Peter Dutton says if Liberals can win back Warringah and Mackellar, Coalition can form government
Peter Dutton concedes that winning back the once blue-ribbon seats of Mackellar and Warringah will be crucial to the Coalition forming government.
Peter Dutton has conceded that winning back the once blue-ribbon seats of Mackellar and Warringah will be crucial to the Coalition forming government, as he attempts to link teal MPs to Anthony Albanese and the Greens.
Declaring “a vote for a teal candidate is a vote for Anthony Albanese”, the Opposition Leader campaigned on Wednesday alongside the Liberal candidates for Mackellar, James Brown, and Warringah, Jaimee Rogers, in the Sydney northern beaches suburb of Dee Why, where he has to regain the trust of voters who turned to independents in 2022.
“If we win these seats back, we win government and we can stop the Albanese government from destroying the livelihoods of many Australians. We can get our country back on track,” Mr Dutton said.
“(The teals) are not interested in supporting the Liberal Party, they’re not disaffected Liberals, they are Greens and they’re Labor supporters and people should know that when you’re voting for a green-teal candidate, you’re actually voting for Anthony Albanese.”
Teal MPs, who say they vote based on facts and don’t favour a particular party, were approached for comment.
Zali Steggall, the Member for Warringah who was first elected in 2019, said Mr Dutton was out of touch with her electorate and just opposed everything without putting forward any alternatives.
“I vote on issues and move amendments to reflect the issues my electorate cares about,” she said.
“If Peter Dutton wants us to take him seriously, he needs to start coming up with some actual policies with details and costings. Peter Dutton is only interested in taking Australia off track, not providing any sensible roadmap or smart solutions, especially on issues Warringah cares about like action on climate risk, integrity, cost of living and addressing social harm issues like gambling advertising.”
The teal MP for Mackellar, Sophie Scamps, said her constituents should know members of the Coalition “voted 99 per cent of the time with Pauline Hanson in the Senate”.
“As a new parliamentarian it has been shocking to witness Peter Dutton’s destructive tactics in parliament this term choosing to vote in the interests of his party rather than the best interests of the people of Australia,” she said.
“In a housing crisis, he voted against all four housing bills to increase supply of housing. In a cost-of-living crisis, he voted against capping gas bills for business and households, and pushed for a tax cut for the wealthiest only – until he folded.
“The people of Mackellar want a representative who will work constructively to get outcomes and solutions and not someone who will always put the party first and play politics with their vote.”
Mr Dutton was accused of making poor excuses after he claimed the Coalition had chosen to sit on settled policy by delaying the release of its detailed nuclear costings because of “disasters” that had popped up for the Labor Party.
“There’ll be plenty of time to scrutinise (the costings),” Mr Dutton said.
“Part of the reason there’s been a delay is we’ve gone to announce it a few times, to be honest, and the government’s latest disaster has happened on that day and we’ve decided we’ll let people concentrate on how bad the Albanese government is.”
As the government emphasises the 168 days it’s taken Mr Dutton to announce the costs after promising seven nuclear reactor sites, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said Australians deserved to know how much the policy “will put up their energy bills and taxes, and what he would cut to pay for it”.
“Instead, Australians have ‘dog ate my homework’-level excuses from the Leader of the Opposition. His blame games should remind Australians of Scott Morrison and his inability to deliver for them,” Mr Bowen said.
Mr Dutton’s pre-election attack on the teals came as the Coalition pledged $1.5bn towards new homes in regional, rural and remote Australia, as part of its $5bn home building plan to “unlock” 500,000 new houses across the country.
Nationals leader David Littleproud made the announcement in the NSW seat of Calare, which the Nats used to hold and are keen to win back after Andrew Gee defected from the party to become an independent over its rejection of the Indigenous voice to parliament.
Using a similar strategy to Mr Dutton, Mr Littleproud said: “If we don’t win Calare, you get three more years of Anthony Albanese. This is our pathway to victory for a Dutton-Littleproud government.
“We have to win 21 seats. That’s a big ask, but there is a pathway and our pathway is about making sure that there is stable government for a Dutton-Littleproud government rather than a hybrid model of Greens, teals and Albanese.”
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If there’s no progress on successful projects within a year, the money will be taken back.
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