Peter Dutton is facing a dual debate within his party room on how to win back Chinese-Australians and teal voters.
When Keith Wolahan realised something was wrong, his campaign team decided to make 2500 phone calls to Chinese-Australians in his electorate. What came back was toxic.
In the seat next door, Chisholm, sitting Liberal MP Gladys Liu – the first female Chinese-Australian elected to the House of Representatives – was not so lucky, losing to Labor after a 6.9 per cent swing. With the Coalition largely failing to advance any major economic reforms while in government, they believe the reforms to national security laws and reorienting the China relationship to a more realistic footing are its legacy.Credit:Wolahan, a former Army captain, doesn’t believe the Liberals should change any of their policies on China. But he does think the party needs to do a much better job of differentiating the Chinese Communist Party from Chinese-Australians.
But there are also questions about whether the Liberal Party’s grassroots engagement with multicultural communities is up to scratch, and whether some members are using the China angle as an excuse for their own lacklustre campaigns. After Tudge’s comments, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton asked Liberal MP David Coleman to offer his thoughts to the party room. Coleman is one of the MPs who withstood the tide; his Sydney seat of Banks has about twice as many Chinese-Australians as Aston but he only suffered a 3 per cent swing.Coleman told the party room the main issue wasn’t the Morrison government’s tone but its policies. And given the policies were correct, he said “we can’t do anything about it” in a macro sense.
A similar debate is going on inside the party on how to bring back inner-city voters who left the party for independents, the Greens and Labor.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why is Peter Dutton ignoring all the lessons that got Anthony Albanese into the Lodge? | Katharine Murphy‘I’m not Morrison – but I’m still Dutton’ is not a strategy to fix the Coalition’s problems with women and urban professional voters
Read more »
Peter Dutton wants Australia to consider nuclear power. What is it and how would it work?There are fears Australia won’t have enough gas left for households and businesses on the east coast by this time next year, so some politicians are urging the consideration of nuclear power.
Read more »
'Hospital on wheels' a likely gamechanger for homeless people such as PeterA mobile health clinic being opened by St Vincent's Public Hospital means rough sleepers can get a blood test while they have a hot meal at one of Sydney's community centres.
Read more »
Pension reform to ease workforce crisis being considered by governmentSeniors could be allowed to work more hours without losing pension entitlements under a plan being considered by the Albanese government to ease Australia's workforce crisis. The plan has been endorsed by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and backed by business groups and would provide a large injection of labour into the economy. The proposal is set to be debated at September's Jobs and Skills Summit in Canberra.
Read more »
The Peter FitzSimons interview with Jacinta Price that sparked a week-long culture war | The weekly beastA Nine newspapers piece becomes a gift that keeps on giving for the Australian. Plus: small win for ABC archivists
Read more »