The Voice was only ever about politics for Dutton (2025)

Deborah Snow’s profile of Opposition Leader Peter Dutton (“Dutton’s revival instincts hit Trump hurdle”, April 19) contains his own illuminating self-assessment: “I think I demonstrated during the course of the Voice that I had an ability to bring the party together on a very difficult issue, and we were able to guide public debate.” For him, it was a political exercise – a practice run in controlling internal dissent and directing public opinion. What might have been good, moral or beneficial was never part of his thinking – it was a political opportunity. Says it all, really. Gary Stowe, Springwood

Snow tells us Dutton’s daily regimen includes “reading the newspapers at around 4.30am” and “meditating twice daily, once around 4.30 in the morning...” With the state of Australia and the world as shown in the content of newspapers, being able to meditate while he reads them proves the man has no humanity. Bruce Wright, Latham (ACT)

One thing I detest about Dutton is his attempts to portray Anthony Albanese as weak. Albanese is anything but weak. From humble beginnings, he studied hard for his degree, then clawed his way up through the ranks of the Labor Party to become leader and PM. As Leader of the House in the Gillard minority government, he shepherded record numbers of legislation through the Parliament. All this took guts and determination – the antithesis of weakness. Andrew Macintosh, Cromer

It seems the Coalition and its media allies had only one bullet to win the election and that was Trumpism, and it has backfired spectacularly. They have spent the past three years bagging Labor and the PM as a weak leader rather than spending time to develop genuine policies that affect voters. Chickens are coming home to roost. Mukul Desai, Hunters Hill

Despite more than 4000 words trying to put a warm side to Dutton, the impression gained is one of leopards and spots. A man who sees life in black and white and is not warm to those who are not in the “white camp”, as shown by the contrast between his comments on African gangs in Melbourne and Lebanese migrants and the welcome mat he wanted to put out for white South African farmers. Maurice Critchley, Mangrove Mountain

Snow and Peter Hartcher both discuss Trump’s effect on the election. Trump stridently disavows DEI, and the acronym is verboten within the administration. Easter is a time of reflection, and it might be salutary to reflect on the meaning behind DEI. Perhaps we might ask our leaders and indeed every aspiring politician: do they not rejoice in our multicultural diversity? Will they seek to ensure that all our citizens are treated equally? Do they not wish to see all our people, male or female, of different ethnic backgrounds, with skins of various colours and of many differing faiths fully included in the Australian landscape? John Crowe, Cherrybrook

Dutton’s Trump flirtation

Peter Hartcher has raised some interesting points in the comparison between Trump and Dutton, particularly Dutton’s on-again off-again hero worship of Trump (“Trump: From messiah to pariah”, April 19). It’s about what will serve each man’s enormous ambitions. In Christ’s time, people expected a messiah, but didn’t know what he would look like. There were false messiahs. Pariah is a small step from messiah. Trump made the step quickly. Dutton’s initial infatuation has turned to denial – three times as Hartcher reminds us and reminiscent of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. Dutton is the same person who denied the stolen generation, denied them a Voice and says anything to gain power. Pariah seems to fit. Geoff Nilon, Mascot

Hartcher quoting Dutton’s comment on Trump that “the art of the deal is incredibly important to him” leads to reminding us that for many people, life is like a game of poker and political leaders particularly are high-stake gamblers. Advice for life, in the chorus from Don Schlitz’s The Gambler, especially applies to politicians at election time: “You’ve got to know when to hold ’em/ Know when to fold ’em/ Know when to walk away/And know when to run.” Hartcher noting Dutton’s three-fold Petrine-like denial of knowing Trump suggests that belatedly Dutton knows that it is time to run. Perhaps all Albanese now has to do is “hold ’em”. Paul Casey, Callala Bay

Dutton, the Trump wannabe, would do anything from spraying his face orange to sacrificing a chicken if he thought he would win this election. Backflipping Dutton could get a gig with Cirque du Soleil after this campaign. You also have to question his choice of candidates he is seen with in public. His avoidance of attack dog Cash or boozer Joyce has been a wise move, but having Angus Taylor, MAGA Price and “parking lots” McKenzie in the public eye may backfire. Albanese’s measured calm should not be mistaken for weakness; in fact, in difficult times such as we find ourselves in now, it’s just what we need. Peter Miniutti, Ashbury

Reasons to be cheerful

There are many reasons that I am happy to have been born in this great country. As I age, four come to prominence: the aged pension, superannuation, Medicare and the PBS. All were introduced by a Labor government and opposed by the conservatives at the time. Allan Gibson, Wahroonga

Don’t toady to Trump

I couldn’t agree more with Geoffrey Robertson’s call to Australia (“Australia must help in Trump fight”, April 19) to join with like-minded nations in a conversation about a free world no longer led by America. I congratulate the current government for not running cap-in-hand to the US on tariffs, as did the Italian prime minister with her cringeworthy call to “make the West great again”. The West must certainly reshape itself in light of the US’s new isolationism, but there is no room for toadying to Trump’s monumental ego. NATO countries need to reassess their commitment to one another and to democratic freedoms. It has been appalling to watch Trump cosying up with war criminals Netanyahu and Putin. There must be decent-minded US Republicans who are scandalised by Trump’s despicable antics. Hillary Clinton was right when referring to Trump’s supporters as “deplorables”. Australia must not join his posse. I cannot help but wonder if the world would be a different place had a US citizen been aboard the Malaysian Airlines plane shot down over Ukraine. Genevieve Milton, Dulwich Hill

