The opportunity for an election campaign centred on much-needed policy discussions may have already evaporated before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has even fired the starting gun.
Instead of a focus on tax reform, structural budget challenges or the future of Australian energy, the past week has been dominated by discussions of Peter Dutton's purchase of bank shares in 2009.
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The timing of the transaction, just a day before Kevin Rudd unveiled a $4 billion support package for the sector during the GFC, is curious.
But there’s no smoking gun right now, only questions about whether Dutton had been briefed on the impending bailout and turned that into a profit. Without further details, his denials remain unfalsifiable.