New Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton vows to target ‘forgotten Australians’
New Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has set up a showdown with Anthony Albanese over climate change and the economy.
Peter Dutton has set up a showdown with Anthony Albanese over climate change and the economy, warning that the new Labor government’s policies will drive up electricity prices, inflation and the cost of living.
After being selected unopposed as the 15th Liberal Party leader on Monday – and the first from Queensland – Mr Dutton made a pitch to the “forgotten people” in the suburbs and regions, and promised to win back multicultural and women voters who abandoned the party at the federal election.
The conservative stalwart also moved to neutralise the backlash against Scott Morrison over a federal integrity commission, pledging that he believed in “transparency” and was a strong supporter of a national ICAC.
Mr Dutton and new Nationals leader David Littleproud – also a Queenslander, who deposed Barnaby Joyce in a marathon party room meeting on Monday – said the Coalition could win the 2025 election if it returned to the “sensible centre” and avoided lurching to the right or left.
Climate change action and the nation’s finances will form the bedrock of the Coalition attack strategy, with the new Opposition Leader declaring “electricity prices under Labor will go up” and that the Prime Minister will lead a “bad government” incapable of fiscal repair.
Mr Dutton, who will finalise his frontbench by the end of the week, said. “I’m a very passionate believer in making sure we have the appropriate response to the issue of our emissions reductions.
“We need to do it in a sensible way. We’ll support policies which aren’t going to turn lights off in small businesses (and) aren’t going to send families broke in the suburbs because they can’t afford Labor’s power bill.
“I want to support domestic manufacturing, I want to make sure that we can provide support to those industries so we don’t see more jobs go offshore.
“That will be the guide rails if you like for the policies that we’ll have. Anthony Albanese hasn’t properly explained how high power prices will go and how unreliable the energy source will become.
“I worry that the Labor Party is embarking on a course where they will tax and spend, and it will be those families and those small businesses that will be adversely impacted.”
Mr Dutton, who conceded he made a mistake by walking out of the parliament during Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Stolen Generation, said the Coalition was open to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and would work through the detail with Labor.
He also pledged to work closely with crossbenchers, including independent Helen Haines, on a federal ICAC.
Mr Dutton, who promised to show Australians a softer side and promoted his 18-year frontbench career across economic and national security portfolios, said he would protect the Coalition, amid calls from some moderates for a split after teal independents won a swath of inner-city Liberal seats on May 21.
“The Coalition is incredibly important, and the best prospect for us at the election is to have the tight Coalition and I dedicate myself to that,” he said.
Mr Littleproud, who claimed the Nationals leadership despite the party holding all of its seats and winning an additional Senate spot, said he would ensure that “regional and rural Australia don’t bear the brunt” of climate change overreach by Mr Albanese.
On Labor’s 2030 plan to reduce emissions by 43 per cent, Mr Littleproud said regional Australians were not against stronger climate action but “we don’t believe we have to mandate (a legislated target)”.
“We bring common sense to this place,” Mr Littleproud said.
“We can incentivise and encourage, and I believe farmers should be at the centre of that.
“You have to look them square in the eye and tell them how you’re going to pay for it and who will pay for it.”
Framing himself as a leader for small business, Mr Dutton attacked corporate Australia and accused business leaders of focusing on social policies while failing to “speak out” on economic issues including industrial relations, tax and wages reform.
The former defence minister, who said some chief executives were now closer to the other parties than the Liberal Party, was critical of the “absence of strong voices that we would have seen even a decade ago within the last generation of business leaders”.
New Liberal Party deputy leader Sussan Ley acknowledged that female voters had turned away from the Coalition.
“I will continue to be a strong voice for women,” Ms Ley said. “We know that we didn’t receive the support of all women at the last election, and my message to the women of Australia is we hear you.
“We’re listening. We’re talking. And we are determined to earn back your trust and your faith.
“I do acknowledge that women who did not support us may have supported us previously. What we need to do with the analysis that is already underway of the results of the federal election is look at that issue.”
As he left the Liberal party room meeting on Monday, Scott Morrison backed the new leadership team and said Mr Dutton and Ms Ley were “outstanding members” of his cabinet.
“They are incredibly experienced and well-versed (and) deeply committed Australians to both the Liberal cause and the cause of the nation,” said the former prime minister, who thanked Liberal MPs for their loyalty and support.
Mr Littleproud, who along with new Nationals deputy leader Perin Davey will need to contain climate change sceptics Mr Joyce, Matt Canavan, Llew O’Brien and Colin Boyce, said “we can only win together”.
“Chasing extremities won’t win us anything; the sensible centre will,” he said.
Simon Birmingham, Angus Taylor, Jane Hume, Dan Tehan, Anne Ruston and Michaelia Cash are expected to fill senior opposition roles when Mr Dutton unveils his team later this week. After holding all of their seats, the Nationals are expected to claim additional frontbench positions.
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