What Coalition must do to secure Federal Election victory

All Peter Dutton’s efforts must be focused around him and his opposition spokespeople relentlessly hammering the message that Labor has made life more expensive, writes James Morrow.

If the warning lights are not flashing red in Peter Dutton’s office by now, they should at least be blinking amber.

The latest Redbridge poll puts hard numbers around the vibe campaign cycle since at least Cyclone Alfred.

To put it simply, the Coalition — which at the start of the year had some even talking about majority government — has lost momentum and stalled.

In the vacuum, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has managed to regain some ground and even at times look, well, prime ministerial.

But for the Coalition, hope is not lost.

Federal opposition leader Peter Dutton. Picture: NewsWire / Sharon Smith

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has regained ground on the Coalition. Picture: NewsWire/Philip Gostelow

By now it’s an old cliché that the Chinese word for crisis is made up of the characters for danger and opportunity, but in this case it is appropriate.

Because the Redbridge poll also leaves door open for the Coalition, even if they are running out of time to go through it.

Namely, that people are aggravated by rising power bills — set to rise another nine per cent from July 1 — and they blame the Albanese Labor government for their pain.

While Labor now sits on 51-49 on two party preferred terms, 53 per cent of voters said Labor was responsible for pushing power prices “through the roof”.

It’s a slim majority, but it also fits in with what every pollster at every operation I have spoken to for the last year has told me: Everything comes down to cost of living.

Energy minister Chris Bowen addresses the media from Melbourne following reports that electricity bills will rise by as much as 9 per cent from July 1. Picture: Sky News

If Peter Dutton is serious about winning, all his efforts must be focused around him and his shadow ministers relentlessly hammering the message that Labor has made life more expensive via a green energy crusade that has rewarded the well off and punished everyone else.

Key to this will be personalising the message: Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen are personally to blame, and they must be chucked out.

In opposition, Tony Abbott perfected this art — the fact that the phrase “three word slogan” became a slur on the left was evidence of its effectiveness.

Instead, and presumably in an effort to shore up voters on his right flank and keep their preferences from bleeding out to One Nation or various rats and mice parties, he’s chucking oddball ideas like changing the constitution to deport dual nationals convicted of terrorism.

Next week is the budget and the opposition’s chance to give a budget in reply, and then presumably the election will be called the following weekend.

The Coalition needs to turn it around, but it’s got to focus on the problem — and how to solve it.