The fourth and final leaders’ debate of Australia’s 2025 election was less a clash of titans and more a masterclass in how not to audition for prime minister. Peter Dutton, the Opposition Leader whose campaign has resembled a slow-motion car crash, managed to solidify his reputation as a man allergic to facts, coherence, and basic arithmetic. Meanwhile, Anthony Albanese, while hardly flawless, emerged as the adult in the room – albeit one occasionally caught texting imaginary world leaders. Let’s dissect the carnage.
Dutton’s grand plan to build seven nuclear reactors – a policy so unserious it belongs in a SimCity game – was eviscerated yet again. When pressed on why he hadn’t visited a single proposed reactor site during the campaign, Dutton squirmed like a kid caught fibbing about homework. His excuse? “I’ve visited them before!” Sure, Pete, and I’ve “visited” the gym in my mind while eating Tim Tams. Experts have already torched his nuclear pipe dream as economically unviable and decades too late to address climate change. Albanese, ever the cheeky pragmatist, quipped: “The only gas policy the Coalition has is gaslighting the Australian public.” Mic drop.
In a desperate bid to rally the anti-woke brigade, Dutton declared Welcome to Country ceremonies “overdone,” suggesting they belong only at “important” events. Translation: Let’s erase Indigenous acknowledgment unless it’s convenient for photo ops. Albanese, channeling his inner diplomat, countered that respecting First Nations culture isn’t a checkbox exercise but a “privilege”. Dutton’s tone-deaf remark not only alienated progressive voters but also highlighted his knack for picking fights with symbolism over substance – a specialty of leaders who’ve run out of ideas.
Nothing encapsulated Dutton’s disconnect from reality like his guess at the price of a dozen eggs: $4.20. Spoiler alert: They’re over $8. Albanese, who lowballed at $7, still won the audience’s trust on cost of living by a landslide (65% vs. Dutton’s 15%). This wasn’t just a grocery fail – it was a metaphor. Dutton’s entire economic pitch hinges on magical thinking: cutting fuel taxes (a Band-Aid for inflation) while promising nuclear reactors and tax breaks. His fiscal plan? Schrödinger’s budget: simultaneously austere and extravagant.
Albanese’s awkward claim that Donald Trump “doesn’t have a mobile phone” was odd, but Dutton’s attempt to weaponise it was odder. “Do you have his number?!” he sneered, as if texting Trump were a prerequisite for leadership. Meanwhile, Dutton’s own Trump-adjacent antics – mocking “wokeness,” cosying up to conspiracy-friendly media – backfired spectacularly. Voters, it seems, aren’t keen on importing U.S.-style culture wars, especially when their own wallets are screaming .
Dutton spent the debate accusing Albanese of dishonesty; a bold strategy for a man whose nuclear policy is held together by duct tape and wishful thinking. Albanese fired back by cataloguing Dutton’s flip-flops: from work-from-home rules to public service cuts. The Liberal leader’s campaign has been a parade of contradictions, earning him the nickname “Backflip Dutton”. When Albanese brandished his Medicare card as proof of healthcare credibility, Dutton’s retort – “Bulk billing rates have fallen!” – ignored his own role in freezing rebates as health minister. Classic Dutton: blaming others for fires he lit.
Nuclear Delusions: His energy policy is a fairy tale. Even Simpsons writers would reject it for lacking realism.
Economic Amnesia: Thinks eggs cost $4.20. Next he’ll claim avocados are still $2 and millennials are just lazy.
Culture Warrior Fatigue: His “anti-woke” shtick is as stale as a week-old Vegemite sandwich.
Policy Whiplash: Flip-flopped on everything from telehealth to public servants. Leadership requires consistency, not chaos.
Trump Lite: Tried copying Trump’s playbook but forgot Australians prefer leaders who don’t melt down under mild scrutiny.
Final Verdict: The debate confirmed what polls already show: Dutton’s campaign is a dumpster fire, and Albanese – while no superstar – has at least kept the matches away. If Dutton wants a legacy, he’s welcome to build a nuclear reactor in his backyard. For now, Australia deserves better than a leader whose best idea is reheated Howard-era slogans and a calculator that’s stuck in 1995.
