One phone call to Trump could give Dutton an election edge

There is a possibility of Peter Dutton gaining the initiative in the election lead-up by getting in first with a phone call to President Trump, writes Dr Lee Duffield.

CRISIS, meaning danger and opportunity: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, the week after Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day”, 2 April 2025, have to jostle to talk to the U.S. President.

Dutton could build his claim to stature immeasurably by getting in through partisan channels to spend a few minutes on the phone with his political counterpart in America.

Maybe he could get help from the likes of Joe Hockey, the former austerity-budget Treasurer, then Ambassador to the Trump 01 Administration, known for hanging around a lot in Washington.

Factchecking the leaders on cost of living, budget repair and Gaza

In a rare memorable moment during a rather desultory Federal election leaders’ debate on Tuesday this week, Anthony Albanese accused Peter Dutton of gaslighting the Australian people.

Getting in first

Recall the visit of Gough Whitlam to the hidden kingdom of China in 1971; the Liberal Prime Minister, William McMahon, called it colluding with communism, but then Richard Nixon went there also. It was really a king hit. The episode put Whitlam on the front foot, looking like a statesman already, bigger and smarter than McMahon, helping him to win election the following year.

Dutton, talking with Trump, would claim an inside track and a great breakthrough for Australia.

The “Man” might even have a comment, as we can imagine:

“Very fine guy, this Peter guy, he’s got no hair, but that doesn’t really matter, he is the alternative governor down there, maybe the next prime minister, actually I think he will be; he wants to buy a whole lot of military equipment, no tariffs, more than we have ever seen before, and give us minerals to make Teslas, very fine cars, and trucks also actually, and beat China, that’s really something isn’t it?”

Options for PM

On the other side, the Australian Prime Minister’s options in this have both tough difficulties and strong upsides.

Other trading nations, admittedly those with trading surpluses with the United States and listed for big tariff hikes, started talking trade-offs within a week of the tariffs announcement.

A few, like the Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, have spoken directly with Trump already and others have proposed deals, like the European Union’s “zero tariff” idea for manufactures.

With that going on, Albanese can hardly get away with saying that he is a caretaker who will wait and maybe send messages through officials, then go to Washington after the 3 May Election. He is under pressure to do something – symbolic might have to suffice – if he can.

Long-term goals vital for voters in upcoming election

Short-term promises being made by the major parties in the lead-up to the election offer nothing more than the illusion of security.

Stirring up the electorate

It is crisis time and the electorate will be getting stirred up as the global anxiety continues. Some will be frightened enough, venal enough and unpatriotic enough to go for any “settlement” that might come out of a Dutton conversation with the USA. Remember the large over-50s vote lost to Labor in 2019 for proposing to trim tax discounts.

If Anthony Albanese can get in ten minutes with Trump, it will make much difference, but he would need to get in first and would be mindful of how the Opposition would play up to it, should he be denied access.

On the other hand, he would have the option of hanging Trump and his excesses around Peter Dutton’s neck if the Opposition Leader pre-emptively got through first to “Uncle Donald”.

Trump the liability

Trump is the loose-cannon standard-bearer for the radical right-wing politics that Dutton and the right of the Liberal Party, if not the great majority of the Party, have signed on to this century.

They say:

down with responsible government regulation;
public enterprise employees are bad people, get rid of them — pay gouging “consultants” instead;
schooling and education are subversive, cut them back;
have user-pays medical care;
tax cuts for the deserving rich;
industry growth at all costs, no “green tape” — bugger the environment;
play favourites in the energy field — back fossil fuels companies against the expansion of renewables;
restore 19th century master-servant relations — no penalty payments or working from home; and
convert the home ownership business into Investment World... and so on.

Make Australia democratic again

For anyone concerned that our country might wind up in the shadow of the world's dictatorships, this election gives voters a chance to save our democracy.

Power of incumbency

Against all this, even after only three years, there is some power in incumbency for the Australian Government:

the Medicare card campaign is well backed by restorative measures to get back bulk billing and other benefits after a bad ten years;
the renewables program is forging ahead with strong consumer uptake and falling costs;
no tax burden for nuclear – no dumping radioactive waste in our backyards;
expansion of education, preparing the workforce for a new economy;
better work rights, including work from home; and
put on enough public servants to clear the backlog and provide good service on time... and so on.

It all means the tariffs crisis is a make-or-break chance for Opposition Leader Peter Dutton if he can get to Trump, but definitely dangerous for him, definitely no lay-down misere.

Amongst Dr Lee Duffield’s vast journalistic experience, he has served as ABC's European correspondent. He is also an esteemed academic and member of the editorial advisory board of Pacific Journalism Review and elected member of the University of Queensland Senate.