Dutton in his own words

The IPA’s John Roskam has his doubts about Peter Dutton, writing today in the Australian Financial Review that the prime ministerial aspirant hasn’t said ‘boo’ about tax increases and is, by his reckoning, missing in action whenever talk of 18c and free speech is at the fore. That’s not strictly accurate, as last year Dutton had quite a bit to say about Qantas, Telstra and other companies lecturing the populace about gay marriage. They should stick to their knitting, he said, and leave such debates

“… to the politicians, to the leaders, to talkback hosts … to normal people who can have those discussions without the millions of dollars being thrown behind campaigns because somehow it makes the board feel better or meets their social obligation.”

His comments rubbed Michelle Grattan the wrong way, so that’s an argument for free speech right there.

Dutton was also speaking freely on 3AW this morning with Neil Mitchell, kicking off a low-key, waffle-free 20 minutes of airtime with his intention, should he become prime minister, to launch royal commissions into the energy and fuel  industries.

Just imagine how those undertakings might go. For some reason the parlous state of Australia’s in-hand petrol and diesel reserves and our dependence on imports as local refineries close has gone largely unremarked, certainly by the for-the-moment Prime Minister. Three years ago, Quadrant Online contributor David Archibald quoted a 50-day reserve. By this year, reserves were said to be down to the three-week mark and falling. Given this dependence on imports, a better prime minister than the current one would have put the issue front and centre.

And just imagine what an inquiry charged with getting to the bottom of the energy mess will find. The subsidies, the market distortions, the supreme illogicality of current policies, the rent-seeking! Think of the sordid revelations emerging from the current banking inquiry and know for a certainty that any cabal of gougers wrapping their thievery in a cloak of green, government-endorsed faux-moral purity is going to be awash with worse. Why, we might even get a firm number on the birds slaughtered every day by those ‘environmentally positive’ wind turbines!

With reports today saying Dutton has picked up extra supporters and is now ‘thisclose’ to ousting Turnbull, his 3AW interview is well worth the investment of 20 minutes. It can be heard in full at this link or the one below.

Worth noting is his real-world appraisal of the enmity coming his way from the ABC, Fairfax Media, the Guardian and all the usual suspects. It is hard to imagine he believes they can be brought onside by the simple expedient of donning a leather jacket. It’s a smart man who knows his enemies and wastes no effort attempting to make them like him.

Read More