Mr Dutton, who faced no rivals to take the leadership of the party, promised to get the party back on track for the next election in 2025, and to prepare a plan to ‘clean up the inevitable mess that Labour will leave behind’ .
Before that, this former policeman who is very marked on the right and a follower of strong declarations will mainly have the task of restoring unity within the Liberal Party. A formation deeply divided between moderates and hard-line conservatives, the main bone of contention being the policy to adopt on climate change.
Peter Dutton, 51, was a minister several times under previous Conservative governments, notably holding the portfolios of Immigration and Home Affairs.
While serving as defense minister under previous Prime Minister Scott Morrison, he compared Chinese President Xi Jinping’s geopolitical ambitions in the Asia-Pacific to Nazi expansionism in the 1930s.
“The only way to preserve peace is to prepare for war,” he said at the time.
On Monday, he said again that “the issue of China under President Xi will be the biggest problem our country will face in our lifetime.”
New Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week, however, praised Mr Dutton, calling him more reliable than Mr Morrison. “Peter Dutton never betrayed the trust I placed in him,” he said.
