Peter Dutton was edging towards possibly towards winning the forthcoming election. But lately he has been moving further and further away from that. It’s possible he might still win, but it looks increasingly unlikely.

The problems are manifold. In between a Trumpian brainfart about holding a referendum which would allow governments to deport some citizens, he also claimed that interest rates are always lower under the Coalition because it manages the economy better than Labor. The first claim was hastily walked back by some colleagues, but who knows what its status is now?

With interest rates other questions arise because the claim was simply wrong. For instance, are his staff not providing him with accurate data; is he so enamoured of the soundbite that he didn’t bother to check the facts; is he just ignorant; or, is he a liar? It’s not the first time he’s made the claim, having also uttered it in May and August last year.

The record is clear, and the claim had been exposed as far back as 2022 when AAP FactCheck debunked it. A loyal Liberal MP, Karen Andrews, jumped in to say the claim was right because RBA historical data on variable rates for homeowners were always lower under the Liberals. This was also false as lending rates were lower under the 2009 Labor Government than they were under the Coalition – 8.6% compared with 10.5%........

© Pearls and Irritations