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VIDEO: True Colours

'True Colours' 28 April 2025 Four Corners LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: As Australians head to the polls this week, there are more undecided voters than ever before. ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: Look, I don't think that people have a high regard for politicians across the board. BILL SHORTEN, CABINET MINISTER 2022-2025: Most people are not paying attention to this election or if they do, you know, in between paying the bills, picking up the kids sort of, living, they only have time for I think the clearest of issues. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: People are desperate for answers to the rising cost-of-living and unaffordable housing. TONY BARRY, REDBRIDGE GROUP: They know the economy is fucked and they want someone to unfuck it. And they're not seeing that from either party at the moment. PROFESSOR CHRIS WALLACE, UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA: The big problems that we're left with need big solutions, deep solutions. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Now, a chaotic new world order has thrown a curveball at the campaign. DONALD TRUMP, US PRESIDENT: These countries are calling us up, kissing my ass. Please, please, sir, make a deal. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: If I needed to have a fight with Donald Trump or any other world leader to advance our nation's interests, I'd do it in a heartbeat. ARTHUR SINODINOS, CABINET MINISTER 2015-2017: Trump hangs over this election like the weather. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: The electorate must now decide who is the leader we need for these uncertain times. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Describe Anthony Albanese. ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: Well, I think he's a weak career politician, ultimately. LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS 2022-2024: Anthony is a real person. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: What's it like when you're on Anthony Albanese's bad side? BILL SHORTEN, CABINET MINISTER 2022-2025: It's not great. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Describe Peter Dutton. ARTHUR SINODINOS, CABINET MINISTER 2015-17: Pragmatic conservative. THOMAS MAYO, VOICE CAMPAIGNER: Peter Dutton is a wrecker. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Give me your assessment of Peter Dutton's campaign so far. CLARE O'NEIL, MINISTER FOR HOUSING: I think the campaign has been a rolling shit show. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: In this episode of Four Corners, in the final week of election campaign 2025, we go beyond the talking points and the spin, to examine the leadership records of Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton. Their histories, their characters, their policies, their legacies. The questions about them that remain unanswered. And their plans for the nation if they win on Saturday. TITLE: TRUE COLOURS LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: It's mid-morning in the marginal seat of Paterson in the NSW Hunter Valley. We're on our way to the first media event of the day. Travelling journalists have been given barely any information about what's going on. Today, Peter Dutton's talking about trade schools. PRESS SECRETARY: Thank you. Media this way. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: You get the sense, though, this is more about selling the message that he's the guy for tradies in the regions and outer suburbs. Everywhere he goes, Mr Dutton hammers the point that only he can solve the cost-of-living crisis. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: Out there talking about cost-of-living pressures that families are under, how we can help young people. We're absolutely the only party going to this election that is offering a bright future for this community. ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: You've got very high housing costs, energy costs, fuel costs, grocery costs. They have made the Australian dream out of reach. PRESS SECRETARY: Last question! LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: The Coalition's campaign has been laser focused on a key demographic. MELISSA MCINTOSH, SHADOW CABINET MINISTER: Menzies' forgotten people, Howard's battlers. And with Peter Dutton, the heartland of our Australian Liberal Party. Over the last three years they have been hoodwinked, they have been let down and they have been lied to by the Albanese Labor government. Our future prime minister, Peter Dutton. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: Thank you very much and thank you for being here in this very important part of the world in western Sydney. There are common struggles across the country. Australians who are working hard but who just can't get ahead. ARTHUR SINODINOS, CABINET MINISTER 2015-2017: I think his persona as a strong leader, someone who could be a tough cop on the beat, I think all of that appeals to people who are looking for no-nonsense leadership. Those outer suburban areas, regional areas, are the battlegrounds in particular for a lot of the cost-of-living issues as well. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Peter Dutton started the year on a high, with polls suggesting he had a chance of stealing back government after just one term. ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: I think he's a strong, principled person who is good at managing disagreements and he has a vision for Australia. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: But as the campaign progressed, that vision was undermined by unforced errors. DAVID SPEERS, JOURNALIST: You said the Indonesian President had publicly announced this Russian request when he had not. So, was that a mistake? PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: It-, it was a mistake. BILL SHORTEN, CABINET MINISTER 2022-2025: At a time when the world seems uncertain, do you really want to give charge to the nation, to the people who haven't done the homework? ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: You go through the annals of history, you'll find lots of great world leaders who've made mistakes. I think it's how you respond that really counts and shows character. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: You've got a choice between Kiribilli or living in Canberra-, Canberra at The Lodge and you'd take-, I think you'd take Sydney any day. CLARE O'NEIL, MINISTER FOR HOUSING: That was just an absolute clanger of the first order. You know, to be speculating about living in a luxury mansion outside of your home city, on the first couple of days of an election, I just could not believe it. PROTESTOR: Is that you Albo? What about an inquiry into offshore wind? LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: The Prime Minister began the year with opinion polls showing he was staring down the barrel of minority government — at best. PROTESTOR: Get out of here. PROFESSOR CHRIS WALLACE, UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA: There's a bit of a sense that Albo has kind of sat on his arse for three years in between the elections. But he's that classic kind of kid who classically got their homework in late every week, but always got it done in the end. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: As the campaign kicks off, the PM's minders are leaving nothing to chance. PRESS SECRETARY: Alright, move back quickly guys, into the shade. Keep walking media. Moving back media. Keep moving guys. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Travelling on the leaders' campaign buses is a curious insight into Australian democracy. They almost never meet anyone who hasn't been carefully vetted beforehand. The journalists here have no idea where they're going until minutes before they arrive at a location. Everything is tightly scripted and managed and choreographed to deliver the leaders' message to a weary and distracted public. Four Corners steals a few minutes with the Prime Minister on the sidelines of the campaign. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: There has been commentary to the effect that you sat on your hands a bit too much in terms of the messaging as opposed to the actual policy delivery. Do you think- ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: I love a campaign and the truth is that during a campaign people switch on more. It does give me energy and I'm enjoying the campaign. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Do you think you had that same energy all the way through those three years though? ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's probably impossible to stay on 24 hours a day for three years, but I've been energetic, but it has been a difficult time to govern, and a lot of what government is about isn't the stuff that you see outside. It's sitting around a cabinet room making sure that you get the budget in better nick. It's developing the coherent policies in a context of global turbulence-, has been a challenge, but we have, I think, got the economy turning the corner. We've got important social policies that we've put forward. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: One criticism of the PM has been his tendency to freeze out rivals, even star performers in his cabinet. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: What's it like when you're on Anthony Albanese's bad side? ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Oh look. I can be tough. And I'm very loyal to people, incredibly loyal. I expect loyalty back in return. I'm a great friend and I'll do on a personal level, I think I'm pretty warm hearted. ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: What's it like when you're on Anthony Albanese's bad side? BILL SHORTEN, CABINET MINISTER 2022-2025: It's not great. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: You've been on that side? BILL SHORTEN, CABINET MINISTER 2022-2025: I've been on good side and bad side. ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land… LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Anthony Albanese's defining election promise was proposing a referendum on an indigenous voice to parliament. ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: I commit to the Uluru Statement from the heart in full. Anthony Albanese's defining election promise was proposing a referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS 2022-24: And I remember when he stood up and he said those words, 'we will implement the Uluru statement in full'. And he looked at me and I just, I just was so happy. THOMAS MAYO, VOICE CAMPAIGNER: It was a moment of great joy and excitement and, you know, I'll never fault Albanese for doing that. When the referendum came around in 2023, it was something that was visionary. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Peter Dutton did not share the Prime Minister's vision. Support for the Yes vote collapsed, after Mr Dutton publicly backed the 'no' case. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: The Voice as proposed by our Prime Minister promotes difference. And it's sadly a symptom of the madness of identity politics which has infected the 21st century. The Voice will re-racialise our nation. LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS 2022-24: Peter Dutton was-, I would characterise it as stubborn. I would characterise it by ugliness, and I would characterise it by wanting to create division and fear. And that is unacceptable in my view, in terms of a leader. THOMAS MAYO, VOICE CAMPAIGNER: I think it was a disgrace to him and to Australian politics. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Some First Nations leaders say this was part of a pattern for Peter Dutton when it comes to race. THOMAS MAYO, VOICE CAMPAIGNER: I think indigenous people are watching this election with great anxiety. We have been through a referendum where one of the people who wants to be leader of this country used us as a political scapegoat and an opportunity. He has a record, you know, the record of walking out on The Apology. LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS 2022-24: How could you possibly walk out on what was one of the most significant moments in this country's history? PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: I didn't attend the chamber for the Apology 15 years ago. I failed to grasp at the time the symbolic significance to the Stolen Generation of the Apology. LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS 2022-24: Look at things like, 'I will never do a press conference in front of the Aboriginal flag'. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: We are dividing our country unnecessarily. Now we should have respect for the indigenous flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag but they are not our national flags. LINDA BURNEY, MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS 2022-24: I mean, what is that about? Why does that make you a strong person? In my view, it does not, it makes you a smaller person. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Do you think that Peter Dutton has an issue with race? ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: No, I don't. I think he's embraced multicultural Australia, and you can see that in his work as a politician. And we understand how important multicultural Australia is to the national story. THOMAS MAYO, VOICE CAMPAIGNER I think that there's enough evidence that the man has racial prejudice and that that he would use that as well. I think, again, purely about power and politics and the shamelessness, that he would use minorities for gain. ARTHUR SINODINOS, CABINET MINISTER 2015-17: He had the right instincts on the Voice referendum. He realised the way that was being done, that that was not the right way to do it. And, and he was on the right side of history on that. The Prime Minister did not seem to be engaging fully in the sales pitch for this, and that came across to people. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Senator Andrew Bragg was one of the few Liberals who supported the Voice. He blames the Prime Minister for the failure of the 'Yes' case. ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: I don't think the Prime Minister should have gone ahead with a referendum. He knew it would lose and it didn't have enough support across the community. And I think it was a wasted opportunity for the nation. PROFESSOR CHRIS WALLACE, UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA: To have made that bold statement, but not to back it up with an effective campaign, is an indictment on the Prime Minister. He needed to prosecute the case well, and he never, ever got it together. He never understood that it was his job to tightly encapsulate and communicate persuasively the concept he said was central to his ambitions for the nation As Prime Minister. ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Of course it was a difficult time. We put forward a referendum, which is what we were asked to do by First Nations people. We did it out of conviction, not out of convenience. We did it in the full knowledge that referendums have a history of being difficult to pass in this country. So it was disappointing the outcome, but we respected it. ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Tomorrow we must seek a new way forward, with the same optimism LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Do you think that the Voice was where Anthony Albanese lost his mojo? TONY BARRY, REDBRIDGE GROUP: Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Lost his mojo during the-, during the Voice campaign. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: If you did lose your mojo, have you got it back? ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: I have been enthused the entire time that I've been Prime Minister. It is such an incredible honour and privilege to serve the Australian people, and I don't take it for granted, and I haven't taken it for granted for one minute, let alone one day. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Critics of the Prime Minister say the Voice made some voters feel the government was out of touch. TONY BARRY, REDBRIDGE GROUP: It said to them that the government weren't focused on the issues that they were worried about, and that started a detachment from their working class blue collar base, which is still in danger for Labor. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: How do you think Peter Dutton played it? TONY BARRY, REDBRIDGE GROUP: So Dutton was very smart in the way how he played that, which is why you wouldn't write him off in this campaign. Because he does have a proven sense of timing, but it doesn't mean you're infallible. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: After the Voice referendum failed, Peter Dutton was emboldened. As the parliamentary term wore on, his confidence grew. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: Prime Minister, Australians are genuinely hurting under your government. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: After He portrayed himself as the strong man of Australian politics. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: I would say the Prime Minister is as weak as — water. I really would. