The age of political dinosaurs, and a desire for world domination, is nothing new ... but the fervor of right-wing fascism has infected Australian politics, eager to adopt Trumpian-Musk MAGA policies. Not to be outdone, minor party Clive Palmer's Trumpet of Patriots (Parrots?) wants in.

5 March 2025

ALAN HAYES

 

DUTTON appears to be a failing talent, who’s dearth of policies continue to flip flop, maybe just weeks out from an election, with no real direction for Australia. The only constant is the intentional MAGA echo – “Let’s Get Australia Back On Track”; a guise for Let’s Make America Great Again Down Under (MAGAAustralis?). It is a resonance of the past dinosaur political era of extreme right-wing fascism – dystopian dreams gone awry.

 

Yet within MAGA echo, just like Trump, Dutton has that undeniable knack for political division – stroking fear and political division can be a powerful tool and brutally effective. But do we want to end up with a ‘mini-me’ leading the country? – resonating, with his fellow regulators, the damaging culture wars of the American far right, dominated by bonkers’ conspiracy theories adhered to by militant acolytes untroubled by reality.

 

Dutton, like Trump, also has a long history of using immigration policy to also stoke division – launching his election campaign with a pamphlet relying heavily on Donald Trump-style rhetoric and issues. But on migration — supposedly a key area for the opposition leader — the Coalition’s policies are confused and incoherent.

 

Dutton is infamous for his claim that people in Victoria were ‘too scared’ to eat dinner at restaurants because of African gangs, which was news to many Victorians. Prior to that, he suggested the Fraser government ‘made mistakes’ by resettling Lebanese refugees in the 1970s, implying they were disproportionately involved in terrorism.

 

During the Voice Referendum, Peter Dutton questioned the Australian Electoral Commission’s (AEC) impartiality. His misleading claims about the AEC puts at risk its reputation, undermining people’s trust  and confidence in election results.

 

What is even far more disturbing is that Dutton, since assuming office as the Member for Dickson in November 2001, has continued to regularly grace front pages due to his offensive comments, uttered falsehoods, hypocrisy, misogynistic remarks, wildly inflammatory statements lacking evidence, funding scandals, ministerial interventions and other faux pas, like being linked to shady deals or shady people.

 

But like any apt political side-stepper, he claims that he was misunderstood or taken out of context, gaslighting the nation into believing it’s us who is getting him wrong — which could be conceivable if such incidents had only happened occasionally over the years – not consistently.

 

It’s not difficult to spot the parallels between Trump’s MAGALand and the right-wing of Australian politics – instilling fear and distrust, then telling ‘porkies’. A slight-of-hand employed by any magician worth his salt.

 

It’s this slight-of-hand that Dutton continues to employ, especially when it comes to policies, and avoidance to provide costings for his turnaround plans; although previously viewed as being tactical, they are straight of the ‘conjurer’s handbook’.

 

It has now become increasingly evident that Dutton has never demonstrated any grasp of policy or economics throughout his political career. It would seem that he simply doesn’t have the capacity to develop worthwhile policies. Or, maybe he simply doesn’t care – a mind dreaming of the long lunch at taxpayer’s expense or his next magic trick!

 

But Dutton’s shambolic policies continue, without any real costings of how they will be achieved. A lucky dip at the school fete?

 

Bye, bye birdie

 

In MAGAAustralis, there are no cost of living policies, beyond building nuclear reactors for hundreds of billions of dollars – a penury-driven scheme that will see households struggling to pay ever-increasing electricity bills for the Liberals pie-in-the-sky nightmare; a "policy" Dutton released without any details about costs or timeframe and without community consultation.

 

So, what can Aussies expect under Dutton’s bold plan for cheap electricity? His insistence that turning MAGAAustralis into a nuclear powerhouse by the late 2040s will lower power bill immediately is furphy.

 

What Dutton’s nuclear dream would produce is two billion tonnes - that's the expected increase in carbon emissions under his plan. According to new modelling from the Climate Change Authority shared with the Senate last week, Dutton's climate-wrecking nuclear push would add emissions equivalent to all domestic flights in Australia for 200 years.

 

A Dutton government would fuel climate chaos: sacrificing our communities and the places we love for the profits of the wealthy few. Imagine higher power bills, stalled climate action and a future mortgaged for profit!

 

Let’s not also forget Dutton’s ties to the billionaire class, Gina Rhinehart, ‘et al’, and his promise to be the "best friend" mining corporations ever had. The LNP's nuclear plan would keep coal and gas burning for decades to come: fuelling climate disasters, driving up energy prices and locking everyone into skyrocketing power bills.

 

With cost of living pressures, the number one issue on voters' minds, now is the time to be reminded how Dutton's policies would put the profits of the wealthy few before the needs of everyday Aussie families.

