It’s the oldest trick in the political book: when you’re in trouble, create a diversion. The bigger the diversion you need, the bigger the trouble you’re clearly in.
So it was handy that on Friday the prime minister received the 900-page report of the inquiry he commissioned into the Covid-19 pandemic, just days before the scheduled publication of a book widely expected to generate him negative publicity.
Doubly handy that such a huge report on an issue of enormous public interest could then be released quickly, a couple of days into the media firestorm engulfing Anthony Albanese about whether, as transport minister, he solicited Qantas flight upgrades direct from the airline’s then CEO.
Unsurprisingly, the Covid report swiftly supplanted the Qantas imbroglio as the media’s top story. The government will probably be relieved about that.
Alongside its policy arguments, Labor wants to fight the next election on character. Its strategists are convinced that voters’ antipathy towards Peter Dutton is strong. That’s why, in his news conference on Tuesday, Albanese made sure he said that “Peter Dutton seems determined to just be arrogant and nasty every day”.
He repeatedly refers to the opposition leader’s negativity and accuses him of obstructionism. It’s a theme he wants to hammer over and over.
But a fight on the character of one guy in the main electoral contest naturally invites comparison with the character of the other. Dutton is well aware of this. Every time the opportunity presents itself, he chips away at the prime minister’s reputation and at Albanese’s message that he’s focused on the needs of all Australians and not on himself.
Albanese’s attendance at shock-jock Kyle Sandilands’ wedding and at manufacturing magnate Richard Pratt’s party, where Katy Perry performed; his receipt of precious tickets to see Taylor Swift; and even his purchase of a $4.3m clifftop home with ocean views with his fiancee and near her extended family – fairly or not, all of these have helped Dutton paint more of this portrait.
The imbroglio over flight upgrades just allows him to add another hue.
Dutton’s own Tuesday news conference was awash with negative messages about Albanese’s character. “Instead of focusing on Australians and how we can help them, it seems the prime minister’s focused only on himself and what he can get from the system,” Dutton said.
He said Australians were now “starting to question the integrity and the truthfulness of their prime minister”.
“They know they can’t get the economy right, and now they’re seeing a prime minister who can’t lie straight in bed.”
And he raised questions about Albanese’s “credibility and integrity”.
“He gets angry, and he’s not a good person under pressure, which is never a good trait in a prime minister,” Dutton said. “But it seems to me that the prime minister just can’t be trusted. I think his integrity is in question, and I think it’s why a lot of his colleagues are starting to question is his judgment – on this and other issues.”
Labor will hope this unsubtle character assassination helps cement an impression of Dutton’s character in the manner that the prime minister described. But every day spent defending the leader is one day less of talking about anything else.
And Albanese’s colleagues are increasingly dismayed at the rolling series of negative stories that keep swamping attempts to prove Dutton wrong.
• Karen Middleton is Guardian Australia’s political editor
