidate in the November election, Donald Trump, has declared global warming a hoax.

As President, he is likely to remove the United States from any commitment to it, including zero emissions.

This will result in a worldwide variation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fable, with the President revealing that the Emperor is wearing no clothes and that global warming is a hoax.

Except for those blinded by ideology or heavily invested in green technology, an increasing number of people suspect that the West is being taken for a very big ride.

It is curious that the ruling classes need someone of Trump’s strength as leader of the West to admit that this hoax serves only the interests of Beijing and various investors.

HONEYMOON

To conclude, the government’s win in Dunkley was the result of the media granting it the longest honeymoon any government has ever had in Australia and the opposition not campaigning on some damaging news at the time.

As I suggested in this column, the result would be a government tempted to proceed to an early election, especially if a royal visit takes place. Despite being republicans, Labor politicians would take any advantage they believed flowed for them from this.

Although the government long claimed the budget would be austere, as it approached, they reversed this and became profligate spenders.

It could now readily serve as a pre-election budget.

This suggests that there is a temptation to go to an election before things get worse next year.

And when has this Prime Minister resisted temptation?PC

David Flint

MAIN PHOTOGRAPH:  Peter Dutton (L) and Anthony Albanese. (courtesy InQueensland)
RE-PUBLISHED: This article was originally published by The Spectator Australia on May 25, 20214 Re-used with permission.

4 thoughts on “Dutton now prime ministerial

  1. Personally, and from my point of view, any party or leader of any party who won’t commit to a royal commission on covid has got something to hide or is under the thumb of other than the voters. There is no voter who wouldn’t want a royal commission into covid with accountability and explanations for how it was managed. So that rules out Liberals and Labor, I don’t know what the Greens position, probably the same. I know that Pauline wants a royal commission and most probably any other minor party but the two majors don’t want it. Why is that and how can they be trusted ever again? According to Clive Palmer the national debt will take 200 years to pay off. Why shouldn’t there be an explanation? Why was the management of covid left to unelected bureaucrats?

  2. I get the impression that Peter Dutton doesn’t know what day it is. It takes months and month of being pushed before he comes out with a few conservative sounding platitudes. Then everybody cheers … yeah Peter for PM! What about Malcolm – everybody thought he’d be good because he had business smarts — but he was only in it to push his own pet ideologies. Then there was Scomo who in combination with Treasurer Friedenberg totally wrecked the economy. Dutton next you say? Mind you, he has a big property portfolio – has he got the time to devote to politics? Who’s to say his interests won’t be in pushing projects that help his portfolio? I’m not convinced about where he’s coming from. I’ll be putting the major parties last.

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    1. ” Then everybody cheers … yeah Peter for PM! What about Malcolm – everybody thought he’d be good because he had business smarts — but he was only in it to push his own pet ideologies.”

      Not everybody, Carole. I predicted from day one that given Turnbull’s clearly apparent character, the shine would come off him in very short order, that he would be unceremoniously dumped, and that those who installed him would wonder what they had been thinking to elevate him to a position for which he is manifestly unsuited (personally, I wouldn’t put him charge of a school P&C and I wouldn’t hire him to sweep floors).

      Dutton is not much better – who can forget him promising that if Albanese’s Apartheid didn’t get up, he would hold a *second* referendum? That’s what psychologists would call a tell – a stunningly spectacular display of abject stupidity, a thought bubble that belies the vacuity of this man (who is supposedly the cream of the crop among those in the parliamentary wing of the “Liberal” party).

      Dutton exemplifies the lack of talent in the major parties, and serves as a continual reminder as to why a vote for any of those on the rotating duopoly gravy train is a vote that is wasted.

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  3. Wishin’ an’ hopin’ and prayin’…as the song goes. It’s one thing for the wheels to be falling off the Labor bandwagon, but there is no necessary uptick in the electability of the Liberal Party any time soon. Labor’s failings are only one side of the coin. Peter Dutton left the heavy lifting on the Voice referendum to Warren Mundine and Jacinta Price. He has tippy-toed into the nuclear debate with little or no worked-out detail. When questioned on this matter about its essential integral planning and enunciation of a nuclear strategy, he fumbled and mumbled and immediately lost credibility. To put the narrative out there wellll before election time, to counter all the arguments, to show the electorate that you have really done your homework, this is what has to happen. Tumbleweed and crickets. Any muscular coherent policy to screen immigrants more closely? Nup. Any firm action on anti-Semitic violence? No policy. And so on and so on. What do the Liberals actually stand for and what arguments have they to place before us so that they can answer all comments and criticisms well before next Election Day? As the great Homer Simpson would say:”Mmmm, I dunno”.

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