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Introducing policies reminiscent of another strong man. DONALD TRUMP, US PRESIDENT: We're cutting down the size of government. We have to. ELON MUSK: This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy! SKY NEWS REPORTER: Indigenous Affairs Spokeswoman Jacinta Najamjimpa Price will take on government efficiency, which is similar to DOGE in America. JACINTA PRICE, SHADOW MINISTER FOR GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY: That we can make Australia great again, that we can take Australia back to its former glory. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Peter Dutton's proposal to cut 41,000 Canberra bureaucrats was followed by another idea: to prevent public servants from working from home. JANE HUME, SHADOW MINISTER FOR FINANCE: Labor has made work from home a right for the individual, not an arrangement that works for all. And this is unsustainable. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: It quickly went pear-shaped, and Mr Dutton dumped the policy. SARAH ABO, JOURNALIST: This is quite a backflip. I mean, this was one of your signature policies. If you're making this kind of a mistake during an election campaign, how can you be trusted as Prime Minister? PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: What we've said is that we've listened to Australians and we've made it very clear that work from home is a reality for-, for many people, for our friends, for people in our workplace and and we're supportive of that. BILL SHORTEN, CABINET MINISTER 2022-2025: The working from home policy where the Liberals said they're against it. Is without a doubt the biggest own goal I've seen in Australian politics. And now, reluctantly, you can see their fingernail marks on the concrete as they're dragged to reversing their policy. CLARE O'NEIL, MINISTER FOR HOUSING: I think it's been a rolling shit show. One minute he's, you know, basically implying that public servants are lazy for wanting to work from home. The next minute, he's saying, 'Oh, no, I don't believe that actually. I really do agree with working from home.' Like, come on, that is just sloppy, unprofessional. Is this how they're going to govern the country? Believing in one thing one day and something completely different the next? ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: We made it very clear that we got it wrong on that one. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Nothing more to say? ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: Well, we got it wrong. I mean, sometimes you get it wrong. And what's important is that you're able to admit mistakes. I don't think that Australians want politicians that can't admit when they're wrong. And if we've made a mistake, we've owned up to it, I think that's healthy. DONALD TRUMP, US PRESIDENT: Our country will be woke no longer. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: I think there is going to be a new revolution that comes with the Trump administration in relation to a lot of the woke issues that might be fashionable in universities and at the ABC. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: The comparisons with Donald Trump have followed Peter Dutton for months. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: president's a dealmaker. He's a thinker. DONALD TRUMP, US PRESIDENT: We've ended the tyranny of so-called 'diversity, equity and inclusion' policy all across the entire federal government and indeed the private sector and our military. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: Now positions have been advertised that include those required for cultural diversity and inclusion adviser positions. Such positions, do nothing to improve the lives of everyday Australians. JIM CHALMERS, TREASURER: This is DOGE-y Dutton, taking his cues and policies straight from the US. ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: Well, I don't accept Labor's characterisation of Mr Dutton as a small Trump. Ultimately he's had a very different view on the treatment of Mr Zelensky, a very different view on the issue of net zero emissions and then different views on trans and abortion sensitive issues in our own country. So I don't see any parallel. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: What did you think about Jacinta Price wearing a MAGA cap and saying, 'Make Australia Great Again'? ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: Well, that's not part of our policy position, and I think ultimately we're wanting to make Australia a more prosperous, sound and secure country. PROFESSOR CHRIS WALLACE, UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA: It's quite possible that the Trump turmoil in the US could turn out to be a tremendous stroke of political luck that saves Anthony Albanese from, uh, the penalty from laziness in between elections. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Whatever the international environment, for most Australians, there are more pressing issues at home. TONY BARRY, REDBRIDGE GROUP: What's keeping people awake at night is grocery bills, energy bills, cost of living expenses, and housing affordability remains the political fault line in Australia right now. So unless you're talking about those issues, you're going to struggle to get traction. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: So, it's the economy, stupid. TONY BARRY, REDBRIDGE GROUP: Yep, it's the economy, Albo. The economy, Dutton. Yep and, you know, they're looking for hope. And I think they're not seeing a lot of hope from either leader at the moment. ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: These have been difficult times to govern because of global inflation and the biggest energy crisis since the 1970s, but we've come through those turbulent times. We have turned the corner. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: But do you see that sense of voter anxiety as Prime Minister when you're out there amongst people? ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: The cost-of-living pressures are real, which is why my government has responded with cheaper childcare, free TAFE, getting wages up, making tax cuts for every taxpayer, not just some, making sure people got energy bill relief. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Peter Dutton is focused on energy bill relief Anthony Albanese's big gamble was The Voice, Peter Dutton's big gamble is building nuclear reactors, replacing coal-fired power-plants like this one in Victoria's Latrobe Valley. ARTHUR SINODINOS, CABINET MINISTER 2015-17: In the case of nuclear power, Australia should have an "all of the above" energy policy, which covers the various sources because that's what China has, and that's what America has. And we disadvantage ourselves potentially by not doing that. ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: The idea is that no other country's going to get to net zero without nuclear by 2050. And so we think that having that clean technology is an important part of the mix. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: If the government wants to stop coal-fired power, the only feasible and proven technology which can firm up renewables is next generation nuclear technologies. The time has come for a sensible and sober conversation on nuclear power in Australia. JACK ROBERTSON, YALLOURN POWER STATION WORKER: I support it. I'm just a big supporter of baseload power. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Some in the Latrobe Valley are ardent supporters of the Opposition Leader's vision — Like Jack Robertson, who works at Yallourn — the plant due to shut down in 2028. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: So, you've got four little kids. You're not concerned about living in the shadow of a nuclear power plant? JACK ROBERTSON, YALLOURN POWER STATION WORKER: No. Not so much. Not so much. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Would it sway you to vote for Peter Dutton? JACK ROBERTSON, YALLOURN POWER STATION WORKER: Yeah, I'm a proud MEU union member, so typically would be Labor. But yeah, I'm happy to throw my support behind anyone that is happy to support, yeah, the country's energy future. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: But others are deeply opposed. Like farmer and one-time Greens state candidate, Penelope Swales. PENELOPE SWALES, FARMER: So over here, between these two trees on the horizon is Loy Yang and that's where the Coalition want to put the nuclear power plant. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: How do you feel about that? PENELOPE SWALES, FARMER: Really bad and quite angry. Yes. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Why is that? PENELOPE SWALES, FARMER: Uh, let me count the ways. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: She's worried about how much water a large nuclear reactor might need. PENELOPE SWALES, FARMER: We kind of don't have enough water now. So I think we're sleepwalking into a very bad situation if we go the nuclear road. MATT KEAN, CHAIR, CLIMATE CHANGE AUTHORITY: The problem is that the coal-fired power stations are coming out of the system well before you could even get an electron from a nuclear reactor. The economic modelling is laughable. The assumptions are heroic, even under the most ambitious scenarios and are out of step with the rest of the world's experience when it comes to building nuclear. I mean, it is not a policy, it's a fantasy. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Back on the campaign trail, Peter Dutton has been very quiet about his nuclear policy. When we followed Mr Dutton to his eleventh visit to a petrol station to sell his cut to fuel excise, he had not visited one of the seven sites slated for reactors. JOURNALIST: Mr Dutton you haven't visited any potential nuclear sites including the one at Liddell just an hour away. When are you going to visit them in person to allay their concerns? PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: We can create thousands of jobs here locally. We can create industry. We can say to our kids and grandkids that we know you're going to have a job and that you're going to be in part of a region which is revitalised. But this region only has a bright future under a Liberal National government. JOURNALIST: What will they do in 2030 when the coal mines close and nuclear is not ready yet? PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: Well, I think you're already seeing Labor extending the life of coal-fired power stations and I think you're going to see Labor governments extending them more because they know that if they don't, the lights are going out. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Away from the regions, in the suburban heartland Mr Dutton wants to claw back, cost of living pressure is acutely felt by people with massive mortgages and those who just can't get into the property market. Former prime minister John Howard's old Liberal seat of Bennelong is now exceptionally marginal. When we visit, Labor incumbent Jerome Laxale is hosting Foreign Minister Penny Wong with local business owners. BENNELONG RESIDENT: I hope that you will be elected. JEROME LAXALE, MEMBER FOR BENNELONG: I hope so too. That would be great. BENNELONG RESIDENT: Are you a popular candidate? JEROME LAXALE, MEMBER FOR BENNELONG: Maybe. Maybe not. We'll see. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Mr Laxale won this seat at the last election, but a redistribution makes it even harder for him to hold it. So you have a notional margin against you of- JEROME LAXALE, MEMBER FOR BENNELONG: 84 votes. