Rita Panahi: Peter Dutton should resist temptation to play it safe before election
Why is Opposition Leader Peter Dutton refusing to open his eyes to the political opportunities before him? Playing it safe with the election pending is a recipe for failure.
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
After two weeks it’s abundantly clear that Trump 2.0 bears only a passing resemblance to Trump 1.0.
President Donald Trump has learned from the mistakes of his first administration when, in a misguided effort to be conciliatory, he trusted too many swamp creatures and prioritised DC experience over competence and loyalty.
Those days are long over. It’s evident that the Trump team has for months, if not years, meticulously planned his return to power.
It’s been shock and awe every single day with POTUS not wasting a minute implementing his agenda; the will of the American people who gave him a landslide victory including the house, the senate and the popular vote.
Unlike his often feckless and gutless conservative counterparts in the UK and Australia, Trump is not a conservative or Republican in name only. He is not wasting power.
Instead he is boldly, unapologetically implementing the America First policies that got him elected, fulfilling the promises made to the American people from economic and foreign policy to the so-called culture wars.
And one must not underestimate the importance of such issues, far from being trivial afterthoughts, the “culture wars’’ go to the heart of a nation’s values and laws.
And, it’s what helped Trump win.
Indeed there’s polling that shows topics like the trans issue ranked even higher than the border crisis and inflation for independent voters.
So, one has to wonder why Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is refusing to open his eyes to the political opportunities before him.
Why is he refusing to abandon the disastrous Paris climate deal and lean into the trans issue?
What is he scared of? Winning in a landslide?
Representing the views of mainstream Australia who have been ignored while the fringe dwelling trans lobby exercise disproportionate power.
With the election imminent, it can be tempting for the opposition to “play it safe” and not articulate clear policy positions that will be attacked by the Leftist media and activist class. But that is a recipe for electoral failure.
Conservatives win when they argue from a position of strength and moral clarity whether it’s arguing against enshrining racial division into the Australian constitution or arguing for tough border protection policies.
Originally published as Rita Panahi: Peter Dutton should resist temptation to play it safe before election
I’m furious scammer Belle Gibson hasn’t paid a cent
As a Netflix series looms about cancer faker and fraudster Belle Gibson, the fact she hasn’t faced the consequences of her actions — in either fines or jail time — should infuriate us all.
Kennett: I’ve never seen such division on our streets
Never in my lifetime of 75 years have I seen such behaviour, such division, on our streets, in universities and against the property of many, with leaders unwilling to address the growing anti-Semitism in our society.