Australia’s Future Dies Under Peter Dutton

For the past several weeks, I’ve made it clear why Peter Dutton is a political threat Australia can’t afford.

Through a series of unapologetically blunt commentary, I’ve warned of what Dutton’s leadership would mean for Australia. The conclusion is terrifying: if Dutton becomes Prime Minister, he will import Trumpism wholesale into Australia, bringing with it a dark new era of fear, division, and authoritarian rule.

Dutton is the most dangerous politician Australia has seen in a generation. He isn’t a “mainstream conservative,” as some media outlets would have you believe. He’s an ideological extremist in a suit—a man who has spent his career pandering to the worst instincts of the electorate, cultivating division, scapegoating vulnerable communities, and pushing policies that undermine human rights, decency, and democratic norms.

Time and again, I’ve drawn direct and disturbing parallels between Dutton’s playbook and that of Donald Trump. They are near-identical. From his obsession with law and order, to his inflammatory rhetoric about immigrants and refugees, to his disdain for the media, his culture war crusades, nationalism, and populist appeals to an angry, disenfranchised base—Dutton is Trump in an RM Williams belt.

And it’s not just style—it’s substance. Dutton’s policy positions mirror Trump’s on nearly every major front.

Climate policy? Dutton continues to cosy up to fossil fuel lobbyists, undermine renewables, and attack climate action as “woke ideology.”
Immigration? He has a long and shameful record of demonising asylum seekers and pushing punitive border policies that echo Trump’s cruel “zero tolerance” regime.
Policing and crime? Dutton consistently peddles hysteria about African gangs and youth crime, just as Trump did with Black and Latino communities in the U.S.

And just like Trump, Dutton is willing to abandon truth, stoke racial tensions, and trade in conspiratorial nonsense if it means a political edge. The Voice referendum is one example—a moment that demanded leadership and unity but instead got a toxic campaign of misinformation led by a man determined to divide and conquer.

His vision for Australia isn’t one of progress, inclusivity, or hope. It’s a vision of a militarised, monochrome nation—a fortress driven by fear and suspicion, ruled by a man who sees compassion as weakness and cooperation as betrayal.

If anyone thought the Morrison era was dark, a Dutton government would plunge Australia into something far worse: a grim Americanisation of Australian politics that the country may never come back from.

On the other side of the ledger is Anthony Albanese. As Prime Minister, Albo has been disappointing. That’s no secret. His government has dragged its feet on housing, on Gaza, on climate urgency, on cost-of-living relief, and on standing up to corporate power. His cautious centrism has left many voters cold, and his lack of spine on key issues has been galling.

But here’s the rub: as underwhelming as Albanese has been, he is still the lesser of two evils—and by a long shot.

Unlike Dutton, Albanese doesn’t pose an existential threat to Australia’s democracy. He isn’t trying to dismantle the rule of law, silence the press, or pit Australians against each other for political gain. He governs, at times meekly, but still within the parameters of decency and democratic values. Dutton would obliterate those parameters.

Come Saturday, May 3, 2025, the federal election won’t just be a referendum on the Albanese government. It will be a referendum on what kind of country Australians want Australia to be.

Do Australians want to be a nation that learns from the mistakes of the US and rejects the call of authoritarian populism? Or are Australians so jaded and cynical that they’re happy to hand over the keys to the Lodge to a man who would flush everything good about unique and good about Australia down the toilet?

Because that’s what’s at stake.

Dutton isn’t just a conservative alternative. He’s a wrecking ball in waiting—ready to tear down the fragile consensus of multiculturalism, tolerance, and fairness that Australians have fought hard to build.

Australians must not fall for the illusion of “strong leadership” that Dutton projects. There’s nothing strong about weaponising fear. There’s nothing patriotic about vilifying the vulnerable. And there’s nothing “real” about a politics built on lies, cruelty, and division.

Australians have seen where this path leads. Trump’s America is a case study in national dysfunction: social fabric torn, democratic institutions hollowed out, minorities attacked, truth twisted into propaganda. Make no mistake—Dutton would follow that model to the letter. His Australia would not be safer. It would be meaner, more paranoid, more broken.

As I’ve written repeatedly, the danger isn’t hypothetical—it’s here, it’s real, and it’s staring Australians in the face. This isn’t the time for political apathy, protest votes, or false equivalences.

This is the time for clarity. For action. For resistance.

Dutton must never be Prime Minister.

He must never be given the chance to remake Australia in his image. The cost is too high. The consequences too permanent. And the damage too severe.

Australians owe it to themselves, to their children, and to the Australia they want to live in—to stand up, speak out, and stop him from getting his hands on the keys to the Lodge before it’s too late.

And for those who long for Trumpism—they’re welcome to experience it in the US.

Don’t bring it here. Don’t vote Dutton.