Dutton tried to make my people political footballs. Australians chose not to play

Sydney Morning Herald

06-05-2025

In the wake of the federal election, one thing is abundantly clear: Peter Dutton misread the nation. While Australians grappled with a cost-of-living crisis, a fragile health system, and worsening housing insecurity, the former opposition leader chose to focus on the wrong things.
In the final weeks of the campaign, the opposition doubled down on stoking fear and division, reviving culture-war rhetoric, attacking diversity initiatives, and once again turning Aboriginal people into political targets. They aligned with fringe narratives pushed by groups like Advance Australia and Trumpet of Patriots, who sought to undermine and discredit cultural practices like Welcome to Country.
Dutton appeared to assume that because the country rejected the Voice to parliament, there was a green light to keep attacking Aboriginal people – this time by going after Welcome to Country and other expressions of identity and sovereignty. It might have seemed like a politically advantageous tactic. It wasn't. Australians saw through it.
'It's dividing the country,' Dutton said of the ceremony, which I recently described in this masthead as 'an inclusive protocol, as simple and profound as removing a hat in respect [or] standing silently for an anthem'.
It didn't have to be this way. Australians want leadership with a bold economic vision, focused on uniting people. They want practical solutions: affordable groceries, accessible health care, a path out of the housing crisis. Instead, what they were offered was a campaign that leaned into division and recycled resentment from the 2023 referendum. It was no surprise to me that this approach failed to resonate.
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Coalition Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said on election night that 'if you sling enough mud during the election, it will stick'. But that sentiment overlooks the reality of this campaign. Voters didn't respond to mudslinging against the Coalition. They responded to substance. The strategy of division didn't stick. It backfired.
For many Aboriginal people, this campaign was another exhausting chapter in a long history of being vilified for political gain, treated like political footballs. After campaigning hard against the Voice to parliament, Dutton could have shown some humility or a willingness to listen. Instead, he kept attacking us, our culture, our traditions, our very presence in the national story.
When Dutton announced he would not stand in front of an Aboriginal flag if elected prime minister, Australians noticed. They rejected the idea that the nation's First Peoples are the problem. They voted for leadership grounded in values, not vendettas.