Prepare for ‘Dutton 2.0’ in 2024, PM Albanese claims

With Labor and the Coalition preparing for the next election, the Prime Minister says Peter Dutton will attempt a political ‘makeover’ in the new year but predicts it will fail.

A makeover of Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is in the offing, the Prime Minister has predicted, as the political foes prepare for the next election, due by early 2025 at the latest.

Anthony Albanese openly mocked and ridiculed his political opponent, personally guaranteeing that Mr Dutton would seek to re-craft his hardman persona before the next federal poll.

“We’ll start hearing about Pete’s kind heart, his cuddly nature,” Mr Albanese said to a crowd of the party faithful in Sydney on Tuesday night.

“We might even get a glimpse of a smile – it’s amazing what they can do with AI these days.”

The PM has mocked his political opponent Peter Dutton. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

But the Prime Minister claimed the opposition leader would ultimately fail to reset his image in the electorate.

“There will never be any such thing as Dutton 2.0,” the PM said.

Despite Mr Albanese’s claim that the opposition leader is in need of a makeover, opinion polls have consistently shown that Mr Dutton has made headway in the preferred prime minister stakes.

The latest Newspoll, released November 6, showed the gap between the PM and the Liberal leader has narrowed significantly, with just 10 percentage points separating the leaders. In September last year, almost 40 points separated them.

However, on a two-party preferred basis, the government still leads the Coalition 52-48.

Peter Dutton has made headway in the preferred PM stakes, according to the latest Newspoll. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

With Labor and the Coalition drawing battlelines over issues including the cost of living, energy, industrial relation and immigration, both leaders have increasingly sought to denigrate their opponent in recent months.

In a searing critique of the Opposition Leader, Mr Albanese also took aim at Mr Dutton’s previous record as evidence that he could not be trusted.

“A man who claims to be a conservative, but tries to trash our institutions,” the PM said.

“A man who talks about the importance of social cohesion, but does everything he can to divide us as a society.”

In the meantime, Mr Dutton has ramped up his attacks on the Prime Minister including his handling of the cost of living crisis and response to the Israel Hamas war, while also criticising his recent overseas travels.

“I think he’s completely and utterly lost the plot in terms of the priority that Australians need him to focus on right now,” Mr Dutton said of Mr Albanese recently.

“And that is helping them with their cost-of-living pressures.”