It was disappointing to read the results of this week’s Newspoll showing the federal opposition in an even worse position electorally than at the time of the disastrous May election. Disappointing but not surprising. Nor was it a massive shock to see Anthony Albanese way ahead of Peter Dutton as preferred prime minister.

Governments govern whilst oppositions oppose. It’s a pretty simple formula that most three-year-olds in the playground can swiftly grasp. Kids playing at Robin Hood (or whatever today’s equivalent might be) understand that you don’t defeat the Sheriff of Nottingham by dressing up in the same black clothes and then agreeing with him on stealing from the poor and then ‘waiting to see the final details’ before sharpening your arrows and stringing your bows.

Yet how few opposition leaders do actually oppose. Certainly, the current prime minister did not win office by prosecuting a compelling alternative vision with which to woo the voters. He simply relied on boredom with and distrust of Scott Morrison to do the trick. That’s a reasonably easy task when a government has been in office for nearly a decade and is not only bereft of new ideas but is clearly exhausted by the idiocy of the Covid years. ‘Hey look at how well I handled the virus!’ was never going to get Mr Morrison over the line, partly because he had made such a fuss about ceding his own authority to that beggar’s banquet he himself created, the national cabinet, and partly because for too many people the entire Covid era was a nightmare best forgotten.

Bill Shorten was equally as uninspiring in opposition as Mr Albanese. Indeed, the last time Australians have had a talented and exciting opposition leader was of course Tony Abbott. Prior to that, only Mark Latham and John Howard stand out as opposition leaders who vigorously opposed. Kevin Rudd essentially lied his way into government (‘I’m a fiscal conservative’) – promising to be a younger and trendier version of the man he was replacing. And what a joke that turned out to be.

One doesn’t necessarily like to quote Al Qaeda terrorists, unless strictly necessary, but Osama Bin Laden did observe at one point that faced with a weak horse and a strong horse, most people will opt to follow the strong horse. He was contrasting Islam to Christianity and the secular West, but his observation does hold true for opposition leaders in an adversarial democratic contest. Both Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were blessed to be running against pathetically weak opponents, but it was their inner strength, sense of commitment and conviction and utter contempt for the ideological positions of their opponents that drew the crowds and the fervent support. The same was true in 2016 – and likely will be again in 2024 – of Donald Trump.

So why is Peter Dutton not copying his most successful predecessor? Why is he not behaving like Tony Abbott?

The opportunities for the Coalition to go aggressively on the attack against this Labor government are manifold.

Start with net zero. Stop pussy-footing around and use the energy disaster that is occurring in Europe (and is only going to get worse this winter) to warn Australians of the utter stupidity of destroying a nation’s access to cheap and affordable energy. Yes, tie it into the need for nuclear energy. But also make it clear that Chris Bowen – the man responsible for the worst period of illegal immigration insanity in this country – is the man now responsible for keeping our lights on and our economy buzzing. Above all, destroy the insidious lie that Europe’s energy woes are because of ‘Ukraine’. They are not. They are the fault of governments of all persuasions in Europe pandering to the climate change cult. Full stop. That Vladimir Putin was smart enough to take advantage of their short-sighted stupidity is equally a warning of what China is planning for us once Bowen and Albanese have brought this nation similarly to our knees on energy.

Electric vehicles will devastate the regions. One of Scott Morrison’s most effective and powerful lines was when he warned that EVs will destroy the Aussie weekend. He almost got it right. What they will do is spell the end to the traditional Aussie road trip and thus to city folk visiting rural Australia and bringing their wallets with them.

Attack the Voice and do not stop attacking it. Forget all discussion about race, indigenous welfare, the Uluru statement and so on. Oppose the Voice on the political grounds that it will spell the end of democracy in this country and entrench a Labor/Greens/activist hegemony for all time. No Coalition government will ever be able to introduce any conservative legislation that the Voice disagrees with.

Time is fast running out. If Peter Dutton is not prepared to be a strong horse, then somebody better go out into the paddock and find another one.