CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
The chorus of Australian media commentators are right.
Peter Dutton should not be underestimated.
He’s pragmatic. He’s impressive. He casts a wide net. He’s far more electable than those bitter moderates like Malcolm Turnbull would think.
The Liberals are playing chess while the rest of Australia’s political establishment are playing checkers. And his critics do not appreciate the fact that Peter Dutton appeals to such a broad spectrum of Australians.
And he’s not scared of engaging with them. This much was clear on Monday night’s live Sky News event at the Eaton’s Hill pub in North Brisbane.
It was Peter Dutton’s first appearance in his own electorate since being accused of fleeing from Cyclone Alfred to attend a fundraiser with billionaires in Sydney.
But still, he turned up.
Appearing on Paul Murray’s Pub Test, the Opposition Leader spoke to constituents in his very marginal Brisbane seat, which he holds on a razor-thin 1.7 per cent margin.
With a crowd of baby boomer Sky News viewers who have accidentally made millions through the Australian property market and will only vote for whichever party promises to make sure their hoarded wealth continues to grow in value without being taxed one cent – Peter Dutton was not afraid of mixing with everyday Australians.
In fact, Peter Dutton easily outshone the fawning Sky News host, Paul Murray, whose obvious desire to falate the Opposition leader actually made everyone quite uncomfortable.
With the Liberal Party’s once safest blue-ribbon seats being peeled off one by one by Independent female candidates, and the outer-metropolitan suburbs all opting to go with Labor last election, it is important for Peter Dutton to do events like this.
Because he’s not going to win 18 seats unless he grows his voters base.
Only he can forge the path to victory. One room full of reactionary, climate-change-denying, Baby Boomer property investors and landlords at a time.
