Winning the federal election is going to be a delicate game of numbers considering Australia’s two major parties are competing on woefully similar policy.
Some call it a uniparty, others call it lazy, some speculate that it is a survival tactic. Perhaps politicians have so little intellectual diversity that they all think alike without a grand conspiracy.
For the public, it does not matter. Come the federal election, they are tasked with walking into a discount store and holding up two t-shirts, one at $2.99 and one at $2.98, and trying to decide which one is better quality when they know in their hearts they are made in the same factory and the price discrepancy is probably a typo.
Setting domestic policy aside, Albanese and Dutton are casting their eyes abroad to see if they can align themselves to international affairs and win a few cheap votes.
This is very difficult for Albanese, because the collective Left in the West are experiencing a Great Dying Off. What is he supposed to do, latch onto the sobbing European leaders after that meanie, JD Vance, read them a few home truths? Lock arms with Two-Tier Keir, easily one of the most unpopular Prime Ministers in his nation’s history?
It is no wonder his Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is clutching the fractional RBA rate cut and parading it around as if he dug up the Holy Grail. Voters would be insane to reward Labor for such meagre pickings in a field of economic despair.
The Coalition is sensibly aligning itself closer to Trump on core issues such as biological sex and mass migration. It’s a great tactic ruined by Dutton’s admission that a government run by him has no intention of following this sentiment up with policy.
That is worse… To admit you know something to be true and then close your eyes.
Yes, there are only two sexes. No, the Liberals are not going to protect women’s sport.
Yes, the whole climate change narrative is a bit of a bureaucratic cult. No, the Liberals are not going to ditch Net Zero targets. Instead, they have pitched nuclear knowing damn well it will never be approved in a sneaky way to maintain the status quo.
Yes, the World Health Organisation made unforgivable mistakes during the pandemic. No, the Liberals are not going to withdraw.
The list goes on and on.
Peter Dutton’s decision as Leader of the Opposition to walk what he thinks is the Teal-Safe line means that he cannot assume any electoral benefit from the Trump Wave. That cultural movement is slamming into the Coalition and washing up over the edge into the minor parties.
As they say, to ride the Trump Wave you have to grab a board and paddle out into the Culture Wars.
This leaves the Coalition with some pretty hairy figures. The one thing you do not do with margins this fine is talk about unimportant controversial topics that have no relevance to Australian domestic politics.
Which is why my head hit the keyboard when Peter Dutton tweeted his undying support for Ukraine.
There are few topics more pointlessly damaging than Ukraine.
It is immaterial which side of the political debate you fall down on when it comes to the Russia-Ukraine war. I say this as someone who has been sent death threats by the pro-Russia fans on X that once aligned with the freedom movement. When it comes to the future of Ukraine, Australia’s position has about as much relevance as our carbon emissions.
While it might be in the public interest to support our geopolitical partner Taiwan against Chinese aggression, and in doing so uphold freedom of navigation for our vital sea transport routes, wading into Ukraine is a mindless own-goal for Australian politicians.
I understand why an international diplomatic figure such as former Prime Minister Tony Abbott might comment, which he has. Indeed, Dutton should leave the Ukraine comments to Abbott and nod quietly from a distance if he feels he must.
There is no appetite among the Blue Ribbon base for foreign wars when voters know Australia lacks the manpower and technology to defend itself, let alone others. Giving away anything to another nation when Australia is treading the edge of a Pacific war is not only a bad strategy for the federal election, it is utterly insane from a survival perspective. The Liberals like to imagine themselves as smarter and more adult than their screechy activist adversaries, but they are dumb in different ways.
Considering the political hypochondriacs in the Coalition focus group, the existence of Dutton’s tweet is just as bewildering as his passion for unpopular censorship. He behaves like the media arm of Putin’s regime and then throws his support behind Zelensky.
Even if Dutton’s team were to ignore everything else, our most powerful ally and the current spiritual leader of conservatism, America, is entering into delicate peace negotiations.
Our role as a good geopolitical partner (who is also desperate to avoid tariffs), is to stay quiet. It is not our war, not our corner of the world, and we have nothing to back up our bark. Without America, we are China’s prey. That is a cold, hard reality of our existence. A potential Prime Minister should be solely invested in strengthening Australia’s survival.
Even if Dutton has no intention of making real-world commitments to Ukraine and sees the declaration of support as election propaganda, he has misread the conservative audience.
Rightly or wrongly, conservatives are savagely divided on the issue of Ukraine. They have made no secret of this on social media and if the Leader of the Opposition reads this piece, he will find the same split in the comments.
Here is what some of our readers had to say (you can read the rest here):
Mr White: ‘Australia doesn’t have to pick a side in every, or any, global conflict. Ukraine is riddled with the same Nazi ideology we defeated in the second world war. Russia is a totalitarian regime with communist roots that we had defeated by the end of the Cold War. Neither regime remotely resonates with Australian or Western values.’
TheCalvinReport: ‘There is a massive disconnect between the political class and the general public on foreign policy. The average person is tired of endless wars and foreign entanglements while their own country faces economic struggles, yet politicians continue to push interventionist policies.’
Rod Lampard: ‘Applauding Stalinist Starmer for being prepared to send British troops to Ukraine and escalate that war, instead of applauding/backing Trump for pursuing peace, is not an election-winning strategy. Respectfully, you need better advisors, Mr Dutton.’
Stephen: ‘I think we are, at the core, sick of our politicians standing with countries, groups, or individuals and eating popcorn on the sidelines of forever wars that waste the lives of thousands and thousands of young people.’
There are also plenty of comments in support of Ukraine or at least, against the idea of Russian expansionism, but they still did not wish to see Australia sliding down the slope toward spending lives and money on the cause.
If Dutton is looking for winning ideological tweets, he could try standing up for free speech, promising to end mass migration, protecting biological sex rights in law, ending the enormous waste of Net Zero, and reasserting Australian sovereignty by exiting the WHO.
There is a smorgasbord of good press on offer for Dutton. Why is he attracted to election defeat, like a moth burning its wings on the light-bulb of globalism…?
