‘He smashed us’: Libs erupt over Trump

Just days before the election that would destroy Peter Dutton’s political career his inner circle were blaming one man for looming election loss.

Just days before the election that would destroy Peter Dutton’s political career his inner circle were blaming one man for looming election loss.

There was no expectation at that point that the loss was as dramatic as it turned out tobe but the trend was clear.

“Honestly, easily, the single biggest factor is Trump,’’ a senior Liberal MP told news.com.au.

“He has just smashed us, right?.”

Bigger than the impact of Labor’s $8 billion dollar spend on Medicare? Surely not?

“Much bigger,’’ he said.

“It’s a less dramatic version of what’s happened in Canada. The Canadian conservatives have lost 20 points in the polls over this.

“It’s the same phenomenon.

“And if you track the timing, the polling starts to turn south for us after an inauguration day, accelerates a bit, after the Zelensky meeting and after the tariffs, it just drops to the floor.”

Even in focus groups, voters are bringing up international affairs. According to Labor strategists, that never happens.

At the beginning of the campaign, the Labor Party was coy about suggesting Peter Dutton was Trump-lite, a Temu Trump using a hint, hint, nudge nudge approach.

This week, the Prime Minister is done with pretending.

“I think Australians look at the United States, and they see a society that is really conflicted, is really polarised, that’s not healthy,’’ Mr Albanese told news.com.au in an exclusive interview.

US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office of the White House. Picture: SAUL LOEB / AFP

“They don’t want that here.”

The Prime Minister added that President Trump’s equivocation of tariffs, which he described as having “walked them back and then walked them forward”, was reflected in Mr Dutton’s own backflips on work from home policies.

“We have a different culture here, and they don’t want to see a user pay system for health,’’ he said.

“They want to see us go the Australian way to deal with Australian issues.

“I think (voters) are worried about some of the policies that Peter Dutton has put forward.

“Sacking public servants. The working from home policy. The rhetoric about inclusion and people being employed on the basis of gender. The attempt to look at culture wars.”

Asked if he would have President Trump to thank for a second term the Prime Minister deflected.

However, he later raised the example of Canada, where the governing Liberal Party won the nation’s election, despite trailing in the polls three months ago when Justin Trudeau resigned.

That political turnaround is being blamed on President Trump’s tariffs that have turned the tide in favour of the current government, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney.

“No, look, I think what Australians have also seen is that President Trump has changed positions on tariffs for example pretty regularly,’’ Mr Albanese said.

“He made a range of announcements and then has walked them back and then walked them forward, and then walked them back again.

“I think they see a parallel with Mr Dutton … Working from home policies, EV (electric vehicle) policies, road user charges.

“I think people have a look at uncertainty and they know also that in uncertain times what they’re looking for is not volatility.

Trump sledge

Without mentioning President Trump by name, Mr Albanese subtly referenced his claim that the Liberals had stolen policies from the Republicans.

“Our government will choose the Australian way, because we are proud of who we are and all that we have built together in this country,’’ he said.

“We do not need to beg or borrow or copy from anywhere else.

“We do not seek our inspiration from overseas.”

Penny Wong takes aim at Trump mimics

Foreign minister Penny Wong also delivered a subtle sledge over the Americanisation of politics.

“Some might want to mimic the worst of other countries,” she said, a reference to Labor’s charge that Peter Dutton sought to copy US President Donald Trump. “Albo always backs what’s best about our country”.

‘One of the dumbest things I have ever seen’

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has unloaded on the Liberal Party’s decision to oppose Labor’s tax cuts and pledge to repeal them, declaring it one of the “dumbest things” he had seen in politics.

Dr Chalmers said Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor should not “escape all the blame” for the shock outcome, which saw Peter Dutton ousted from his marginal seat and conceding defeat in the federal election on Saturday night.

“Angus Taylor shouldn’t escape responsibility. He shouldn’t escape the blame,’’ he said on the ABC.

“I think Peter Dutton will be accountable for what has happened here but he shouldn’t be accountable on his own for what’s happened here.

“I think Angus Taylor has been one of the biggest reasons why we have outperformed expectations and I say that as his direct opponent.

“That was one of the dumbest things I have ever seen.”

Peter Dutton was slammed by Treasurer Jim Chalmers over his party’s decision to oppose Labor’s tax cuts. Picture: Dan Peled/Getty Images

Dutton flanked by sons as he concededs

Mr Dutton said he accepted “full responsibility” for the outcome and the loss of his own seat while declaring that he had always “wanted the best” for Australians.”

As he was hugged by his two boys Harry and Tom and flanked by his wife Kirrilly, Mr Dutton said he was blessed with an incredible family.

“One of the great honours of being the leader of this party is that we have met people from every side and every corner, the length and breadth of this country,’’ he said.

“People who are doing it hard at the moment and I have always wanted, in public life, for our country, the best for every Australian.”

Mr Dutton said he accepted the verdict of Australian voters.

“Earlier, I called the Prime Minister to congratulate him on his success tonight,’’ Mr Dutton said.

“It’s an historic occasion..and we recognise that. I congratulated the Prime Minister.

“And I said to the prime minister that his mum would be incredibly proud of his achievement tonight, and he should be very proud relationship.”

Mr Dutton was defeated by disability activist Ali France who has run in the seat for the Labor Party over several elections.

“I also had the pleasure of speaking with Ali France. And Ali and I have been combatants for a number of elections now, but she was successful in Dickson tonight, and she will do a good job,’’ he said.

“She lost her son Henry, which is a tragic circumstance. No parent should ever go through that.

