All Aboard the Trump Train - Will Dutton Hitch a Ride?
By Steven Tripp
Trump is back and he has wasted no time in pushing his ‘American First’ agenda upon the United States and the World.
He has moved so fast, across so many issues, that it feels like Donald Trump has achieved more in a few weeks, than Anthony Albanese has achieved since becoming Prime Minister. In fact, you may ask – what has Anthony Albanese achieved since entering Parliament in 1996?
On the same day that Donald Trump won the US Presidential election in November, Anthony Albanese was trying the ram through his ‘Misinformation and Disinformation’ legislation. It showed the clear contrast in trajectories that the United States and Australia are now on.
Albanese has stumbled from one disaster to another, whether it be the Voice Referendum, his $4.3million sea-side mansion, or bringing Woman’s rights campaigner, Sarah Williams, to tears with his proclamation of “I am the Prime Minister”.
Is it little wonder that the Albanese Government is sliding in the polls? The Coalition is beginning to consistently win two-party preferred polling and the February Newspoll showed that 53% of Australians believe that Albanese does not ‘deserve’ to be elected.
But the big question is – why is Peter Dutton and the Coalition not further ahead?
Just image the mess Albanese would be in if the Coalition leader was Donald Trump.
Come election time, apathetic voters and people not paying attention politically may automatically assume that Dutton is Australia’s Trump. They will be mistaken.
Coalition aligned media will have you believe that Dutton is measured, careful and willing to take the long road. They will argue that Dutton’s temperament has led him to slowly chip away at Albanese’s Government by being consistent.
But in the age of Trump, the times might not suit a leader of Dutton’s demeanour.
Trump is undeniable. You cannot ignore him. He has completely dominated the political space for ten years now. He is charismatic, dynamic and controversial. Coupled with this, his second Presidential term has seen him amass a cast of characters, such as Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Tulsi Gabbard, et al, that are equal or close to his measure.
The speed in which Trump’s team have sprung into action is unparalleled in World politics. In a handful of weeks there has been a ceasefire in Gaza, with hostages finally being released. Open dialogue has begun with Vladimir Putin regarding peace in Ukraine. Facebook sacked their fact check, censorship team and Mark Zuckerberg is desperately trying to be accepted into Team Trump.
Trump has boldly declared that there are only two genders, with gender neutral terminology banished from Government departments. The US borders have been secured and deportations have begun. US Membership to the World Health Organisation has been revoked.
The speed at which Trump is moving is far beyond what Dutton’s demeanour can accommodate.
Recent history has taught us that bold leaders with conviction can overcome the biggest of odds. Whether it be Trump dodging bullets and repeating phrases like ‘build the wall’ and ‘make America great again’, or Javier Milei calling to slash Government waste by hoisting a chainsaw above his head, Dutton has fallen short of the mark.
The most disappointing aspect of Dutton has been his embrace of censorship, a stark contrast to Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance, who are standing up for free speech.
As Home Affairs Minister in 2021, Dutton introduced the ‘Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Bill 2020’, which granted federal police powers to take over online accounts and monitor activity. Critics, including the Human Rights Law Centre, argued this law encroached on privacy and free expression.
Last November, under Dutton’s leadership, the Coalition supported the social media ban for under 16s, which Elon Musk described as a ‘backdoor way to control access to the internet’.
Now this year, Dutton backed Albanese’s new ‘hate-speech’ laws.
I suppose Dutton did not read the Liberal Party founding document, Robert Menzies’ ‘We Believe’ statement. Point 13 states: ‘we believe in the great human freedoms; to worship; to think; to speak; to choose; to be ambitious; to be independent; to be industrious, to acquire skill, to seek and earn reward.’
Meanwhile, ‘The Priorities of a Dutton Coalition Government’ policy document is a far cry from the leadership on display in Trump’s America. Rather than stating strong, direct policy positions on issues such as mass-immigration (net overseas migration was 446,000 in 2023-24), the document instead embraces milquetoast language such as, ‘a Dutton Coalition Government will rebalance our migration program to restore confidence and integrity’.
The document then makes the meager commitment of ‘reducing the permanent migration intake by 25 per cent’.
Overseas migration - Australia - year ending - Source: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/overseas-migration/latest-release
Is it little surprise that so many Australians feel they are in the political wilderness, with no Party to vote for. Candidates campaigning in Western Sydney for this year’s Federal election are telling me the overwhelming voter feedback is that people admit to not liking Trump, but they agree with his policies.
On day one of his Presidency, Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement. Meanwhile Dutton’s shadow energy minister, Ted O’Brien, said in January, “The Coalition is absolutely committed to the Paris agreement and we’re also committed to net zero”.
Net Zero means the Coalition is anti-coal, the backbone of Australia’s baseload power grid. Without coal, electricity prices will continue to rise and blackouts will loom.
The Coalition’s stance is a far cry from the boldness of Trump’s inauguration address, where he declared, “we will drill, baby, drill”.
Trump went on to say, “we have something that no other manufacturing nation will ever have: the largest amount of oil and gas of any country on Earth, and we are going to use it”.
Unfortunately, with Albanese and Dutton to choose from, Australia is sliding down a continued path of stale, unimaginative leadership, while America has been revitalised under President Trump.
In particular, the Coalition should be learning from Trump’s success. Unfortunately, the current Liberal Party is not fit for purpose. They are a far cry from the ‘We Believe’ statement and Peter Dutton is equally as far away from jumping on the Trump train.
By Steven Tripp