Peter Dutton has proven conclusively that the only agenda he has in leadership, is one of division.
He revealed this for the first time of course, when he egregiously betrayed First Nations people by running a campaign of misinformation against the Voice to Parliament. His motive wasn’t formed by any true criticism of the proposal, but by an opportunity to seize on Australia’s worst impulses and embed fear and mistrust into our national psyche.
Dutton succeeded in the case of the Voice, but it was more from good fortune than shrewd operation. His reliance on Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to carry the message through with expert communication was apparent. Peter Dutton walked in her formidable shadow like a bewildered rescue dog.
Like so many of his predecessors before, Peter Dutton shows that his politics is led by nought but power. He doesn’t know why he wants to lead or what his legacy will be, only that he wants to be there; in the top job as the top rescue dog.
As uninspiring as this may be, we’ve seen that this approach regularly works for Australian voters. In an age where people are routinely let down by their socio-enviro-economic reality, politicians who are adept at appealing to and spreading this feeling of discord are often rewarded by longer terms in government. They sell the idea that they “get it” when in truth, they’re often the most out of touch.
But these tactics are only rewarded when politicians are smart. When they take their time, tread carefully and read the room.
Dutton did the opposite this week when he recklessly lashed out at PM Anthony Albanese, and bizarrely conflated the release of 83 asylum seekers with the threat of antisemitism across Australia.
Bringing the criticism to question time on Wednesday, Dutton moved a motion calling on the House of Representatives to express its concern at rising antisemitism and the release of 80 people from detention.
“This prime minister needs to stand up and to be united with the Jewish community – and he’s not,” Dutton claimed.
In a jumbled spray of complaints, Dutton moved from the asylum seeker decision, the cost of living crisis, the last two budgets and the prime minister’s global travel.
A visibly furious Albanese shot back suggesting that Dutton’s attempt to link antisemitism with the decision by the high court was “beyond contempt”.
“I didn’t think that he could go this low as to link these two issues”, he said.
Albanese went on to condemn Hamas as terrorist organisation, but he also mentioned Palestinian deaths and the loss of innocent babies in Gaza.
While arguably a flimsy political stance, Albanese never deviated from the central message he and his party, including Foreign Minister Penny Wong, have been running for days: That Israel has a right to defend itself, but the way in which it does so, matters.
Dutton was left with nowhere to go in his impetuous overreach when Teal independents Allegra Spender and Zoe Daniel both jumped in to condemn his words. Spender, branded Dutton “reckless” While Daniel suggested his motive was “extremely dangerous” as it played games with antisemitism.
The Coalition lost the motion by 54 to 86 votes. Arguably the start of Dutton’s unravelling as Australians get a firmer read on his dangerous incompetence.