Dutton thinks he’s a hard man stoking culture wars – but where is the plan for winning the election?

‘The observation that Dutton is always trying to divide Australians is correct, but does not seem to have done anything to dent his long march to a winnable position in the poles,’ writes Paul Karp. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Early on in Peter Dutton’s stint as opposition leader, he made two interesting appointments: Julian Leeser, for shadow Indigenous affairs minister, and Ted O’Brien, for shadow climate change.

The appointments seemed to speak to two possible paths for the Coalition under Dutton.