How ‘bully’ Peter Dutton’s greatest faults could make him best choice for Liberal leader

Critics have accused Mr Dutton of being a bully with his hard line and no-nonsense approach, but that’s exactly what could make him the right leader.

When the dust has settled on the 2022 federal election, the history books will not be kind to the Liberal Party’s performance under the leadership of Scott Morrison.

The daggy dad from the Shire may have pulled off a miracle win in 2019 that made him a hero in conservative ranks but his three years in power and the subsequent election bloodbath at the hands of Labor have left the party in disarray.

As it licked its wounds, one of the questions on everybody’s mind was who is going to pick the party up by its bootstraps and start all over again.

The question was quickly answered as the former defence and home affairs minister Peter Dutton confirmed he will nominate for the leadership and has campaigned on a platform to unify his colleagues and hold Labor to account in an economic cycle dominated by rising inflation and interest rates.

Throughout his career in politics, he has built a reputation as the hard-line former cop who makes tough decisions and takes no nonsense.

It makes him a favourite among those who want to see the party move further to the right and those who worry the Liberals will pander too far to the left in the wake of their losses to Labor, independents and even the Greens.

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Defence Minister and Federal Liberal member for Dickson, Peter Dutton. Picture: Zak Simmonds

The party is at a crossroads. On one hand it could lurch towards progressive policies as it seeks to win back voters in wealthy suburbs, where many climate-conscious and female voters in particular turned to so-called “teal” independents.

Under this path, the natural successor to Mr Morrison would have been moderate treasurer Josh Frydenberg, but he was spectacularly dumped from his Melbourne seat of Kooyong by independent Monique Ryan.

The alternative is that the party could target the suburban battlers on the mortgage belt and the blue-collar workers as a path back to power — much like the one famously trodden by Donald Trump in the US.

Those who advocate for the latter strongly believe that Mr Dutton could be a winner in 2025, especially if Anthony Albanese’s government isn’t able to live up to its promises.

Critics have accused Mr Dutton of being a bully with his hard line and no-nonsense approach.

However, John Roskam, the executive director of the conservative think tank the Institute of Public Affairs, told news.com.au Mr Dutton’s tough personality would actually make him the best choice for the job.

“I think Peter Dutton has proved himself a strong leader,” he said “The idea that he’s unelectable in Sydney or Melbourne is completely wrong.

“That’s what the left said about Tony Abbott. And he won 90 seats at the 2013 election. That’s what the left said about John Howard. And he was very long serving Prime Minister. “The Liberal party has to stop listening to its left-wing critics, and it has to speak to ordinary Australians and listen to them.”

He said Mr Dutton’s approach would be a refreshing change from Scott Morrison, who he accused to trying to please everybody.

“Scott Morrison was all things to all people, depending on what time of day it was. Dutton has never pretended to be anything that he’s not,” he said.

“And the reason the left attack him so strongly as they attacked as they attacked Howard, is because they understand he has the capacity to speak to ordinary Australians. He started off as a cop and you can’t get more ordinary Australian than that.”

Commentators have drawn comparisons between Mr Dutton and Tony Abbott. Picture: Jason Edwards

Mr Dutton would take his party back to its heartlands in the suburbs and the regions.

“He will understand that working Australians concerned about our culture and our way of life, about our education system, about cost of living and many of those things Scott Morrison didn’t speak to,” he said. “He’s going to take the Liberal Party message to places where it hasn’t been heard since Tony Abbott, which are safe labour seats.”

Another standout quality of Mr Dutton, according to Mr Roskam, is his ability to cut through the noise and brush off critics.

The LNP suffered a bruising loss at the hands of Anthony Albanese. Picture: David Gray/Getty Images

‘There’s nobody else left’

It is not a foregone conclusion that Mr Dutton will lead the Opposition, with outgoing trade Minister Dan Tehan, home affairs Minister Karen Andrews, and finance Minister Simon Birmingham all being tipped as potential challengers.

However, his chances are especially high because of an election night bloodbath that wiped out 10 moderate Liberal MPs, meaning there will be less resistance within the Liberal party to his brand of politics.

2GB host Ray Hadley said there was “nobody else left” to take the top job, after Mr Frydenberg was dumped by his electorate.

“Dutton’s got to take the challenge and he’s up to it,” he told Sky News. “I know him particularly well. He’s very smart. He’s very astute. He will take the Liberal Party back where it belongs.”

