‘In three years, Dutton will lead us out of this dismal dark tunnel’
Welcome to the column where you provide the content. Peter Dutton warned in his budget reply speech of dark days ahead under Labor, accusing the Prime Minister of breaching faith with voters, while Simon Benson reckoned the Opposition leader had galvanised his team for a political brawl over energy. Row was enraptured:
“What a brilliant moment. Peter was amazing, he is a true leader . This is his time in three years time he will lead us out of this dismal dark tunnel.”
Chris concurred:
“By painting a picture of Labor darkness, it will make sense for a 1975 election recall: ‘Turn on the lights! Vote Liberal.’”
Rolfe reckoned:
“Albanese underestimates this man at his peril.”
Gosling honked:
“Conservative voters overestimate him.”
Ray said:
“Watching the look on the faces of some of the government backbenchers I could only conclude that there is some consternation about where their leadership is taking them. Dutton has clearly zeroed in on the Labor weaknesses but graciously agreed to support the government on policy that makes sense. If Dutton sticks to his knitting he will wear down Albanese over the balance of Labor’s term in government.”
Des declared:
“Just brilliant. What a positive change from Morrison. He will make a very good PM.”
Chris crowed:
“Probably the most perfectly crafted, balanced, constructive and delivered Opposition budget reply speech I have heard since observing since the mid-1980s.”
Anthony agreed:
“Contained context, historical perspective, a balance of statistics and figures from the immediate past LNP Government, an indication of future LNP emphasis in education, power supply/costs, defence etc.
“His support of some Labor policies strongly suggests that he leads an Opposition that is not totally negative, unlike Labor’s past Oppositions which ruthlessly shot down good policy in the Senate for political gain.
“I though Dutton was calm, attuned to the needs of the country and very much in control of his brief. This is a great start on his first foray into taking down the government.”
Advice from Abednego’s Thermometer:
“And he emerges ... Now pick, say, four – power bills, climate targets, industry policy and education – scale them up to proper policy, get some Abbott-style slogans to hammer them, and go hard.”
Humanising, said Hector:
“Came across as more human than he is made out to be in social media etc. and went thru a whole range of issues glossed over in the Tuesday budget.”
PatrickJD said
“Mr Dutton’s humanity, integrity, and strength of character shone through. It belies the character assassination campaign that Labor routinely conducts against Liberal Party leaders.”
From Bruce:
“Judging by Laura Tingle’s analysis on 7:30 straight after the speech (never heard her say so many umms and ahhhs in 3 minutes) I reckon Dutton has thrown a cat amongst the ALP pigeons. The only disappointing part was his interview with Sara Ferguson however he finished very strongly with a concise summary message.”
David’s assessment:
“Steady rather than spectacular. He is clearly pitching for middle Australia which wants sensible and compassionate policies. He highlighted the key issues people in the real world are concerned about.”
Kay L was less impressed:
“A good start would be to acknowledge the utter failure of the Coalition to address energy problems over their almost decade in power. Another good start would be to acknowledge the current squeeze on prices is due to international issues, largely Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Another would be to agree that delaying the release of the report into the true energy situation until after the election was a politically motivated mistake. Yet another would be to acknowledge that Australians voted overwhelmingly for candidates who wanted more renewable energy, not a continuation of the ridiculous fossil fuel addiction the Coalition appears to be so proud of.”
Garry too:
“A hollow contribution from Dutton. If he wants to regain those Teal seats, and not lose even more, he needs to give up on the nuclear thought bubble (too expensive, too slow), forget about Morrison’s gas led recovery and present a credible policy consistent with limiting global heating to a credible level. He just came across as the climate change denier of old!”
Norm de Plume was nonplussed:
“One of the most boring budget reply speeches I’ve ever witnessed. He even referenced the Fraser government. Just old and out dated ideas being resurrected over and over.”
Greg said:
“Peter Dutton is finding his voice. I hope he asserts these foundations, and stops the endless tearing down of the aspirational middle class. Australia needs a strong willed opposition, confident in its values and prepared to fight for what they believe.”
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According to Oliver Hartwich, it is five years this week since Jacinda Ardern became New Zealand’s 40th prime minister, and NZ in 2022 is a very different place than it was in 2017. Robert reckoned:
“The engine room is faltering, but it’s letting off an impressive jet of steam that looks great, but fades quickly into nothing of substance.”
Matthew’s assessment:
“The majority of New Zealanders have obviously been happy with her poor performance because they continued to vote for her.”
Anthony argued:
“A disappointing column Oliver. You are way too soft on Ardern. I think you should have stuck with your usual sound approach: critical analysis of actual outcomes, not this focusing on ‘feelings’. NZ has seriously deteriorated, economically and socially. Government is dominating, suppressing individual freedoms and choice.”
Chris threw a dummy:
“No coincidence is the slide of the once mighty All Blacks over the past several years. Now ranked fourth in the world – that was almost unthinkable until Ardern came along.”
Garry surmised:
“Ardern is what is wrong with the overall western leadership. All about symbolism and style. She ignores common sense and the common good. She is about minority issues and fails the majority in the implementation of policy. Her period in office will not be marked by advancing the aspirations and hopes of the New Zealand people. It will be marked by smoke and mirrors which benefit the minority and dare I say malcontents. It will diminish and ultimately impoverish the country as a whole.”
James Lazybones agreed:
“Ardern is all froth and bubble, nothing of substance. Feel good policies will not fix a broken economy.”
Tallulah begged to differ:
“The most recent OECD assessment of the NZ Economy: The New Zealand economy recovered quickly from the COVID-19 shock thanks to effective virus containment, measures to protect jobs and incomes and highly expansionary macroeconomic policies but is now overheating and house prices have soared.
“The NZ employment rate is now the highest it has been in 40 years. Ms Ardern has become a regular and necessary target for an anti-progressive, virtueless signalling pile-on in which analysis goes out the window.”
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Prince Harry will release a tell-all memoir in January, under the provocative title ‘Spare’. Peter’s perception:
“Unless he makes a dramatic u-turn from here, and starts to get a grip on himself and make some serious life changing decisions, his future life is on a downward spiral to irrelevance.”
James said:
“Oh please when will this stop? His family have done nothing wrong (in the grand scheme of things) and yet this bloke and his wife are making a living out of perceived slights. Its sick and says a lot about where the world is right now as a place that people pay attention to this nonsense.”
Julie noted:
“Two major UK booksellers – Waterstones and WHSmith –- are already advertising the book for half-price, even though it won’t be in stock until January.”
The Other Guy was impatient:
“Come on Hazza, get it printed for Christmas.”
Sympathy from Anne:
“Here is a damaged boy who lost his mother and the world a Princess. Hopefully by telling his story he can move on.”
Vince warned:
“Harry’s chosen path will be a slow-moving train wreck. All families have some skeletons, the difference is that most understand that we are all human and don’t look for solutions outside the family unit.
“Harry just needs to stick to his original plan and quietly fade into history. Burning bridges with family is very short sighted as his family is the one thing he should have in his corner well after Megan has gone.”
Vinita was suspicious:
“While Harry lives in California, he has headquartered his charity ‘Archewell’ in Delaware. Why? Well, for starters, Delaware allows the principals of charities to pocket 95pc - that’s right, ninety-five per cent - of donations for private use. And public reporting is not required.”
Muddying the waters regarding whether Prince Harry is actually donating the proceeds of his book to causes.
Last word to Suzie:
“Spare us.”
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