Also by Lachlan McKenzie:
Two Out of Three Judges Endorse Chaos: Incoherent Policies and Misinformation Win Leader’s Debate
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Peter Dutton will rule with an iron fist particularly when it comes to matters such as where the Aboriginal flag will be displayed and where Dutton will permit 'Welcomes to Country'.
He has very firm view on these matters and to enforce them he will require legislation and enforcement (otherwise what's the point?) . So don't go having a welcome to country at your special event or displaying a First Nations' Flag, you may find that you are reported to the Dutton secret police and face charges.
If a Dutton administration is focused on so many things in your day-to-day life just imagine what they may do to rein in the so called 'hate media' otherwise known as the ABC, the Guardian and AIMN.
A Dutton view of the world will clearly be more Trumpian than we are used to. Freedoms that we now take for granted will be regulated by the Dutton SS. Some would say that not having to think as much is a good thing, Spud will tell you what you need to know in his dystopian world view.
Australia please don't let this man take charge, this is serious !
Interesting image, Terry Mills. A man with an iron fist, but feet of clay, a heart of ice, a brain of jello well past its use-by date, a potty mouth, eyes that don't see and ears that don't hear...
A man who projects his constant lies onto his opponents.
We will not have to put up with this abomination after next Saturday
Who's next,The laughable liar Taylor?
Our 'lil' Pete, Mr. Duckwit-Futton, devotee of bumkicking for civilisation, has just died away, drained of virile pustularity while failing to actually explain anything. May he soon be ended, forgotten, junked, along with colleagues who inflated this turd. Let us return to snail's pace mediocrity and fear of the unknown. Donald, is that you? (and, I cannot see many of us "winning" at all...)
Dutton is a dangerously undemocratic, callously inhumane, racist political psychopath who THRIVES on hate, dysfunction, division, racism and the inhumane targeting and denigration of the poorest, most vulnerable people in our community!
There is absolutely NOTHING good one can find to say about Peter Dutton! It is no surprise to learn that when Dutton was a highly unpopular, regressive, hateful racist cop in Queensland, his colleagues despised him so much that when he decided to do the Queensland police force a HUGE favour to become a highly unpopular, regressive, hateful racist politician, Dutton's police colleagues thought so little of him they left a can of dog food on his desk as a parting gift!
Dutton has richly earned his nickname as "Mr No" because he is a truly nasty, supremely arrogant and negative sociopath who is AGAINST everything and anything that provides any type of benefit, whatsoever, to ordinary working- and middle-class Australians!
Anyone watching that horrendous so-called "debate" between Anthony Albanese and that loathsome individual, Peter Dutton, on Kerry Stokes' totally biased, pro-LNP right-wing Channel 7 (last night), witnessed the vindictive level of hateful venom, character-assassinating lies and insidious non-stop attacks against the ALP and, indeed, the Greens by that monstrous miscreant, Peter Dutton, a vicious megalomaniacal born-to-rule narcissist who is determined to say or do ANYTHING to become the LNP's next "worst Crime Minister" in our nation's history.
We all thought our nation couldn't get any worse when it was mismanaged by that unspeakably revolting, inarticulate, rusted-on condescending misogynist, Tony Abbott, but things got a HELLUVA lot worse under the catastrophic chaos of that smirking, sanctimonious bible-thumping hypocrite, the bone-idle Sloth Morrison - an internationally-reviled pathological liar who cheered on and supported the notorious paedophile-protecting CULT of Hillsong! However, NOW that the LNP has vomited up that unspeakably depraved Dutton - a hatefully racist, white supremacist right-wing-extremist - they have clearly swept the bottom of the LNP sewer to select the worst, most corrupt, racist and dangerously undemocratic fascist they could find! Can you just IMAGINE having that malignant psychopath (mis)representing our egalitarian, tolerant, multicultural nation of Australia? WOW! Its a bit like putting that misogynistic predator, Donald Trump, in charge of the Women's Liberation Movement! Of course, it is absolutely NO SURPRISE that Dutton and the LNP have the lack of discernment and intelligence to admire that appalling psychopath, Donald Trump, who is not only an unrepentant, thoroughly entitled misogynistic predator and totally corrupt megalomaniacal narcissist but a CONVICTED CRIMINAL - they appear to have so much in common! If you can judge a group of people by the type of miscreants they admire and attempt to emulate, then the LNP are about as low as you can go!
