Dunkley by-election is chance to put Anthony Albanese on notice

The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, in Adelaide on Thursday. Mr Dutton says ‘the people of Dunkley are not privileged – but they have been forgotten by a government that is not focused on them’. Picture: Ben Clark

The Dunkley by-election on Saturday is an opportunity to choose a local community leader with a track record of delivering.

It’s also an opportunity to send Anthony Albanese a message that he needs to do a better job in addressing the cost-of-living crisis residents in Dunkley and across Australia are facing.

The Prime Minister promised that you would be better off under Labor. He said life would be “cheaper” under him. He promised that your power bills would go down by $275. He promised you “cheaper electricity”. He promised you “cheaper mortgages”. He said “my word is my bond”.

But are you better off now than you were when Albanese was elected? That’s the question every person in Dunkley should ask themselves ahead of voting on Saturday.

The reality is that Australians are $8000 worse off since Albanese’s election. Your electricity bill has gone up 20 per cent. Your gas bill has gone up 27 per cent. Grocery prices are through the roof. Those with a mortgage are typically paying $24,000 more a year, and renters are paying more than ever.

You and your family are worse off under the Albanese government.

And now Albanese is introducing a new car and ute tax, which will add thousands of dollars to the cost of popular SUVs for families and utes for tradies. It’s the worst possible time to be hitting the families and tradies of Dunkley, and Australia, with this new carbon tax on cars.

Not only has it failed on cost of living, the government has been asleep at the wheel on community safety and national security. The first responsibility of a national government is to keep the community safe – and the Albanese government has failed on that front.

The government released 149 hardcore criminals from immigration detention last year, including seven murderers and 37 sex offenders, and we know that despite the parliament passing legislation to enable the government to apply for an order to re-detain these offenders, the government has not yet applied for a single one of these criminals to be re-detained.

The Albanese government and the hapless Minister for Immigration have failed to use the powers the parliament gave them to protect the community. This is a shocking failure on community safety and national security from the Albanese government.

In a further sign that the Prime Minister is focused on the wrong priorities, he spent the first 18 months of his term obsessed with his $450m voice referendum, which divided our country.

While 56 per cent of Dunkley residents voted no to the voice, the Labor Party’s candidate for Dunkley described the voice referendum outcome as “the worst of white privilege”. Well, the people of Dunkley are not privileged – but they have been forgotten by a government that is not focused on them.

The Liberal Party has a positive plan for Dunkley. Our commitment to the Frankston-Baxter Rail Extension is a game-changer. Only a few years ago, Albanese called this project “transformative”. He himself called it a “game-changer”.

Yet last year, as part of Labor’s cuts to Victorian infrastructure, he cancelled the project. This is not good enough. This is exactly the sort of infrastructure project this growing region needs, and the federal Coalition is committed to it while the Prime Minister has turned his back on it.

We’ve also committed to funding other local community infrastructure projects in Dunkley, including revitalising Monterey Reserve in Frankston North, redeveloping the Bruce Park Pavilion in Frankston South, and delivering the Len Phelps Pavilion upgrade in Carrum Downs.

Our outstanding Liberal Party candidate, Nathan Conroy, is exactly the sort of “doer” we need in the federal parliament. Nathan stood for Council because he wanted to change his community for the better.

Having campaigned with him on the ground in Dunkley, I know he is a fighter for the local area – and now he wants to take that fight to Canberra.

While the Dunkley by-election won’t change the government, the result can send a clear message to Anthony Albanese: that his cost-of-living crisis is hurting, and he needs to do better.

That’s why you should please vote for the Liberal Party candidate, Nathan Conroy, on Saturday, who will fight for Dunkley and who will get things done.

Peter Dutton is the federal Leader of the Opposition.