Dutton's narrow path
Peter Dutton has always thought he could defy history and win the next election. In recent weeks, some of his colleagues have begun to believe him.
Yesterday, we brought you the news that former minister Jamie Briggs is being hired by the Liberal Party as its chief political adviser for the upcoming federal election.
Briggs has spent the past eight years in the corporate sector, serving as managing partner at PwC Australia. He left last year, following the tax leaks scandal, to help establish the professional services firm Scyne Advisory, where he is head of corporate affairs.
Briggs is likely taking a significant pay cut for the role, which says something about the growing belief among those close to Opposition leader Peter Dutton that they have a chance of winning the next election. Liberal sources insist that Dutton has always believed they can win, and he is enjoying the fact that some people now believe him.
Previously, the consensus was that Dutton didn’t actually have a strategy to win in one term. The plan was to win back a few seats from Labor, push it into minority government, and create enough chaos over three years to set up a win in 2028 — just like Tony Abbott’s approach from 2010 to 2013.
