In this extended episode of the New Politics podcast, we dissect the chaotic second week of the 2025 federal election campaign, where the Coalition’s China-baiting tactics, policy backflips, and internal sabotage took centre stage.
A central feature this week was the ongoing China scare campaign, now focused on the controversial 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin to Chinese company Landbridge. Approved in 2015 by the then-Liberal government, this bad economic deal was going to be rebranded by Peter Dutton as a ‘national security crisis’ – until Anthony Albanese gazumped Dutton’s policy announcement, highlighting the Coalition’s hypocrisy and responsibility for the deal in the first place. With no actual security concerns reported in the decade since the lease began, it’s clear this issue is being cynically used to drum up anti-China sentiment in a desperate bid to shift public focus.
Behind the scenes, the Liberal Party continues to implode. There are strategic leaks coming from within the NSW division, undermining the Queensland-led federal campaign in their attempts to set up Angus Taylor as a post-election leader. We look at the factional warfare gripping the Liberal Party, showing how internal sabotage could be determining the party’s fate more than voter sentiment.
The Coalition also abandoned its poorly conceived work-from-home policy during the campaign – a rare and damaging backflip. Originally aimed at white-collar resentment and tradie voters, the policy alienated a large portion of the electorate and backfired badly. This bungled announcement exposes the deeper issue: the Coalition is campaigning with a slate of untested, ideologically driven policies lacking real-world application or voter support.
Adding to the week’s scandals is the revelation that Amelia Hamer, Liberal candidate for Kooyong, promoted herself as a struggling renter despite owning two multi-million-dollar properties in London and Canberra. In a seat held by community independent Monique Ryan, this kind of deception only fuels distrust and confirms the view that Liberal candidates are trying to dress themselves as ‘teals’ while staying firmly on-brand as corporate insiders.
Internationally, we reflect on the mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza and how it’s been virtually ignored by both major parties. After Israel killed 15 Palestinian medics and aid workers in a targeted attack, neither Labor nor the Coalition has been willing to name these acts for what they are – war crimes – and only the Australian Greens and a handful of independents have dared to speak out. As Penny Wong dithers over declarations and Albanese parrots vague support for a two-state solution, many voters – particularly in western Sydney and outer Melbourne – might shift their votes in protest over this moral cowardice.
We also recap the first leaders’ debate between Albanese and Dutton, hosted by Sky News and predictably devoid of real substance, which was viewed by a limited audience behind a paywall and did little to shift public perceptions either way. Polling from the debate shows Albanese narrowly ahead, but more importantly, it highlights just how uninspired both major leaders are on the campaign trail. These debates seem more like outdated rituals than opportunities for genuine political engagement.
There were also some bizarre campaign moments – like Dutton gleefully kicking a football into the head of an Iraqi–Australian cameraman in a stunt gone wrong, a moment that’s symbolic of his political legacy – and protests directed at Albanese for the Labor Party’s climate inaction and continued support of coal and gas projects. Activists rightly question the government’s spin about ‘expanding’ rather than ‘opening’ fossil fuel mines and fields, and Albanese’s refusal to engage reflects an unwillingness to face the consequences of Labor’s duplicity on climate change. We also review the latest opinion polls: Labor remains ahead in every major survey – Newspoll, Morgan, and YouGov – pointing to a repeat of the 2022 election result. But with volatility in global markets, U.S. tariffs, and Donald Trump’s destabilising economic policies reverberating worldwide, anything could still happen. The Liberal Party’s close alignment with Trump and his political style, championed by Dutton, might alienate more voters than it attracts – if Dutton is going to copy Trump’s playbook, he needs to prepare for the electoral chaos that could follow, because it’s not going to pretty.
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Song listing:
- ‘Good Stuff’, The B-52s.
- ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, Serge Gainsbourg (French Accent Remix)
- ‘Fivefold’, Agnes Obel.
- ‘Wild’, Spoon.
- ‘Bumper’, The Cannanes.
- ‘Humiliation’, The National.
Music interludes:
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The post Leaks, lies and sabotage: The Coalition’s second-week election meltdown appeared first on New Politics.