Core values, corflutes

I have been a volunteer for a political party at every federal election since 1972 and have never seen so many vandalised and defaced corflutes as during this campaign (“Video shows surgeon stomping on Monique Ryan corflute”, April 19). In my neck of the woods, practically every poster of a particular party put up along the roads and public spaces has been defaced. Most are cleaned up or replaced before they are attacked again. Each of those corflutes have been of the PM. If you don’t like him, just wait and show it at the ballot box. Con Vaitsas, Ashbury

We can only be thankful that elections don’t come around every year, if only to be thankful that the rabbit-like multiplication of corflutes and the equally irritable amount of political advertising thrust at us when we try to view a YouTube video. All we, as voters, need is your name and what party or “non-party” that you are standing for. I have found this so irritating that I will be simply voting for the (major party etc) candidate with the fewest corflutes and least amount of advertising that I see. Doug Richards, Tamarama

Few positives in property gearing

Several correspondents (Letters, April 19) shared worthwhile ideas about our housing problems. Compelling owners of vacant properties to rent or sell them seems potentially Draconian and complicated. The problem with government housing is decades of neglect with ever-increasing waiting lists. Now, with materials so expensive and labour in short supply, governments will find it hard to close the gap.
As for negative gearing, softly, softly catchy monkey. We have seen what sudden drastic changes can do, courtesy of Donald Trump. I suggest we grandfather current provisions and continue negative gearing only for build-to-rent properties. Rent to buy should be part of government housing schemes, as that would be the only way low-income earners could ever own their own home. Garry Feeney, Kingsgrove

Your correspondent need not worry about the removal of negative gearing. It won’t happen. Paul Keating tried it and then squibbed it because of just this scare – that removing it would raise rents. Landlords would be nuts to hand back gains from negative gearing to tenants in the form of rent reductions. Most benefits sought from buying existing houses come from resale in a year or two to get capital gains tax concessions. Thirty years of negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions applied to investment property have created too many votes for anyone except a Greens supporter to even consider abolishing them. The property market is not “geared” to provide housing. It is rigged to make money. Norman Carter, Roseville Chase

Privatisation v monopoly

I agree with your correspondent (Letters, April 19) about the benefits of public ownership, but Australians (like Americans) have been so brainwashed in the past 100 years about the terrors of socialism that it will never happen. Counter-productive, dysfunctional privatisation, with its misdirected profits and costly public bail-outs, is set to rule for a long time to come. Alynn Pratt, Grenfell

An interesting list from your correspondent, but I think there are very few situations justifying a government monopoly. Having unsubsidised competitors in education is not inherently wrong. Private interests produce electricity competitively; private insurers and hospital owners should be allowed to compete. Infrastructure and defence are areas where competition might sensibly be benched. Mike Bush, Port Macquarie

Indonesian interests

Ben Bohane writes (“As Putin eyes up West Papua, we must recall bad choices”, April 19) that we must adopt a Timor to Fiji “Melanesia first” policy. We should put it on the same level as our relationship with Indonesia, recognising we live below an arc of developing nations. Indonesia, like Australia, is an economic competitor of Russia. Indonesia has little to gain from a significant relationship with Russia. Russians see Indonesian islands as a great place to holiday, hide their money and wait out Putin’s wars. It is appropriate that Indonesia focuses on economic and security relationships in its region, which includes countries from Africa to India, China, Australia and the Pacific. China’s “nine dash line” claim affects Indonesia. Facilitating Russian or Chinese military presence in the Indo-Pacific is not in Indonesia’s interest, even if it desires not to facilitate Australian and US interests. Peter Egan, Mosman

In Ben Bohane’s article, one phrase bears repeating in all Australian media: “... Jakarta refuses to allow international media and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit it.” Is it any wonder we hear so little about West Papua? Jakarta won’t let foreign journalists in. Does that raise questions for anyone? Sister Susan Connelly, Croydon

Tarnished victory

The European Union is warning European leaders not to attend the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in Moscow. On May 9, 1945, the Soviet Red Army crushed the Nazi regime in Berlin, defeating fascism in Europe and ending the most horrific war in human history. Up to 27 million Soviet citizens – perhaps more – gave their lives in the epic struggle to defeat Nazi Germany and its European allies, including Vichy France, Italy, Hungary, Finland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, has issued a warning that any politicians who went to Moscow would face severe consequences. Kallas, who was formerly the prime minister of tiny Estonia, was appointed last year as the EU’s most senior official on foreign policy. Norman Broomhall, Port Macquarie

Uncommon grounds

Your correspondent gives a lighthearted response to the rumblings of generation rivalry (Letters, April 19), but I find this blame game deeply disturbing. Has the generation gap become a war? Surely, there are already enough factors working against social cohesion without adding intergenerational mudslinging. The generalisations are manifestly flawed. It’s time to stop the finger-pointing and credit one another with a fundamental desire to live in peace, provide secure homes for our families, enjoy a modicum of comfort and contribute to the common good. On that basis, we can make co-ordinated efforts to address the real problems we face. Meredith Williams, Baulkham Hills

Sound advice

In our fractured war-torn world with a smug lunatic at the head in the US, how reassuring it was to read your correspondent (Letters, April 19) referring to the comfort and peace a beautiful piece of music can bring. There are many such works, some composed to be heard at Easter. I recommend Handel’s lyrical Messiah and Bach’s mightily profound St Matthew Passion. Megwenya Matthews, North Turramurra

A mite concerning

The PM may be claiming a victory for Vegemite in Canada (“Prime Minister claims diplomatic win over Vegemite”, smh.com.au, April 19), but in his own electorate it’s been so long since the supermarket duopoly had Vegemite on special we have to pay full price for it, which is just un-Australian. Peter Fyfe, Enmore

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