Dutton ticks EVERY box as a power-obsessed POLITICAL PSYCHOPATH who's raw ambitions to rule over our nation like some third-world fascist will undermine EVERYTHING Australians value! Dutton wants to DEFUND everything Australians value which, especially, includes our beloved MEDICARE, hospital services, maternity leave, long service leave and any and EVERY socially-responsible benefit or service that our government currently provides to working- and middle-class Australians! Of course, Dutton and the Lying Nefarious Parasites (ie LNP) want to drastically remove and/or defund everything that ordinary Australian workers benefit from - EVERYTHING except, of course, the long-term benefits, generous superannuation and perks that the grasping political parasites in the LNP enjoy!
I would like to pose the following question to all those foolish, Murdoch-manipulated, racist and misogynistic right-wing-extremist LNP supporters out there:
"Name one thing - ONE. SINGLE. THING - that the insufferably smug elitists in the LNP have EVER achieved - in their entire non-achieving history - that provided ANY benefit, whatsoever, to working and middle-class Australians = ONE. SINGLE. THING ??"
The answer is: "ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!"
When you compare the LNP's disreputable non-achievement, their open favouritism for the Top 1% and the appalling benefits they provide to the wealthiest, most avaricious and corrupt parasites in our nation (eg Gina Rinehart and their Publicity Manager, Rupert Murdoch - who thought so little of Australia that he dumped his Australian citizenship to become a 100% American citizen!), it is crystal clear that the depraved neoliberal capitalists in the LNP/Murdoch/IPA Alliance couldn't give a stuff about Australia or Australians - they ONLY care about attaining and maintaining a level of fascist power and control over our nation.
Compare the LNP's appalling level of ruthless ambition against the long, long achievements introduced through the collaboration of hard-working members of our Unions with the Labor Party, there is NO COMPARISON! Unions/Labor have introduced EVERYTHING that benefits working- and middle-class Australians, eg accumulative sick leave, long service leave, maternity leave, four weeks' annual leave, OH&S regulations in the workplace, equal pay for women - and the list goes on and on! The vile LNP/Murdoch/IPA Alliance have achieved NIL, ZERO, ZILCH - NOT ONE SINGLE THING that provides ANY benefit to ordinary Australians - EVER!
If you want our egalitarian, multicultural nation of Australia to STAY that way;
If you want to support a government that is compassionate, transparent and tolerant;
If you want to keep Australia clean, green and environmentally aware by supporting a government that seeks to promote solar power and NOT continuing to pollute our environment with coal or hand down the toxic problem of nuclear waste to our children to deal with;
If you want to support a political party that truly cares about the health, welfare and high quality of State/public education (and future) for our children;
If you want a compassionate, forward thinking government in power that has the foresight, insight and moral compass to lead our country in a manner that will benefit ALL of us and not just the Top 1% -
then you must VOTE LABOR because the Opposition doesn't give a rat's behind about ANYTHING except further enriching and empowering THEMSELVES and their avaricious, billionaire supporters in the Top 1% at OUR expense!
March 2025: Out of 8 bills and also the Nuclear Energy Select committee meeting he couldn’t be bothred turning up/voting . However he turned up to VOTE AGAINST Cost of Living Relief Package bills TWICE
Feb 2025: Out of 15 bills he couldn’t be bothered turning up/voting except NO to free TAFE education.
Nov 2024: 26 bills. Voted against Australian domestic production relief TWICE. Voted against Fairer for Families and Farmers THREE TIMES. Voted against Gambling Reform Debate. Abesnt for everything else including Migration Amendment (Prohibiting Items in Immigration Detention Facilities) which you’d think he would care about since he hates foreigners so much. Couldn’t be bothered turning up to the appointment of his pet brain fart Nuclear Energy Select committee.
Well Sue, in case nobody has noticed,he's a lazy,lying,
dopey, five star dickhead...just like most of the others in his disintergrating party.
He'll just be a bad memory soon.
As will cadet under officer Paterson.