Did Peter Dutton just call an election?

Peter Dutton has returned from his summer break to reinforce what Australians are all too aware of – they’re headed for an election soon.

With a date yet to be set and the campaign not even properly begun, the Opposition Leader has matched the Prime Minister’s new-year electioneering with a major speech that has all the characteristics of a campaign launch.

To Coalition party faithful gathered in Melbourne on Sunday (12 January), Mr Dutton unveiled a campaign slogan and pitched his case to be elected PM.

“This year, Australians will have an opportunity to elect a new and strong Coalition government to get our country back on track,” he said.

“There’s a saying, ‘oppositions don’t win elections, governments lose them’. Yes, governments lose elections, but oppositions can – and do – win elections. Provided people know what they stand for. Provided people understand their plan and vision to better the country.

“And provided people recognise the values, experience and character of the alternative Prime Minister.

“I want no Australian to be left wondering what the Coalition stands for.”

But while the Opposition Leader’s address was full of criticism for the current Labor government and in particular Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, it offered no new policy positions.

Mr Dutton merely repeated his aim to “get Australia back on track”.

In fact, he launched a campaign slogan that says exactly that, along with an election booklet with the same name: Let’s Get Australia Back On Track: The priorities of a Dutton Coalition Government.

He delivered a publicised 38-minute speech to an audience of MPs and Liberal/National party faithful, which aimed to remind Australians of his background and achievements during the numerous portfolios he held when the Coalition was in office.

In what he coined a “sliding doors moment” for Australia, Mr Dutton presented his case for making Labor a one-term government.

And there was no shortage of political rhetoric.

“I admire Australians. We’re a remarkable people – compassionate, stoic, fair and quietly patriotic,” he said. “But under this Albanese Labor government, I’ve seen the mood of Australians change.

“Australians have endured one of the most incompetent governments in our nation’s history.

“They’ve suffered under one of our country’s weakest ever prime ministers.

“The last three years have been a litany of bad decisions and broken promises. As a result, Australians are worse off. Our country is less safe. Our society is less cohesive.

“For so many Australians, aspiration has been replaced by anxiety, optimism has turned to pessimism, and national confidence changed to dispiritedness.

“Mr Albanese says this election is about the future versus the past. I think the past three years are a good indication of what the future will look like under a returned Labor government.

“That’s a future Australians can’t afford.

“Especially if the green-Teals or extreme-Greens hold the balance of power.

“During my time in Parliament, here’s a key thing I’ve observed: When a government gets its priorities wrong, things go wrong for the Australian people. The Albanese government has had the wrong priorities.

“It’s prioritised the agendas of inner-city Greens voters, activists, and union bosses.

“It’s disregarded everyday Australian workers, families and small businesses – from city suburbs to regional towns to coastal communities.”

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is gathering his senior ministers together today (13 January) for the cabinet meeting of his government for 2025.

Hot off his weeklong blitz of three states last week announcing big-ticket infrastructure commitments, it is expected that cost-of-living relief will be the focus of today’s meeting.

The PM, who is keeping his preferred election date a secret, said his government was united and ready for the campaign, despite polling showing Labor to be in trouble.

“We’ll be seeking a majority government at the next election and Australians will have a choice between a government that has provided cost-of-living relief, that has built the foundations of future growth for a future made in Australia, and an Opposition that hasn’t put forward an alternative plan, that’s just said ‘no’ to all of our cost-of-living measures and that doesn’t have a plan for Australia’s future, that will take Australia backwards,” Mr Albanese said last week.

“So, I’ll be putting forward my optimistic vision for this nation. I think if we get this decade right, we can set Australia up for the many decades ahead …

“I’ve been in the parliament for a while now. I have never seen a political party as united, as cohesive and as determined as the Australian Labor Party is going into 2025.”