CAITLYN RINTOUL: Peter Dutton can’t cancel the culture warriors derailing the discussion

Peter Dutton’s hopes to make a strong Coalition case to be elected on May 3 has been muddied by culture wars.

It’s territory the leader had desperately tried to navigate away from, especially during his declared 28-seat blitz for the last week of the election campaign. But to borrow a line from the Godfather, just when he thought he was out “they pull me back in”.

Mr Dutton has been repeatedly peppered with questions on Aboriginal acknowledgement, immigration and how to define a transgender woman. The constant loop is dampening his chances to persuade Australians that he’s the best man for the top job.

A prime example as an anchor point for distraction this week began with neo nazis heckling a Welcome to Country at Anzac Day dawn services in Melbourne and Perth.

Both Mr Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese were swift to condemn the hateful protest.

But Mr Dutton has faced a barrage of questions about it every day since, including if he agreed with Qantas’ inflight Acknowledgement to Country and what events he deemed worthy of having a Welcome to Country performed at.

In contrast, Mr Albanese has had only had to field a couple of questions related to his views on Welcome to Country ceremoniesin the same period.

Since the beginning of the campaign drawing parallels between Mr Dutton to US President Donald Trump has been a key focus of Labor’s attacks on him.

This has seemingly been something Mr Dutton had noted and worked to change.

Having first lent into similarities, like adopting Mr Trump’s DOGE-style efficiencies portfolio, Mr Dutton is now seeking to distance himself from all things Trump.

A ploy which was clear during the second debate when he was quick to offer up that he hadn’t actually met Mr Trump.

While announcing his suite of domestic violence policies in Tasmania last week he was peppered with questions about women.

“You’re here talking about the safety of women. Does that include trans women? Do you think trans women are women and what protections will you afford them?,” a journalist asked.

Mr Dutton responded: “There was discussion about early intervention and also education at a younger age, about violence and respect for people regardless of their gender. And we’re happy to continue that discussion.”

The journalist, however, pressed again: “Do you think trans women are women?”

Mr Dutton’s response illustrated his efforts to move past the gender debates.

“A woman is defined as an adult female. That’s the definition,” he said.

“Now, in terms of what is at stake in this election, these are important issues that you raise, but the issues that people will be deciding on at this election, which I think are particularly important to Tasmanians and others, is cost of living, housing and also community safety and national safety.

“They’re the issues that we’ve concentrated on, and at this election, that’s what we’ll be taking to the election.”

But he was then faced with a third round of questions from the journalist, listing stances other politicians had previously publicly made on the topic.

“Do you think a trans woman is a woman? Or do you think a woman is a biologically born female woman?”

When the leader tried to move on, he was interrupted.

“You haven’t answered that question, just a yes or a no,” the journalist again pressed.

It was a line of questioning not part of the daily news cycle, and not one the PM has faced.

The Opposition Leader’s frustrations have been palpable in his daily press conferences, where he has adopted a more stage managed approach — one question each, answering in a more orderly fashion, to frequently moving on or shutting down questions — a tactic Mr Albanese has employed for years.

Mr Albanese has had a similar structured approach to media engagement on the hustings but has leaned back into a more relaxed approach in the final stretch.

As Mr Albanese loosens the reins, Mr Dutton’s team runs in circles in the background to mitigate risk.

From scoping out locations early to making wristband only entry check points at events, and only revealing where they’re stopping as the campaign bus pulls in.

But external influences haven’t just been from the media — other political commentators have also pulled him into the culture wars debate or stolen his narrative for the day.

The party’s former Indigenous leader Ken Wyatt, who resigned his membership after the Coalition campaigned against the Voice, also spoke out on the issue.

“I think that the political debate on this issue does not help with the harmony of this country,” Mr Wyatt said:

“There are people who may have perceptions about what Welcome to Country means.”

“It is about, as I indicated, being welcomed into somebody’s home . . . the politicians should stay out of it.

“I think when you start to politicise elements of Aboriginal affairs or cultural practices, then you start a process of allowing division to occur.”

By Tuesday, it was former Prime Minister Tony Abbott who waded in to the culture wars, telling radio listeners that Welcome to Country ceremonies were “a political statement” and comparing them to wearing masks during the COVID pandemic.

“If you weren’t an enthusiast for masks, you weren’t taking the pandemic seriously enough,” he said.

Not even a former Liberal prime minister could stop himself from dragging the discussion away from the messaging Mr Dutton is so desperate to talk about.