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Has Anthony Albanese done enough up until now to prevent minority government and has he done enough to help ultra marginal MPs like you? JEROME LAXALE, MEMBER FOR BENNELONG: Well, whenever I bring Anthony Albanese to Bennelong, it's a circus. He's very well received here. I think people realise that we've had a tricky set of circumstances, inherited, plus what we faced in government, but they'll see progress. They'll see progress on the energy transition. They'll see progress on climate change and the environment. They'll see progress- LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Do they feel better off? Do they genuinely feel better off? JEROME LAXALE, MEMBER FOR BENNELONG: Well Look, I think people understand that we've worked really hard for progress and that we've achieved that lowering of inflation. That doesn't go unnoticed. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: At a nearby street market, Liberal candidate Scott Yung is pressing the flesh. SCOTT YUNG, LIBERAL CANDIDATE: I was speaking to a young lady around my age. She tells me her and her husband earn a decent income. Collectively $350,000, and yet they couldn't afford their own home. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Almost of a third of voters in Bennelong have Chinese heritage. SCOTT YUNG, LIBERAL CANDIDATE: Hello! How are you. I'm Scott, what's your name? LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: What's your message to Chinese Australians about why they should vote for the Liberal Party in this election? SCOTT YUNG, LIBERAL CANDIDATE (Mandarin translation): There's only so much one person can do, but together we can do so much more. Australia is such a great country and together. Let's work hard to improve our economy. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: At the last election, many voters in Bennelong were turned off by the Coalition's anti-China rhetoric. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: The only way you can preserve peace, is if you prepare for war. SCOTT YUNG, LIBERAL CANDIDATE: He declared that the Chinese-Australia relationship is a very important part of our election manifesto. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: What did you think about it when he said in 2022 that Australia needed to prepare for war? SCOTT YUNG, LIBERAL CANDIDATE: Well, look, what I'm focused on is the future and what- LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: But what did you think about what he said then as a Chinese Australian? What was your response to that? What did you say to him about that? SCOTT YUNG, LIBERAL CANDIDATE: Well, I didn't talk to him about that, Louise. But I can share with you that it's very important to build our national security. But national security also comes in the form of economic security. And I think Peter Dutton recognises that our trade relationship with China is very, very important. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Mr Yung's campaign has not gone to plan, with a series of negative news stories alleging he failed to declare campaign donations. He's also been linked to a casino high roller with alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party. He's tried to brush off those allegations and paint the town blue. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: What do you say about that? Did you declare it? SCOTT YUNG, LIBERAL CANDIDATE: I've followed all the rules. I have given my comments to the relevant outlets. What the New South Wales division does is a matter for them, and I'm very grateful for their support. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Bennelong is a comparatively wealthy electorate. Yet it's below the national average for home ownership. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Is it possible to buy a house if you're a young person here? JEROME LAXALE, MEMBER FOR BENNELONG: No, it's not. It's not. We need to address that. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: Anthony, your government has modelled negative gearing changes and CGT changes. ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's not right. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: The Treasurer has done that. DAVID SPEERS: Was it modelled? ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: It certainly wasn't commissioned by us. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: The It was modelled by the Government. That's publicly available. This Prime Minister has a problem with the truth. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: At the 2019 election, former opposition leader, Bill Shorten proposed changes to negative gearing — a tax incentive for property investors. It was one of the key issues blamed for Labor's loss. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: When you were opposition leader, you actually came out with some proposals for big picture structural reform and the electorate said no to that. BILL SHORTEN, CABINET MINISTER 2022-2025: By a margin, not a giant margin. But yes, they did say no. I got the memo. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: You got the memo. But do you think that there's a sense in the Labor Party that it has shrunk back from making those big picture, structural reforms that might actually make a true difference to the cost of living? BILL SHORTEN, CABINET MINISTER 2022-2025: One promise I made to myself when I finished up in politics earlier this year is not to be a mournful ghost. So, you know, I'm pleased some of the policies that we had in 2016 and 2019 have now been carried out by a Labor Government. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: In the current campaign, both leaders are painfully aware that housing is perhaps the issue that will decide the election. ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, we know that the Liberals dug Australia into a hole on housing. Labor is digging our way out. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: Help them get into home ownership. That's the priority. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: The high vis is on high rotation, as Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton talk up their property plans almost every day. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: Home ownership is so critically important. ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Our plans are about supply as well as demand. Their plans are just all about demand. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Labor is promising to build 100,000 homes for first-time buyers. And to enable them to buy a home with a five per cent deposit, without having to pay mortgage insurance. CLARE O'NEIL, MINISTER FOR HOUSING: We've got a generation of young people who have lost hope in home ownership, and the 5 per cent program will actually give them a genuine pathway to get their feet on the rung of the property ladder, combining the 5 per cent with a supply measure. The most important thing we actually need to do about the housing crisis is build more homes more quickly. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Can you be absolutely sure that your policy won't drive up house prices? CLARE O'NEIL, MINISTER FOR HOUSING: Look that's just not the evidence. Yes, you know, there's a minor impact on price, but I don't think we can live in a world where every single idea that gives them a bit of extra support is shot down because of these issues. ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: The Government wants to insure all the mortgages, and that's a massively retrograde policy. And they're not means testing it. So, Clive Palmer's children could use Labor's lender's mortgage insurance scheme. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: The Opposition Leader maintains only his housing policy will help Australians into home ownership. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: Many young Australians have lost the dream of home ownership under this government. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: What do you say to that? CLARE O'NEIL, MINISTER FOR HOUSING: Well, I just call bullshit on that, that is completely wrong and ridiculous. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Peter Dutton wants to give people the right to use their superannuation for a deposit — and will let first homebuyers claim the interest on their mortgage as a tax deduction. ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: The key test of your success in retirement is your housing status. It is not your super balance. And so making sure people have a house in retirement is very important because we are losing that amongst Gen Zs and millennials and super is the best way as part of a suite of measures to get the Australian dream back on track, dare I say. CLARE O'NEIL, MINISTER FOR HOUSING: We'd be facilitating a generation of young people to ransack their retirement savings and gift that money to the older property-owning generation. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Mr Dutton, just on your housing policy, on your housing policy, the average super balance for a young woman in Australia, 30 to 34, is $46,000. For a young man, it's $56 thousand. The average house price in Sydney for instance is $1.5 million. That's $300,000 on a 20 per cent deposit. How do they get into the market and then get the concession that you are selling? PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: Well Louise, if you have a look at what's available, there's assistance around deposit, and as you point out, let's take the scenario where, had this policy worked three years ago, or five years ago even, and young people were able to get into the property market, their net position today would be hundreds of thousands of dollars better off, because the price of that house would have gone up. What we're saying is we can provide assistance around the deposit, we can also provide about 12 thousand dollars a year for five years, so sixty thousand dollars, to help with the servicing, to help make the mortgage repayments. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: But that's after they get in. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: But for a lot of Australians at the moment-, again-, we were talking to some builders about this the other day, there are young Australians who bought a block of land under Anthony Albanese and now can't afford to build on it. That's their dilemma. This is the disaster of the Albanese government. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Mr Dutton brought along his son on the campaign to help with the big sell. HARRY DUTTON: We're saving like mad but it doesn't look like we'll get there. JOURNALIST: Can we get some clarity around whether you will be helping the kids out with a home deposit? PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: We'll help them with the deposit at some stage but in many families, in a lot of families, most families across the country, they haven't got that luxury. ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: I think it simply showcases the aspiration of a tradie wanting to own a house, which I think is reasonable. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: A tradie with a really rich dad. ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: We don't want to be a country where your parents' wealth determines your housing outcome. That's my view. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: We wanted to ask Mr Dutton more questions but he never granted us an interview. I first went to meet with Peter Dutton in his Canberra office in February. I told him I'd like to sit down with him, get to know him a bit, and find out why he thinks he'd be a good prime minister. Since then, Four Corners has contacted his office on multiple occasions. On most of those occasions, his staff don't even bother to reply. We've been following him for a few days now, and I've had one opportunity to ask one question. We keep asking his staff, 'when can we do the interview? When can we speak to Mr Dutton?' They don't tell us anything. And the last time I asked, just now, his staffer just walked away. