Peter Dutton has always been heading for this moment, when his politics would meet an issue that could give him a chance to break the world open. Dutton is his own man, fashioned by his own experiences and inclinations, but he is also something of a mash-up, recalling aspects of other leaders. Like John Howard, he is a naturally gifted communicator, one of the very best in the current parliament.
Dutton’s greatest good fortune is to have Anthony Albanese, a weak communicator who is bad on detail and a mostly hopeless policy advocate, as his direct opponent. Illustration: Dionne Gain Like John Hewson and Tony Abbott, Dutton is crazy brave and at times reckless, willing to back himself to an extraordinary extent. He also has plenty of Pauline Hanson about him.
When you go through his positions on social issues, immigration, climate change, external and internal threats to the country, and a view of society as good guys versus bad guys, with rorters and clueless hand wringing inner-city lefties around every corner, the two are not worlds apart. As leader, Dutton has built up the Liberals’ primary polling numbers by attracting Hanson’s supporters, all but sidelining One Nation. The key to understanding Dutton’s crusade for nuclear energy is the deep belief, shared widely in the Liberal and National parties at the parliamentary and membership levels, that the theory of anthropogenic climate change and the consequent need to shift to renewables to avoid an existential threa.