He said that under Mr Dutton’s leadership the party wouldn’t tolerate the “nonsense” from those who seek to take the party further to the left as a reaction to Saturday’s loss.

Josh Frydenberg was expected to succeed Mr Morrison but lost his seat. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

He said it was “good” that moderate Liberals were wiped out by so-called teal independents, because it would allow Mr Dutton to unite the party on conservative policies.

“The definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result,” Mr Hadley said.

“It’s good that Trent Zimmerman’s gone. It’s good that Dave Sharma’s gone. It’s good that Jason Falinski’s gone because (Mr Dutton) wouldn’t take that nonsense.

“If he was leader he’d say: ‘Boys, pull your head in. We’re looking for wood. We are a conservative party. We are not trying to push ourselves to the left. We’re not trying to get in-line with the teals to curry favour’.

“They’ve got to appreciate there are people who will never vote Liberal, stop trying to curry favour with them. Get the people who want you in power to vote for you because you turned plenty away this time.”

He went on to say that if Labor doesn’t deliver on its promises to lift wages, bring the cost of living down and improve housing affordability and aged care, then a conservative leader like Mr Dutton could do well in 2025.

‘You’ll see a different Peter Dutton’

A theme running through those who have spoken warmly of Mr Dutton’s credentials since Saturday’s bloodbath is that Australians have got to get to know him before they judge him too harshly.

They claim he isn’t as right-wing and as menacing as some commentators would have you believe.

Warren Entsch, member for Leichardt in Cairns, said the leadership favourite is “thoroughly decent human being” who has demonstrated “compassion” in his career.

“The Peter Dutton that I know is certainly not the Peter Dutton that I seeing hammered in the media,” he told ABC’s News Breakfast on Tuesday.

“I have known Peter since he came into the parliament, and from my perspective, he is a thoroughly decent human being, him and his wife I consider to be friends.

“I can go through a number of situations, particularly when he was an immigration portfolio that I suspect that anybody else would have said no, but in these cases I was able to present a case, a strong case and the compassion he showed in dealing with those issues and sorting them out to a very positive, satisfactory conclusion. It’s something I won’t forget.”

However, he suggested Mr Dutton may have been pigeonholed because of the tough portfolios he has been in charge of.

"I know it's always touted that he's from the hard right, in his actions, I don't see that."

Warren Entsch on Liberal leadership front runner @PeterDutton_MPpic.twitter.com/QC0uwDxikn

— News Breakfast (@BreakfastNews) May 23, 2022

“When you are put into very difficult portfolios which you are going to polarise people in one way or another, and the portfolios he has worked with are exactly that, of course you are going to get that reputation,” he said. “You have to make very hard decisions, and I look at his ability to manage those difficult decisions, and to continue to work there, and to withstand a lot of very strong criticism from those that have a different point of view.

“I know it is always said he is from the hard right, but I don’t see that in his actions.”

The Liberal Party is at a crossroads after Mr Morrison’s defeat. Picture: Jason Edwards

Liberal strategist Grahame Morris agreed saying Mr Dutton was a “strong man” but that Australians would see a different side to Mr Dutton if he was leader of the opposition.

“Peter Dutton is a strong man, you need a strong leader,” he told Sunrise on Tuesday. “He is a different sort of bloke when you know him, and when you are Prime Minister you have a whole range of things to talk about, you’ll see different Peter Dutton.”

He pushed back against the idea of Mr Dutton being a “bulldozer” like Scott Morrison.

“Everybody is different. He is a former cop so he can do law and order, his family runs childcare centres so that’s good. But the big one is he has a backbone, and you can’t

have weak leader,” he said.

"You'll see a slightly different Peter Dutton, not because he's changed, but because he's talking about different things"

Liberal strategist Grahame Morris says "strong man" @PeterDutton_MP would make a great leader of the party. pic.twitter.com/YU5QwGMzRp

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) May 23, 2022

Another feather in Mr Dutton’s cap is that he has the strong backing of prominent Nationals, such as prominent Senator Matt Canavan.

“Usually when you get tossed out of government Queensland swings and it didn’t this time,’ he told Sky News.

“I think that is in large part due to the strong, conservative leadership that Peter Dutton provides there and gives people hope to rally behind our brand.”

Alan Tudge, who hopes to return to the front bench after standing down during an investigation into interactions he had with a staffer, agreed.

“I think he’ll be incredibly effective actually,” he told Sky News.

“He’s a person of immense character, experience, he has very deep values in the Liberal Party and I think we need to go back to those values.”