Peter Dutton enlists John Howard in Teal seat blitz

Peter Dutton has kickstarted his blitz on teal electorates, enlisting former prime minister John Howard to win back once-ironclad Liberal strongholds.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and former prime minister John Howard at Monavale Bowling Club on Sunday. Picture: NewsWire/Damian Shaw

Peter Dutton has kickstarted his blitz on teal electorates as the campaign stretches into its final week, enlisting former prime minister John Howard to win back once-ironclad Liberal strongholds the Opposition Leader has largely avoided since the election was called.

Attending a campaign launch for the Coalition’s candidate in Mackellar, the visit marked just the second time during the campaign that Mr Dutton has appeared in one of the handful of affluent, socially progressive and formerly blue-ribbon seats where teal independents triumphed over Liberal incumbents at the 2022 election. Instead, the Coalition campaign efforts so far have focused on winning the swathe of mortgage-belt swing seats that have been hammered by the high inflation and elevated interest rates of recent years.

But on Sunday Mr Dutton changed tact, appearing at the Mona Vale Bowling Club with the former prime minister in a bid to convince deflated Liberal volunteers the Coalition can still win the May 3 election.

In a muggy function room appointed with deep green carpet, low ceilings and drab 1970s-style fixtures, Mr Howard reprised his frequent role as the special guest at Coalition campaign events as attendees munched on chocolate muffins, cubed cheese and a selection of cold meats.

Railing against Anthony Albanese, Mr Howard accused the Labor leader of being “out of his depth”, drawing parallels with the Prime Minister’s capacity and his own swimming ability.

“Whenever I see him on the television, I think of when they tried to teach me to swim when I was at Canterbury Boys High School on Wednesday afternoon,” Mr Howard reflected. “We used to go to Ramsgate baths, and I really struggled. I was well and truly out of my depth.”

Among the audience of mostly older Liberal members was firebrand conservative and ex-Mackellar MP Bronwyn Bishop, while several current and former state Liberal parliamentarians also turned out for the event.

Liberal candidate James Brown and former politician Bronwyn Bishop at a Liberal Party event at Monavale Bowling Club. Sydney. Picture: NewsWire/Damian Shaw

Absent from the festivities, however, was Jason Falinski, an outspoken Liberal moderate who formerly represented Mackellar before losing the once blue-ribbon seat to teal independent Sophie Scamps at the 2022 election.

While Dr Scamps campaigned heavily on climate action, gender equality and other progressive causes to secure Mackellar in 2022 with a margin of 2.5 per cent, Mr Dutton instead stuck to his regular stump speech, condemning Labor’s record in office and spruiking the Coalition’s housing and fuel excise policies.

Contrasting himself with his opponent, Mr Dutton said he would not “lie my way to The Lodge”, telling supporters how he would conduct himself as prime minister if the Coalition were elected to government.

“I’m going to act with honour, with decency and with integrity,” he told the party faithful. “I’m going to fix the economy. We’re going to bring inflation down. We’re going to make sure that we can deal with the cost-of-living crisis.”

Aside from Mackellar, the Perth-based seat of Curtin, held by independent Kate Chaney, is the only other Liberal-turned-teal electorate Mr Dutton has visited since the election was called.

In a last-ditch campaigning effort, Mr Dutton is expected to appear alongside Liberal candidates in the Melbourne electorates of Kooyong and Goldstein later this week as part of his jam-packed schedule to visit 28 seats within seven days.

Underscoring the Coalition’s continued focus on the outer suburbs, Mr Dutton also campaigned in the Labor-held seat of Hawke in Melbourne’s urban fringe on Sunday morning, claiming internal polling suggested the Coalition had a genuine chance at seats once thought of as “unwinnable”.

“We’ve got some candidates who started off scratch and have now a higher name ID than sitting Labor members,” he declared at a campaign rally.

“It’s seats that were once thought unwinnable by the Liberal Party.”

Additional reporting: Noah Yim.