Peter Dutton is widely tipped to become the next leader of the Liberal Party. Photo: Lachie Millard.
If, as seems likely, Peter Dutton becomes leader of the Liberal Party then the Liberals will have learnt nothing from the election result.
It takes a person, or group of people, to be particularly talented in either arrogance or insensitivity to not notice when the ground has moved under your feet, and that where you thought you were no longer exists.
But it’s more than that, the societal ground hasn’t merely shifted, the tectonic plates have ruptured.
And yet the Liberal Party would put in charge of their depleted stocks one who has stonkered around the earth, like a dinosaur, and now would continue to do as if nothing had changed.
That perception remains of a politician who thinks that by sheer force of will he can corral irresistible forces to his way. This is the manner of a political dullard. Really after Saturday, you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.
The Western Australian Premier, Mark McGowan, said on Monday what many I’m sure probably feel about Dutton: “He’s an extremist. And I don’t think he fits with modern Australia at all. And he doesn’t seem to listen. He’s extremely conservative… I actually don’t think he’s that smart. I’ve seen him present on things. I don’t really think there’s much there.”
The Liberal Party on Saturday was smashed in blue-ribbon, quintessential, indeed, foundational seats of the party, by not so much Labor as independents, that is, individuals wanting to effect change, not to maintain the status quo.
In many issues facing society, such as climate change, women’s equality and justice, Indigenous progress, looking after the most vulnerable, whether it be the unemployed or the elderly and infirm, maintaining the status quo for the sake of the party is not only going backwards, it is reversing into the deep chasm called irrelevance.
And wouldn’t you know it, voters picked up on this. People are not stupid. An axiom that seems to escape those who think a political edifice, such as a party machine, bestows intelligence.
So, with Scott Morrison rushing out the doors of leadership on the night of catastrophic defeat, the party now looks to the future with the frontrunner a member tied to the past.
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After nine years of government, the power is no longer in his hands. No more to the dance for Peter Dutton. No longer a minister of the crown. Back to Queensland he goes to be the local member of the Queensland electorate of Dickson (which swung against him to the tune of three per cent).
Of course, should the party room vote to have the member lead them to the next election, he will still take the fight to Labor, not as a desolate ghost, in his mind, but as the warrior he has always shown himself to be, defending the flower of this country’s innocence.
To fill this role involves a toughness Dutton has in spades and a willingness from the public – a reliant, non-questioning, almost subservience – to his words. Except, that blind adherence is no longer there.
On election weekend he tweeted: “People smugglers have obviously decided who is going to win the election and the boats have started already.” This came with a warning from the party: “Breaking: Australian Border Force has intercepted an illegal boat trying to reach Australia. Keep our borders secure by voting Liberal today. vote.liberal.org.au”. Extraordinary timing.
Just a few days before that a Chinese spy vessel was spotted off the coast of this fair country. Again, what timing. Again, the then Defence Minister blasted the Chinese, calling it an “aggressive act”.
Back on Anzac Day, he cast the threat to Australia from China as a parallel to the threat posed by Nazi Germany to the world: “The only way you can preserve peace is to prepare for war, and to be strong as a country. Not to cower or be on bended knee or be weak. That’s the reality.
“We’re in a period very similar to the 1930s. And I think there are a lot of people in the 1930s that wish they would have spoken up much earlier in the decade than they had to at the end of the decade. I think that’s the sobering reality of where we are, it’s the sobering reality of the intelligence that we receive.”
Pity intelligence on the state of voters’ minds, their concerns and anxieties weren’t more forthcoming. Things have changed.
The numbers don’t lie.
