The Dutton ‘dirt file’ is a non-event born of Labor’s desperation

Labor’s hit jobs on Peter Dutton’s property transactions over the decades, along with his purchases of bank shares during the GFC may well be, at least in part, the products of a Labor “dirt unit”, or what is politely called opposition research. Peter Dutton certainly claims that’s the case.

As Sam Maiden pointed out, Liberals complaining about such tactics are the ultimate hypocrites. They’ve always been happy to dredge up mud to fling at Labor figures. Hell, the entire trade union royal commission was an extravagant, taxpayer-funded dirt unit. And the assiduous examination of material on the public record by staffers — like politicians’ disclosures of interests, and their travel itineraries — is called public interest journalism when practiced by the media.

Nor can Dutton confect too much outrage about his property transactions being examined. The opposition leader primly declined to comment on the media kerfuffle over Anthony Albanese’s house last year, but it didn’t stop his shadow ministers from having a crack at how “out of touch” Albanese was for buying a $4.3 million house. If that’s out of touch, Dutton must be orbiting a different planet given the tens of millions in property he’s invested in.

In truth, who cares? Like a lot of Australians, Dutton worked hard and invested in property, which is a market rigged in favour of incumbents. Does that make him a hypocrite for trying to exploit the “housing crisis”? Very likely. But it makes every major party politician who owns investment properties a hypocrite, and doesn’t look too flash for the Greens MPs who own multiple properties either.

Dutton has now disposed of his mini-property empire and instead has “money in the bank”. That’s probably the best position for a man bidding to become PM, because it minimises any personal conflicts of interest he has.

The other “allegation” — using the term generously — is that Dutton somehow gleaned inside information when in opposition during the financial crisis — like, 16 years ago — and bought bank shares shortly before actions by the Rudd government to protect the banks sent their stocks up. Godwin Grech, the benighted Liberal mole in Treasury at the time, was believed to be feeding information on the policies Treasury was working on to the Coalition, and has been resurrected by Labor as a possible culprit in Dutton’s “insider trading”.

It’s not impossible, but it’s the longest of bows. It was clear at the time that the government needed to move to shore up confidence in our major banks as the world’s credit markets roiled in an unprecedented crisis, and would not let them fail. Any share trader with basic judgment would have known falling major bank stocks were an opportunity.

None of this says much about Dutton beyond that he’s savvy with how he has invested. What’s the problem with that? Like Albanese’s house, there’s no “there” there, despite the media interest.

But what it does say a lot about is how desperate Labor is.

To say that Dutton represents a target-rich environment for opponents is understating it. He is an economic lightweight. He is a policy-free zone, except for his fiscally disastrous idea to stick nuclear reactors in regional communities across the country. He has flip-flopped regularly on major issues like migration, China, fiscal policy, divestiture of insurance companies and the stage three tax cuts. His political business model is demonising non-white people and fostering social division. His records as Home Affairs minister and health minister in the previous government are replete with scandals, stuff-ups and policy blunders.

Yet here’s Labor trying to Weekend At Bernie’s Godwin Grech and insisting Dutton has “questions to answer” over property investments. It’s a pathetic testimony to how ineffective this government has been in calling out his many flaws. That it finds itself faced with the serious prospect of losing government to such an awful opponent and his hopeless frontbench says a lot about the modern Labor Party. There are questions to answer, all right. Labor supporters should be asking them of the party leadership.

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