Peter Dutton cannot expect an easy ride

Peter Dutton cannot afford to be complacent or seek comfort from the fact the Albanese government steadily is losing traction with voters. While there is no joy for Labor in the latest Newspoll results that have the major parties at 50-50 on a two-party-preferred basis – Labor’s equal lowest level this term – the bigger reality for the Coalition is that it is failing to get the support it needs to be taken seriously to govern in its own right. On primary votes, Labor is now at 31 per cent against the Coalition’s 38 per cent. The Greens have 13 per cent, with Pauline Hanson’s One Nation at 6 per cent and other independents at 12 per cent.

Unless Mr Dutton can do something to change voters’ minds, the likeliest outcome remains a hung parliament, possibly with the Greens holding the balance of power in an Albanese government mark two – something the nation can ill-afford. The issue for Mr Dutton is that Anthony Albanese is still considered the better prime minister with an approval rating of 46 per cent against Mr Dutton’s 37 per cent. Fifty-one per cent are dissatisfied with Mr Albanese and 52 per cent are dissatisfied with Mr Dutton. To break the deadlock, Mr Dutton must act quickly to tell voters what he stands for and why he would be the better choice at election time.

Labor clearly is concerned that voters are starting to listen to Mr Dutton’s alternatives on energy. Young voters – including those who live in the seats lost by the Liberals to climate-obsessed teals – do not share Labor’s dislike for the idea that nuclear power would be a logical addition to Australia’s energy options.

But as the government builds its scare campaign against nuclear, the Coalition still must convince sceptics it has a detailed understanding of why its energy policies will be better, how they can be delivered and what they will cost. Details must include what a Coalition government would do to safeguard power supplies in the time it would take to put its nuclear plan into action. The hard work extends to detailing what a Coalition government would do to reform the tax system to ease cost-of-living pressures, restart falling productivity, tackle the cost and shortage of housing, and return sense to the industrial relations landscape.

Labor is on the nose because it lost focus on economic management at a time of cost-of-living crisis. It no doubt is hoping that interest rates will start to fall before the election and give it a reprieve. Mr Dutton cannot expect an easy election. He must redouble his efforts and detail a credible plan for government.