If Peter Dutton is to have any hope of realising his ambition to resurrect the Liberal Party at the next federal election, he needs to win seats like Dunkley. The coastal electorate in Melbourne’s south-east is, after all, the sort of territory marked out as future Liberal heartland to replace the inner-urban seats lost to independents and the Greens.

Ignore the spin and the dampening of expectations in the lead-up to the March 2 byelection. Dutton not only should win it, he has to win it.

Credit: Illustration: Dionne Gain

The Liberals have a lot going for them in this seat with its mix of down-at-heel and well-heeled. Interest rates, inflation and cost of living pressures remain........

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