00:00All roads lead to Parramatta tonight and Peter Dutton is back in the city where his week began
00:07with a campaign launch. It was a chance to reset the narrative after two difficult opening
00:12weeks for the opposition leader and there were two new policy ideas. A temporary income
00:16tax offset and a permanent tax deduction for first home buyers on their mortgage interest
00:22payments if they buy new homes. It was that second idea which captured much attention
00:26in the beginning of the week and even as economists criticised the policy just as they did Labor's
00:31plan over the prospect that it might increase house prices it appeared to be territory that
00:35Peter Dutton was comfortable talking about. Trips to Melbourne and Brisbane were dominated
00:39by visits to new housing developments on the outskirts of town and in the middle suburbs
00:44as Peter Dutton sold the Australian dream to young first home buyers while at the same time
00:49keeping one eye on those who already own their homes. He was happy to reassure them that he
00:54wanted house prices to rise steadily so that they could regard their home as an asset for
00:59their retirement. But just as happened in the first and second week external events derailed
01:03the opposition leader. In the first week it was Donald Trump, in the second week it was
01:07his own backflip on work from home. In the third week it may prove to be Indonesia and Russia.
01:12A report that Russia had requested to station a military aircraft in Indonesia which was later
01:17denied by the Indonesian government created trouble for Peter Dutton because of his immediate
01:21instincts to blame the government. Suggesting they should have seen it coming.
01:25It's obvious that Indonesia, well as a matter of fact that Indonesia has joined with Russia
01:30and with Brazil and with other countries including China. They are closer together now. We don't
01:36know from the government exactly what happened because the government doesn't know. The government
01:42has reacted as the Prime Minister did as I did yesterday to the media reports, very credible
01:46media reports. And the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister and the Foreign Affairs Minister
01:52found out about this from media reports.
01:55And while Peter Dutton was defiant about that today, the issue is sure to be one of many
01:59to feature in tonight's debate. Coming at the halfway point in the campaign, it's a chance
02:03to take stock and to look forward. The Easter weekend is looming and on the other side Australians
02:08will begin to cast their votes. With early voting more important than ever, the window is closing
02:13for politicians to sell their message to the Australian public. And with the opinion poll
02:17suggesting that Mr Dutton trails and the composition of the House of Representatives suggesting that
02:21he has the most ground to make up, it is him who is under the most pressure heading into tonight's debate.
Comments