Those addicted to the news cycle often forget how passionately apathetic most Australian voters are about politics. As a result, Peter Dutton’s relatively small cliques of leftwing decriers and rightwing admirers overestimate how vividly the intricacies of his controversial career have registered with the general public. “I know fuck-all about him, mate,” says Mark, 44, a loyal LNP voter. “Seems pretty boring. I miss ScoMo. He had a personality.”
Mark is a tradie in outer-suburban Brisbane, with a Southern Cross tattoo and zero pity for boat people. Dutton should be right up his alley. But Mark doesn’t know him from the proverbial bar of soap. Nor do most of the people you ask who don’t pay all that much attention to politics. “I know of him,” says Sam, 29, a Lebanese-Australian Uber driver from Western Sydney. “But I don’t know him. He can’t be worse than ScoMo, bro.”