 

A Dutton at the door

 

As health minister, Peter Dutton tried to cut $50 billion from hospitals, tried to introduce a $7 GP tax, secretly launched the Medicare Privatisation Taskforce and literally tried to destroy GP bulk billing. And now that the Albanese government has announced an $8.5 billion package to save Medicare, Dutton says ‘me too’ as he buckles under Labor’s pressure.

 

But the Liberals continue to be ‘cavalier’ with the truth when it comes to their claims on bulk billing, especially in the wake of Labor’s announcement to make the single largest investment in Medicare’s history to expand bulk billing for all Australians.

 

According to consumer groups and health policy experts the bulk billing figures quoted by the former Liberal government were artificially inflated and didn’t reflect the number of people who found it almost impossible to find a bulk-billing doctor. Yet Dobell hopeful for the Liberal camp, Brendan Small, claims that bulk billing has fallen from 88 per cent under the Liberals, to 77 per cent under Anthony Albanese. Mr Small further said, “there have been 40 million fewer bulk billed visits to a GP under Labor in the past financial year alone, compared to the Coalition’s last year in government.”

 

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners confirmed the Coalition’s bulk billing figures were misleading and “significantly skewed”.

 

“This 88 per cent figure sounds impressive…, however, this is misleading and refers to total GP services. On closer inspection, the proportion of patients who had all their general practice care bulk billed is only 67.6 per cent nationally and as low as 64.4 per cent in South Australia and 40.6 per cent in the ACT.”

 

The RACGP went onto point out that the Coalition’s figures were skewed by COVID.

 

But not to be outdone by the government latest announcement, Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor and health spokeswoman Anne Ruston ambushed Albanese’s announcement, saying they would see Labor’s $8.5 billion and raise it to nine. Yet just how this will be done is vague – like all the LNP policy announcements, costing is side-stepped with rhetoric and slight-of-hand; now you see it, now you don’t and ooh I do a little side step, cut a little swathe and lead the people on.

 

The Liberal’s announcement, of course, begs the fundamental question, which so far has been lacking: can we presume that a detailed Coalition health policy is soon on the way, hopefully that will not be, as appears from what’s been said, merely a “me too” on bulk-billing  - electorally-driven faux generosity.

 

Peter Dutton doesn’t believe in Medicare, he doesn’t believe that Australians should see a doctor for free and if he gets his chance, just like he did last time, he will make Australians pay more to see a GP.

 

Only two weeks ago Peter Dutton repeated the sentiment again, saying “There’s just nothing free in this world and the Government needs to stop pretending that things are free.”

 

And what about Robertson hopeful Lucy Wicks? She has announced that the $15 million that Labor set aside, before an election was in the wind, for a business case study into upgrading a number of roads and intersections at Empire Bay that a Liberal Government would keep in the budget. Is this the best that she can do? Lucy, who claims she champions the community, has a parliamentary voting record that would suggest otherwise.

 

But Dutton, now the leader of Morrison leftovers, wants you to hand him and his lame-duck candidates the keys to the kingdom, so that he can lead Australia. Yet previously, when the LNP held power, his own party rejected him as leader, twice.

 

But can you trust a Dutton banging on your front door? Australian Unions are connecting the dots between Peter Dutton’s hidden $30 million property portfolio and his hidden industrial relations policy.

 

While public scrutiny rightly turns to Coalition Leader, Peter Dutton’s questionable bank share trading and clandestine property dealings, Australian Unions are calling again on the Coalition to unveil its industrial relations policy.

 

If working people can’t trust Peter Dutton to be transparent about his extensive property holdings, how can they trust him to protect their wages and rights at work.

 

ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus said, “What matters is why Peter Dutton is hiding his workplace policy agenda for Australian workers.

 

“He needs to come clean on how much of the HR Nicholls society agenda he will adopt to get rid of awards and scrap the independent umpire, the Fair Work Commission.

 

“Peter Dutton and his Coalition team members have already said they will roll back protections for casuals and get rid of the Right to Disconnect, which is reducing rates of unpaid overtime.

 

“He wants to scrap the Same Job Same Pay laws that are stopping labour hire workers from being exploited and under-paid and he will remove new protections for truckies and gig workers.

 

“What concerns us is Peter Dutton’s constant efforts to make sure no workers’ family can feel secure under a Coalition government.”

 

A Dutton future

 

Dutton became Liberal leader with a strategy to win outer-suburban and regional seats from Labor. Since then we have seen his demolition of the Voice and a rolling campaign of culture wars.

 

Just like the Trumpian doctrine, Dutton has dragged the political conversation ever rightwards: on race, immigration, gender and the pace of a transition away from fossil fuels.

 

His past record is undeniable: there’s no guarantee that he would not come after Medicare again, push wages down, and push electricity prices up with the most expensive form of new nuclear energy.

 

Can Australia afford a Dutton dystopia? Do we want MAGAAustralis?

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