Dutton will seek to frame Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as an inept manager of the nation’s finances who has fuelled rate rises and inflation,just weeks out from what looks to beTreasurer Jim Chalmers’ second straight budget surplus.
The legend of Liberal Party founder Robert Menzies,Dutton claims,places the party as the champion of the so-called “forgotten people” including small business owners and humble salary earners,who he claimed were “forsaken by the modern Labor Party”.
“The Liberal Party I lead appreciates the talents and contributions of the determined business owner as much as the driven worker,” Dutton will say at the National Small Business Summit,according to a draft speech.
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“Just as we are the party of small and family businesses,we are also the party of the worker.
“During the last 22 months,we’ve seen a government in lockstep with the interests of inner-city elites,big business,union bosses,industry super funds and woke advocates[pushing for a Voice to parliament].”
The Coalition leader’s speech comes at an important moment for an opposition that has faced questions about its economic agenda in what might be an election year. The oppositioncontinues to lag Labor in published polling despite gaining support last year amid the failed Voice referendum and a long run of interest rate rises.