By Wilkinson Kayne
Peter Dutton’s recent PR campaign – featuring his son and an affordable housing initiative – is a textbook case study in political miscalculation. The optics alone are disastrous: a wealthy politician using his family to promote a policy supposedly aimed at helping those struggling with housing affordability. The hypocrisy is palpable.
But the situation is far worse than just bad optics. Dutton’s dismissive treatment of a female journalist who raised legitimate concerns about the inherent conflict of interest reveals a deeper issue: blatant misogyny. Cutting her off mid-sentence, offering a condescending smirk, and ignoring her question entirely demonstrates a shocking disregard for both journalistic integrity and the contributions of women in the public sphere. This wasn’t just a poor response; it was a deliberate attempt to silence a critical voice.
This isn’t an isolated incident. Dutton’s history demonstrates a troubling pattern of disrespect towards women journalists. His actions highlight a disturbing prioritization of self-promotion over genuine engagement with critical issues, and a clear preference for silencing dissenting opinions, particularly those voiced by women. This needs to change.
Also by Wilkinson Kayne: Let’s talk strategy
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The LNP housing policy is more fuel for the inflation fire.
I watched part of Q&A last night and was impressed by the audience and one panellists, Richard Denniss (Aust Institute). He was the only panellist with a clear vision of causes and ways forward, the only one speaking up for the next gen.
Show host, Patricia Karvelas asked who agreed with one of the audience statements that ‘Labor and Libs will not address the housing mess’?
Virtually the whole audience put their hands up. Lab-Lib are on notice.
If 90+% of an ABC audience calls out Lib-Lab intransigence on fixing housing, or in the words of Clare O’Neill “a 40 year crisis”, sack the lot. A cameo appearance by former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry was a good choice by Q&A. He again noted that making changes to the tax is key. Host Patricia Karvelas deftly steered the program away from that suggestion. Imagine if KH began citing the damages done by negative gearing, capital gains tax discount, land-banking etc?
I think Labor will win the next election, but will change nothing.
A “40 year crisis” is too good to waste. But what else to expect from Fabians? https://theweathereye.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/the-fabian-society/
Most politicians are investors so will not adjust parasitic legislation.
Economist (NZ): ‘Jeremy Lee. The Plan, how we got here’
[public lecture in Brisbane, QLD 1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk49WnrRZc4
The residential housing crisis has an easy solution; return CGT back to pre-Howard levels; limit fresh negative gearing to new residential builds and new commercial premises; grandfather these amendments to protect the voters currently holding investment properties. These were the Shorten amendments.
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Who will lose out?? The highly remunerated high rollers of corporate Australia, politicians and some members of the medical community.
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How much will they lose? Nothing, except the ability to purchase secondhand houses with all the same benefits as purchasers of new builds.
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So where will these ”losers” invest to get the amended benefits? By expanding the new housing pool of residences, thus removing market pressure from the secondhand market.
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This would likely also benefit renters by reducing the rent increase on each lease renewal.
However, commonsense is far from common and always bet on the self-interest of politicians to protect their personal pecuniary interests.
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Meanwhile the banks rip off young potential owners with flexible interest rates rather than long term fixed interest mortgages. Why would any international financial corporations care about Australian young persons wanting to own their own home when there is a huge profit to be made by screwing them rotten??
We don’t need any help from the Tangerine Turkey,it’s all going to shit here with the blinkered,no ideas duopoly.
Vote Independent or Green or fuck off.
Hear hear, Carman, N.E.C. and Harry. And thank you Wilkinson Kayne for pointing out the continuing misogyny and outright rudeness of Peter Dutton towards women.
I’m presuming the polling companies don’t give the option of a vote for a Greens/Independent, nor do they mention Genocide. We’ll just have to wait until the evening of May 3. It’s going to be very interesting.
Yes, NEC IMO there’s no question that you’re substantially right.
Labor and the LNP have got themselves in a right tiz about this. It’s like our ‘desperate’ need for tax reform, it’s been called for for years, with more ‘white papers’ and ‘green papers’ than you can poke a stick at. The inherent biases towards the ‘already wealthy’ are mind blowing, yet governments only tinker at the edges, with the economics / taxation experts permanently exasperated (and rightly cynical). Govts and oppositions, instead of doing what is right and logical, play to ignorance and populist BS, leading Oz down the gurgler. Howard introduced the massive 50% CGT discount in 1999 to save his political bacon by appealing to his base of the blue-rinse set and older already ‘comfortable’ voters – it has remained and continues to represents an intractable economic and political disaster. As you say, Shorten lost a lay-down election in 2019 by proposing reform to NG & CGT discount. Where govts ought be supporting and encouraging the drive and energies of the young, they continue with such ludicrous policies to make aspiration a debt trap, become a massive imposition on the tax take and driver of inflation, a society of belligerent self-serving greed, and coupled with the erosion of the middle class, an ever increasing growth of sectoral / inter-generational poverty.
It’s not Oz alone that suffers this stupidity, it’s endemic across the world, entrapped by the divisiveness and guile of neoliberalism (trickle down & privatization). The 2008 ‘Global Financial Crisis’ (GFC) was caused by America not addressing the root neoliberal inequities, but venturing low-doc / no-doc housing loans to the poor. Even though America has fixed-interest loans on housing (unlike Oz’s gouging flexible rates). The loans to the poor was a disaster that left the poor poorer (and homeless), and had the taxpayers bailing out the banks, and sent the (mostly western) world’s financial system into a tail-spin and stagnation (for ordinary folk), where it largely remains today.
Albet there’s a shortage of construction labour, Labor is having a go, avoiding the NG and CGT language, but offering govt participatory schemes over both short / medium and long term, whereas LNP is only offering a raid on Super and tax concession on borrowing interest (only really relevant to the wealthy). All not fully baked and avoiding talking NG & CGT discounts – the complex elephant in the room.
It’s no political surprise, it’s been going on for years, just now manifest in post-pandemic supply chain / cost of living / climate change abatement squeeze. From the LNP reign, here’s an extract from the Senate Standing Committee on Economic / Affordable Housing / Report 8May2015 Chapter 9 – Commonwealth Taxation, the govt avoided every logical, sensible recommendation.
The whole caboodle is a disgrace – Tax reform from the horrendous inequities, now seriously effecting Oz’ growth, sovereign security and destroying social cohesion. It’s a hard path, but mainstream politics and mainstream media continue to avoid proper discussion, whilst smooching the populist blah-blah.