Dutton goes off script, labels Albanese a ‘child in a man’s body’
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has launched a strikingly personal attack on Anthony Albanese, deriding the prime minister as a fraud, an appeaser and a “child in a man’s body” as he vowed to override premiers opposed to the construction of nuclear-power plants in their states.
Dutton’s comments – delivered to an audience of Liberal Party politicians, administrators and party activists in Sydney on Saturday – represent a significant escalation in the opposition’s rhetoric and a potential preview of election campaign attack lines the Coalition will deploy as they try to paint Albanese as a weak leader.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton speaks at the Hyatt Regency in Sydney on Saturday.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Departing from written notes distributed to media outlets ahead of his speech, Dutton said that cartoon memes about the safety risks of nuclear posted on social media by senior Labor politicians in recent days – including of three-eyed fish and koalas – showed “the juvenile nature of our prime minister”.
“He’s a man with a mind still captured in his university years; he’s a child in a man’s body,” Dutton told the Liberal Party’s federal council, declaring that “we need a mature conversation in this country” on nuclear power.
Labelling Albanese “a political appeaser, not a leader of conviction”, Dutton said: “Whatever audience Mr Albanese is addressing, he tells them what they want to hear, not what needs to be said.”
He continued: “I think Mr Albanese is a decent man who cares deeply about his country, but I believe he is completely out of his depth as prime minister.”
Dutton said Albanese had told Western Australians he was committed to the gas industry while assuring Canberrans that no taxpayer funds would be spent on gas projects under his Future Made in Australia plan.
“The people of the great state of Western Australia can pick a fraud from the east coast, there’s no doubt about that. And they picked a fraud in this prime minister,” Dutton said in another line that was not included in his speech notes distributed to the media.
Responding to comments from state premiers, including NSW Premier Chris Minns and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, that they would oppose the construction of nuclear power plants in their jurisdictions, Dutton said: “I will work respectfully and collaboratively with state premiers, but I don’t answer to them”.
“Commonwealth laws override state laws … so support or opposition at a state level won’t stop us rolling out our new energy system.”
After coming under attack for declining to release the cost of his plan to build seven government-funded nuclear power plants, Dutton said Australians will “soon see” details of how much the policy costs.
Pointing to polls showing increasing support for nuclear power in Australia, Dutton said: “Australians are increasingly doing what the government doesn’t want them to do – thinking pragmatically and for themselves.”
He said Australians also “want a sensible discussion on how we can alleviate the national housing crisis without being labelled anti-migrant or racist”.
“We are not a racist country and we are proud of our migrant story,” Dutton said, alluding to controversial recent remarks by senior ABC journalist Laura Tingle in which she described Australia as a racist nation.
Saying that he believed it was likely Albanese would call an early election, Dutton told the crowd of party loyalists: “Fellow Liberals, friends – do I think the Coalition can win the next election? We can, and we must.”
Assistant Climate Change Minister Jenny McAllister said: “Peter Dutton could’ve answered the many questions Australians have about his risky nuclear plan but all they got was more of the same negativity and politics.
“Peter Dutton demands a mature debate but instead launches personal attacks.”
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