Politics

Dutton’s lack of interest in policy is the Achilles heel of an election campaign built on complaint and tough-guy rhetoric. There is no detail on his nuclear policy, which is so far off it is hard to take seriously. There are serious questions about the workability of his gas policy. There are his three thought-bubble referendums and his destructive plan to cap foreign student numbers. The list goes on.

All elections turn on competence in political and economic management. Undermine voters’ confidence in either – or, worse, both – and the chances of success are seriously diminished. That is the situation Peter Dutton finds himself in at the end of the second week of the campaign.

The launch of the campaign for the May 3 federal election brings back many memories, laughs and cautionary tales of my experiences on the trail in the 1990s. As opposition leader, I had embarked on a big-picture strategy. I released the Fightback policy package designed to deliver the kind of country and economy we would want in 2000. The pressure was really on – what I had to do was to sell it.

There is not a politician in the country who isn’t nervous about May 3, but there are growing concerns in the Coalition in particular about its disheartening start to the campaign. Peter Dutton, who has mostly managed not to make the opposition the issue, has been caught wanting as the spotlight turns on him as the alternative prime minister.

It would be comforting to think Donald Trump is an outlier, that this, too, will pass. Alas, while Trump is abhorrent, he is not an aberration. His administration is the fulfilment of conservative America’s drift further and further right into populist nationalism and isolationism.

There is a powerful irony in Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s proposal to change the Constitution to enable the government, not the courts, to strip dual Australian citizens of their citizenship.

Jim Chalmers insisted in the budget lock-up news conference that his fourth effort was primarily about economics and not politics, a claim that didn’t really convince his audience.

One of the most disturbing recent global trends has been the attempts by governments to attack the independence of the judiciary. United States President Donald Trump has become almost obsessed with undermining the Department of Justice and weaponising its processes.

Australia must take up the challenge presented by its rift with the United States over trade and foreign policy to strengthen bilateral relationships with other countries in these critical areas. We should also move to capitalise on the opportunities President Donald Trump has created by pulling back on climate commitments and USAID.

In the forthcoming Australian election, the actions of the re-elected Donald Trump will be the dominant issue, especially the tariff war and the future of the AUKUS nuclear submarine project. Trump failed to recognise the AUKUS acronym. His policies on Ukraine, Gaza and climate change are all of great concern. Politicians are often regarded as economical with the truth. In Trump’s case, he may be incapable of distinguishing between truth and falsehood.