For Peter Dutton it is truly Hail Mary time. He needs nothing short of a miracle to get back in the hunt.
The opposition leader has had some rotten luck this election, having slid from a healthy lead as preferred prime minister over Anthony Albanese in some polls in early 2025, to comprehensively behind at the time of writing. We’re sure it’s absolutely nothing to do with his bumbling campaign, general likability, or lack of any detail on the Coalition’s signature policies.
Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on the entire world, including Australia, has left much of the privately Trump-happy Coalition in a bind, including Dutton. Before the tariffs, Dutton said Trump was a “shrewd” and “reasonable” leader, and a “big thinker and a deal maker”.
Dutton has since tried to distance himself as much as he can from Trump, as well as the president’s quite politically inconvenient tariffs.