“Equally to Ali, her son Henry should be incredibly proud of her tonight, and she’ll do a good job as a local member for Dickson

Mr Dutton said the Liberal Party was “hurting tonight.”

“Our Liberal families are hurting across the country tonight, including in my electorate of Dickson and I want to say thank you very much to all of them,’’ he said.

“Our amazing people, dedicated to their country. Ultimately we live in the best country in the world and I have always believed that and I always will.

“I love this country and have fought hard for it, we have been defined by our opponents in this election which is not a true story of who we are but we will rebuild from here and we will do that because we know our values, we know our beliefs, and we will always stick to them.

“I want to say thank you to the Australian people for the faith that they have placed in me, and thank them for the great honour of having been the member for Dickson, and the Leader of the Opposition. Thank you very much, thank you.”

Mr Dutton was hugged by his two boys Harry and Tom and flanked by his wife Kirrilly. Picture: Adam Head / NewsWire

Liberals react to shock result

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he didn’t expect to watch Mr Dutton lose his seat.

“I thought we were a chance and I thought Ali France had a chance, but I put it at 50-50,” Dr Chalmers said on the ABC.

He declared Labor’s candidate Ms France as “genuinely a Labor hero tonight”.

Liberal frontbencher Sarah Henderson said the result was “a real shock” and a “tragedy”.

“That is a shock,’’ she said.

“We had a great set of policies. We will rebuild.”

Speaking on Sky News, broadcaster Peta Credlin said that former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was “not the answer” as a future party leader given his “baggage” over Covid.

She also questioned whether Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie was a serious option given that he lived in Western Australia.

A former cop, Mr Dutton entered Parliament in 2001 when he defeated Labor’s Cheryl Kernot. He was elected Liberal leader after the 2022 election.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has repeatedly visited the marginal seat of Dickson, starting and ending his campaign there and sparking accusations of playing “mind games”.

But on Saturday night, the ABC made the shock call that the seat would fall to Ms France.

“If we lose Peter as a leader, the Liberals need to determine who is the leader,’’ Liberal Senator Jacinta Price said.

‘Extremely difficult night for us’

Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan refused to be drawn on whether he would throw his hat in the ring as leader.

“And can I just say to all my colleagues, who have lost their seats tonight: Thank you for their seats tonight: Thank you for the service to the parliament,’’ Mr Tehan said.

“Thank you to the service for the Liberal Party and the National Party and to those who have lost their seats tonight, thank you for being part of the democratic process.

“If it is confirmed that Peter Dutton has lost his seat, that means it’s an extremely difficult night for us tonight.”

Ali France. Pic Annette Dew

Nuclear disaster

Asked if the Coalition would take nuclear energy to the next election, Liberal frontbencher Hume offered no commitments on Saturday night.

“John Hewson lost an election on a GST and John Howard won an election on GST,’’ she said.

On the ABC, host Sarah Ferguson asked if the nuclear power policy “would die with Dutton.”

After telling breakfast television this week that she wasn’t prepared to “read the entrails before the chicken is gutted” former Labor leader Bill Shorten took the opportunity to point out the chicken was officially a goner.

“The chicken ain’t squawking. The chicken is on the block. It’s drumsticks and legs,’’ Mr Shorten told Channel Seven.

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said that Dickson had “always been a highly marginal seat, one of the most marginal in Australia”.

“And Peter, if this is the end of it, has served his nation with absolute distinction over a long period of time in the most senior of portfolios, for which the nation is a better place by reason of his service,” he told Sky News.

Ali France came under fire last month after this old retweet resurfaced. Picture: Supplied

Labor’s Ali France once shared ‘fake Nazi’ image of Peter Dutton

During the campaign, Mr Dutton slammed Mr Albanese for refusing to condemn the star Labor candidate for her social media posts.

In one disturbing unearthed post she shared a faked image depicting Mr Dutton and former PM Malcolm Turnbull wearing Nazi uniforms.

“It’s getting grim at Lib HQ,’’ the post she shared in March, 2017 on X, read.

Mr Dutton appears to be wearing an SS uniform in the post.

The SS (Schutzstaffel, or Protection Squads) was originally established as Adolf Hitler’s personal bodyguard unit but subsequently morphed into the elite guard of the Nazi Reich.

In other resurfaced posts she also wrote that Church-run aged care providers “should be taxed”, described Liberal frontbenchers as “supervillains” and Defence Minister Andrew Hastie as “creepy”.

Mr Dutton was scathing in his criticism.

“The Prime Minister, by digging deeper on this issue, is frankly trashing his own credibility, although he is preferencing in his own seat of Grayndler somebody who is anti-Semitic and opposed to the Jewish people,’’ he told The Briefing.

“So I guess this is the standard that the Prime Minister is willing to accept and it says a lot about the Prime Minister.

“I think rapidly they’ll draw the conclusion that (reasonable people would) that the Labor candidate in Dickson is not fit to hold public office.

“People can make mistakes, I don’t believe this is a one-off circumstance and follows a pattern of conduct for a long period of time.”

Albo unleashes amid ‘Nazi Dutton’ pic saga

Speaking in Perth last week, the Prime Minister confirmed he would not be disendorsing Ms France.

“Look, people will go after people’s history going back to more than decade,” he said.

“During the last campaign, Ail France was attacked for, quote, “using her disability” as an excuse for why she lived in the home that she lived in.

“Ali France is someone who lost her leg saving her child’s life. Ali France is an extraordinary Australian.

“She’s someone who has overcome extraordinary adversity during this time, while she’s been a candidate... the loss of her son, and has overcome tragedy.”

Originally published as ‘He smashed us’: Libs erupt over Trump