The opposition leader had two missions to accomplish. Firstly,to explain the Coalition’s decision to vote for the government’s overhauled stage three tax cuts while howling about a broken election promise.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in Canberra on Tuesday.Alex Ellinghausen
And second,to prove he wasn’t a thug.
Alongside weighty events of the present –,a – the denizens of Parliament House were consumed by recollections and resentments stirred up by the previous night’s episode of the ABC’sNemesisdocuseries.
The series’ second episode,chronicling,showed that many psychic wounds from the period remain unhealed. See Barnaby Joyce labelling Turnbull a “shithead” and Scott Morrison pondering whether he and the man he replaced at The Lodge will ever be friends again.
Asked to describe Dutton in a single word,Turnbull opted for thug.
With this accusation hanging in the air,Dutton fronted the press pack and put on display a side of his personality more often encountered in private. After dinner or a drink with the former Queensland cop,journalists routinely report that he is more convivial and witty than his hardman political persona suggests.
Last week,Dutton disparaged David Crowe,the chief political correspondent for this masthead,in a snarky tweet that was widely seen as an inaccurate sledge against a fair-minded reporter. The opposition leader extended a public olive branch by granting the first question of Tuesday’s press conference to “Crowey”.
Channel Nine’s Andrew Probyn,who,then asked whether Dutton wanted to respond to comments made by a certain former merchant banker (that is,Turnbull).
“Are you referring toNemesis,are you,last night on the ABC?” a smiling Dutton said,prompting laughter from his press gallery inquisitors. “You didn’t want to say the brand I presume Andrew,maybe it’s too soon.”
The Federal Government's stage 3 tax overhaul is now assured,with the Opposition confirming it won't stand in the way of the tax cuts.
Dutton began to formulate an answer before stopping himself and saying he would answer more politely.
“I think I’ve proven in the past that I’m able to deal with one liar at a time,” he replied,insisting he was focused on Albanese’s broken tax cut pledge.
One can only imagine what he originally intended to say.
Pressed on whether Turnbull was right to throw the t-word at him,Dutton protested:“Have you found me to be a thug? I think some of the narrative is retrofitting a particular purpose.”
Peter Dutton and Malcolm Turnbull in 2018.Alex Ellinghausen
Like several other key players from the period – Tony Abbott,Julie Bishop and Joe Hockey among them – Dutton declined to participate in. As an aspiring prime minister,he said it would have been inappropriate for him to spill his guts about his former colleagues on national TV. Not when his job demands he remain focused on the here and now.
“But maybe at some stage I’ll give an account of the true character of some individuals,” he added. It was a not-so-veiled threat of truth bombs to come.
AsNemesis recounted,Dutton has attempted to show off a softer,cuddlier side before – in 2018,after his failed leadership challenge against Turnbull. “It is good to be in front of the cameras where I can smile,and maybe show a different side to what I show when I talk about border protection,” Dutton told reporters after shifting to the backbench.
The sudden rebrand didn’t convince enough colleagues to make him their leader;instead,Morrison emerged the winner in the spill that finally ended Turnbull’s political career. There wasn’t much scope for softness in Dutton’s subsequent stint as defence minister,a role he used to take on wokeness in the military and stitch up a deal to acquire nuclear-powered submarine technology from the United States and United Kingdom.
His tough reputation lives on as opposition leader. Last year Anthony Albanese instructed him to “smile more” and accused him of taking “angry pills”. Inevitably,Dutton’s efforts to humanise his image led him to the ABC’sKitchen Cabinet,where he cooked seafood chowder for Annabel Crabb and described his daughter as “the best mistake I ever made”.
So is he a thug? Ultimately,it only matters what voters decide at the next election. Not journalists or former prime ministers.
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