Dutton says we need a leader who is “strong” (“ALP made Australia ‘less safe’: Dutton”, January 12). That may be true, but it needs to be supported by actions and policies. Evidence suggests Dutton doesn’t have those. Without them, statements about him being “strong” are just empty rhetoric. By contrast, Anthony Albanese has the record of past actions and future policies. Yet he is perceived by many as “weak”. He needs to show he also has the things Dutton says make a leader “strong” and that he has the evidence to back it up. It’s time for perceptions to align with reality.
David Rush, Lawson
The opposition leader says the government has compromised our national security. May we suggest that if this fear is genuine then he should go home, lock the doors and hide under the bed while less timorous souls get on with the job of running the country.
David Salter, Hunter’s Hill
Credit: Matt Golding
Peter Dutton’s promise to return to “the prosperity that previous generations of Australians knew” sounds like a long-winded way of saying “Make Australia Great Again”. Donald Dutton? No, thanks.
Rob Phillips, North Epping
So Peter Dutton is now claiming Australia is an “anxious nation”? After 2½ years of seeing our Pacific and Asian neighbours become friends again, which has resulted in better terms of trade and greater prosperity, the only thing that is making me anxious is the thought of a belligerent bully boy becoming prime minister. The last thing Australia needs is a repeat of Tony Abbott’s muscular regime.
Joanna Mendelssohn, Dulwich Hill
“The last chance to reverse the decline” and “the prosperity that previous generations of Australians knew” are probably talking about – when? Because under Dutton’s last time in government, productivity and wages were as stagnant as permanent ink on a white shirt. Not even dirt-cheap interest rates helped. And “our country is less safe” because that same last government wilfully neglected the Pacific region to the point where other nations were stepping in to help out. Both AUKUS and nuclear energy are a huge waste of money, will probably bankrupt this country and are both Coalition ideas. We need tough leadership, true, but one working consistently to deliver sensible policy for the whole country.
Claudia Drevikovsky, Croydon
Like Donald Trump, Peter Dutton seeks to weaponise the feelings of discontent and anger that are emerging all over the world. But the truth is that, according to the independent International Institute for Management Development’s mid-2024 analysis, Australia has the seventh-best-performing economy on the planet. This is up from 23rd in 2020 and the best performance in 13 years. The World Bank rates Australian government efficiency as on the 94th percentile, again significantly up on previous years. As with the nuclear fantasy, Dutton hopes to achieve power by not letting facts get in the way of an appealing story.
Lesley Walker, Northcote (Vic)
Dutton is truly ludicrous with this one. What utter twaddle from the man who has to be the most paranoid, pessimistic, negative and divisive leader of any party in long-term memory.
Meredith Williams, Baulkham Hills
The same old politics of fear. Remember children overboard etc? The Coalition has no policies apart from the pie-in-the-sky nuclear solution to the climate crisis, so being the bogeyman is the go-to platform. Rather run-of-the-mill, Mr Dutton.
Christine Tiley, Albany Creek (Qld)
It is a financial bonus to the Libs that Australia starts with “A”. I believe there are several warehouses full of surplus election promotional material they can pick up cheaply. All the leftover MAGA hats, T-shirts, coffee cups and gun cases are up for grabs. Of course, we will have to bid against Austria, Angola, Armenia and Albania.
Neville Turbit, Russell Lea
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