It’s no secret that we aren’t fans of Peter Dutton (and we’ve made the case ‘why’ as elegantly as possible)….but we can’t really look away either.
We’ve covered the fact that he’s been confused for a confectionery food machine all the way to speculating about a potential relationship with Lucifer, and everything in between.
So it’s a big deal to hear that he’s a real chance of losing his seat in the parliament in the upcoming federal election, most likely set for May this year (for those counting down).
At the last election he only held his seat (Dickson, in Brisbane) by a mere 1,500 votes- in electoral terms a margin that is far to close for comfort.
Throw in a horrific leadership spill, brutal policies on immigration and a damaging discourse on racial minorities, and Dutton is on the brink in 2019.
Check out Peter Dutton face Tom Tilley on Hack
The demographic of his seat has changed dramatically since he was first elected to office in 2001, with more young families moving into the area, bringing with them a whole swathe of more center-left policy leanings.
“We are in trouble. He knows it, we know it, Labor knows it. It’s almost like starting from scratch” told an LNP to The Guardian.
Senior Politics lecturer Paul Williams broke it down further.
“Dickson’s margin is still so fragile that it almost certainly won’t withstand the national swing to Labor, even if that swing – appearing to be about 4% or 5% nationally – were muted muted in Queensland” he said.
“Given the Scott Morrison coup has done little to reverse the coalition slide in Queensland, the swing…is likely to be strong.”
GetUp have put Peter Dutton on the top of their hit-list of targets in the coalition ahead of the election, an influence on voters which is sure to be a further thorn in Duttons side.
In addition, Labor’s candidate who will run against Dutton, disability advocate Ali France, has the full support of the party, and has set about winning the hearts and minds of locals.
Ali France is expected to run a strong campaign against Dutton
“Winning this seat… is not going to be easy” said France of the challenge.
“Peter Dutton is a formidable campaigner, he’s held this seat for 18 years and he’s boasted of a $650,000 war chest in which to fight this election.”
With the state Labor government ruling the roost at a local level in Dickson, it seems like every cent of that handy half-a-mil still won’t be enough….
Check out Tom Ballard give his own coverage of Dutton’s failed leadership push
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXkNDhhkiNE
