Dutton's choice
Labor wants to turn the election into a choice between a likeable Anthony Albanese and an unpopular Peter Dutton — but the Liberal leader wants voters to ask themselves a different question.
Labor has spent months trying to shift the upcoming election from being a referendum on the government’s performance to a choice between Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton.
Facing declining support in the polls, which have put the national vote at around 50-50 two party-preferred, Labor strategists know that soft voters are cranky at the prime minister over the cost of living and are looking for alternatives. On the current polls, Labor would be pushed deep into minority government.
But Albanese and his advisors are hopeful that once they frame the risk presented by the prospect of the unpopular hard-man Dutton becoming prime minister, the contest will shift back in their favour.
It is notable, then, that Dutton took the choice proposition head-on in his unofficial campaign launch in Melbourne on Sunday.
