Election 2025: Peter Dutton embraces underdog status amid sliding polls for Coalition

The Opposition Leader has tried to distance himself from Donald Trump, as he spent day 18 of the campaign visiting three Labor-held outer Melbourne electorates.

Peter Dutton and son Harry at a new homes construction site in Maddingly. Picture: Richard Dobson/Newswire

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Peter Dutton has embraced the underdog tag and tried to distance himself from US President Donald Trump, as he spent day 18 of the campaign visiting three Labor-held outer Melbourne electorates in an indication he still sees a pathway for Coalition government through Victoria.

After polls showing he was losing ground to Labor, the Opposition Leader said “We’re the underdog at this election”.

Mr Dutton said it was an uphill battle to knock off a first-term government but there was “no question” the Coalition could win the election.

He accused Anthony Albanese of running a “scare campaign” about the Coalition because he was “ashamed of his own record”.

“A first-term government hasn’t lost since 1931 … but this has been the worst government since 1931; I don’t think Australians could afford three more years of this bad government,” he said. “So we have to make sure we work hard every day between now and the election.”

With Labor making electoral inroads by claiming the Coalition was mimicking Mr Trump’s policies, Mr Dutton declined to stand by his earlier comment that the US President was a “big thinker and deal-maker”.

Instead, he said the election was a “contest between Anthony Albanese and myself”.

With the Liberals eyeing a swag of seats in Melbourne, Mr Dutton began his day at a housing development in the outer Melbourne seat of Hawke held by Labor MP Sam Rae on a margin of 7.6 per cent.

The Liberals say it is vulnerable amid a growing anti-Labor sentiment in Melbourne’s outer suburbs.

Mr Dutton used the visit to talk up his plans to offer tax breaks to first-home buyers who purchased new properties.

His son Harry, 20, was with him for the second day in a row.

While Harry on Monday said he was struggling to save up for a deposit, Mr Dutton on Tuesday confirmed he would provide fin­ancial assistance for his children to buy their first homes.

“Our household is no different to many households where we want our kids to work hard, to save and we’ll help them with the deposit at some stage,” Mr Dutton said. “But in many families, in a lot of families across the country, they haven’t got that luxury.”

Mr Dutton fills up the vehicle of Liberal member for Gorton John Fletcher. Picture: Picture: Richard Dobson/Newswire

After Hawke, Mr Dutton went to a petrol station in the seat of Gorton, where he spoke to locals about plans to cut the fuel excise.

The seat is held by Labor on a margin of nearly 10 per cent, although the retirement of long-serving member Brendan O’Connor gives the Liberals hope it could change hands.

Mr Dutton’s final stop was his third campaign visit to McEwen, held by Labor MP Rob Mitchell on a margin of 3.8 per cent.

He toured a construction company there and spoke to workers about his plans to bolster the industry. Mr Dutton drove a dump truck around the construction company’s yard before stopping at an on-site bowser to fill up the truck with petrol.