Albanese, Dutton carry decades of baggage into May 3 election

With a combined 53 years in parliament, Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton’s greatest hits and stuff-ups are set to be weaponised during the five-week campaign.

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton bring decades of political baggage into the election.

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton bring decades of political baggage – good and bad – into the election, with their greatest hits and stuff-ups over a combined 53 years in parliament set to be weaponised during the five-week campaign.

Albanese’s lowest point was the disastrous failure of the Indigenous voice referendum in October 2023, which the Prime Minister personally elevated as his number one priority at the top of his election night victory speech.

Dutton’s “come to Jesus” moment was on April Fool’s Day six months before the referendum, when he lost the Melbourne outer-suburban mortgage-belt seat of Aston, which had been in Liberal hands since 1990. It was the first time an opposition had lost a by-election to a government in more than a century.

The voice referendum defeat and Aston by-election defeat were the two critical nadirs for Albanese and Dutton in the 47th parliament, which was dissolved by Governor-General Sam Mostyn on Friday.

Dutton’s decision to oppose the voice in the days after the by-election result ironically put him back in the game, got the Coalition ahead of Labor in the polls and ended Albanese’s extended honeymoon period.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton hit his lowest political ebb after losing the outer-suburban Melbourne seat of Aston to Labor at an April 1 by-election in 2023. Picture: David Crosling

For Albanese, the referendum defeat combined with escalating cost-of-living and housing crises precipitated a 16-month crash in voter support made worse by damaging immigration, social cohesion and economic mistakes. Labor has only started recovering in recent weeks.

Albanese and Dutton – who entered parliament in 1996 and 2001 at the ages of 33 and 31 respectively – have shared similar pathways to the top jobs and are veterans in the political dark arts practised in the corridors of Parliament House.

Within a couple of years being in parliament, Albanese and Dutton were promoted to the Labor and Coalition frontbenches. They were leaders of the House, cabinet ministers for nine years across different governments, and qualify for the now defunct gold-plated pension scheme.

While Albanese spent most of his time in his beloved infrastructure and transport portfolio, Dutton boasts a more diverse cabinet and shadow cabinet resume, holding portfolios across workforce participation, revenue and assistant treasurer, health and sport, immigration and border protection, home affairs and defence.

There are few political operators in Canberra whose tenures reach back to the early days of John Howard’s reign between 1996 and 2007. Howard is a genuine hero of Dutton’s. After just one term in parliament, Howard promoted Dutton, and the pair have been close for more than two decades. Dutton still seeks and receives regular advice from the 85-year-old. You will hear Dutton talk about Howard a lot during the campaign, as he seeks to woo baby boomers and older Australians.

Albanese describes his political hero, former boss and Left faction luminary Tom Uren, as a “father figure”. The 62-year-old worked for Mr Uren as a research officer between 1985 and 1989. He then became an ALP official and senior policy adviser to former NSW premier Bob Carr before entering parliament.

After the Coalition attacked the then opposition leader for stumbling on the cash and unemployment rates early in the 2022 election campaign, Albanese famously invoked his University of Sydney Bachelor of Economics degree to spruik his economics credentials.

Dutton – who has and will continue to highlight Albanese’s “lack of real world experience” as a career party official, staffer and politician – worked as a Queensland police officer for nine years, was a small-business owner and attained a Bachelor of Business at the Queensland University of Technology before entering politics in the marginal seat of Dickson.

Over the next five weeks, Albanese and Dutton will see ghosts from their pasts weaponised by opponents, and have their political records scrutinised. Dutton is already facing massive pressure from Labor over his record as health minister. He has sought to neutralise Labor scare campaigns by splashing more than $10bn, matching Labor’s Medicare and cheaper medicines policies.

Albanese, after three years as Prime Minister, is expected to be more polished and smarter as he pursues his dream of becoming the first PM since Howard to win back-to-back elections.

Dutton will for the first time face the daily grind and pressure cooker environment of a federal election campaign.

The pair, who will lock horns in at least two leaders debates, will try their best to sidestep political landmines and curly questions.

Despite their efforts, no leader emerges unscathed from the charged intensity of a campaign trail as they battle for the nation’s top job.