What we learned – and didn’t – from Peter Dutton’s unofficial campaign launch | Liberal party

Peter Dutton emerged from his summer break on Sunday to launch the Coalition’s unofficial election campaign.

In a 38-minute pre-prepared speech to MPs and party loyalists at a campaign-style rally in Melbourne, the federal opposition leader framed the upcoming contest as a “sliding doors moment” for Australia.

Here’s what we learned – and didn’t – from Dutton’s opening pitch ahead of the 2025 poll.

There’s an official slogan and a new brochure

The blue backdrop behind Dutton during his speech was emblazoned with the Coalition’s official election slogan: “Let’s get Australia back on track”.

The slogan is also the title of a new brochure Dutton launched on Sunday, which outlines the Coalition’s 12 priorities for governing the country.

Dutton argued the nation had veered off the rails under Labor, which he described as one of the most “incompetent governments in history” led by Anthony Albanese – “one of our weakest prime ministers in history”.

The Coalition’s slogan will be pitted against Albanese’s “Building Australia’s future” motto, which he pushed during last week’s blitz of seats in Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

But no new announcements

The opposition leader didn’t use the rally to make any new announcements, instead rehashing the Coalition’s broad-brush positions on nuclear, housing, immigration, “practical action” for Indigenous Australians, health, regional Australia, defence, community safety and border security.

Those policy positions have been pieced together in the 44-page document released on Sunday, which Dutton described as the Coalition’s “compact with Australians to govern with respect for the views, values and vision of every Australian”.

He pledged to call the prime minister of Israel in the first days of a Dutton government to mend a relationship he claimed Labor has “trashed” amid the Middle East conflicts.

Dutton also foreshadowed an election fight on the approach to teaching in primary schools, which he said should be “places of education, not indoctrination”.

He said further policies would be unveiled in the “coming days and weeks”.

Dutton’s strategy of withholding new policy announcements contrasts with Albanese, who has used campaign-style rallies in Adelaide and Brisbane in recent months to announce major commitments on Hecs and childcare.

Victoria, often enemy territory, will be crucial

The rally was held in Mount Waverley in the Labor-held seat of Chisholm, an early warning shot from an opposition intent on gaining ground in the traditionally progressive state of Victoria.

The Coalition won just 11 of 39 seats in the state at the 2022 election before losing Aston in a historic byelection defeat triggered by the retirement of former minister Alan Tudge.

Liberal strategists are optimistic about regaining Chisholm and Aston, as well as the teal seat of Goldstein and Labor-held McEwen, north of Melbourne.

In his opening message in the speech, Dutton declared the Liberal party was “back in town” at both a federal and state level, where Brad Battin is the new leader.

Dutton feels people still don’t know the real him

Dutton has been in parliament for 23 years, making him one of the elder statesmen of federal politics.

But as he attempts to broaden his public image beyond that of a hardline ex-Queensland cop, the opposition leader used Sunday’s speech to re-introduce himself to voters.

He spoke about growing up as one of five children in a working-class family – his dad was a bricklayer and his mum a secretary – then working from his early teens, buying a house at 19 and joining the police force.

“I believe the family is the most important unit in society,” he said on Sunday. “Strong and supported families make for a confident and resilient country.”

He continued: “I love our country. I cherish what our forebears have gifted us. Especially those who served in uniform, suffered, and made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, for freedom and for the greater good. I admire Australians.”