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: There are questions for the Prime Minister, too. Anthony Albanese was widely criticised as out of touch when it was revealed his son had been handed a Qantas Chairman's Lounge membership. Over 30 years, the Prime Minister has made $1.8 million in profit selling investment properties. His current two homes are estimated to be worth about $7.5 million. Last year, he and his fiancée bought a $4.3 million clifftop home in Copacabana on the NSW Central Coast. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: A protestor is now camped outside the house. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Do you see that for voters, people feel like these guys don't understand what we're going through? ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Oh, look. I'm determined to make sure that every Australian can realise the dream of home ownership. I never got a leg up in life. Everything I have I have worked hard for, from the time I was in my early teen. I worked my way through school, worked my way through uni, and I've been upfront. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: The Opposition Leader lampooned the PM's property purchase on commercial radio. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: What do you think? This is Copacabana! This is a retirement village. COMEDIAN: Will you sign it please? Yeah, yeah. Sign it. To Albo, happy retirement! Peter Dutton! Oh! PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: What do you think? You like? COMEDIAN: It's polite, but also kicks him in the balls! ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Look, I think Peter Dutton can explain that himself. My view is I've always been transparent about all of my financial arrangements. I've never had a family trust. I've never owned a share in my life. Jodie and I made a decision together, which is what happens when people get engaged to be married, to buy a home together. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: The Dutton family has made at least 15 million dollars in profit from selling homes, investment properties and other business deals. Peter Dutton and his father began buying and selling property in the 1990s. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: For me, it's been a tool of wealth creation and opportunity for Kirilly and I and for our children. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: Mr Dutton has now sold all of his investment properties and lives on a farm outside Brisbane. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: In putting together this episode of Four Corners, we wanted to get a full and accurate picture of the two men vying to be Prime Minister. And that meant taking a deep dive into their histories. When you do that work, you have no idea what the research will turn up. In this case, we uncovered fresh details about the Dutton family's dealings, and the people that they've done business with. A large proportion of the Dutton family's wealth comes from private childcare, often bought and sold through trusts. Four Corners has pulled apart an elaborate corporate structure to find that since 2002, the Dutton's have done at least 5 million dollars in direct business with entities related to controversial childcare entrepreneur, Eddy Groves. JOURNALIST: Mr Groves, do you think you had a fair hearing in there? EDDY GROVES: No, no comment. Sorry. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: A friend and donor to Peter Dutton, Mr Groves was at the centre of one of Australia's largest corporate collapses, costing $56 million in a government bailout. Peter Dutton removed himself from the trust in 2019 but the business between the two families continued. In the last transaction, the Dutton family sold a childcare business for 2.7 million dollars to a group that included Eddy Groves' stepson and long-time associates. The deal was signed the day before the last election. 10 days later, Peter Dutton became Opposition Leader. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: I want our country to support aspirations and to reward hard work. Thank you. Thank you. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: The centre was then rebranded Imagine Early Learning. Eddy Groves' wife has been central to the Imagine business for decades and Mr Groves himself is an owner of Imagine's American operation. Four Corners has also discovered that between 2014 and 2016, Peter Dutton did not declare he was a beneficiary of the family trust that owned the childcare businesses, as required under parliamentary rules. Peter Dutton only declared his wife's interest. JOURNALIST: Why didn't you disclose that you were the beneficiary of a family trust in 2014? PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: I've made full disclosures in relation to my trust. JOURNALIST: You haven't though, not in this press conference. PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: I've dealt with all of that. JOURNALIST: Can you deal with it now please? PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: I've dealt with it before. So, who's the next question? JOURNALIST: Would you like to deal with it before I ask? PETER DUTTON, OPPOSITION LEADER: No, we're just doing one question each, so take your pick. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: The Coalition will be praying that the opinion polls are wrong. And the electorate doesn't come swinging for Peter Dutton the way it did for his predecessor, Scott Morrison. ANDREW BRAGG, LIBERAL SENATOR: People are hurting now, and this is a cost-of-living election because households and small businesses are going under. So, it's about highlighting that we have a cost-of-living package that will impact the day after the election if we win. PRESS SECRETARY: Let's keep walking back! LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: As for Mr Albanese, he's hoping he's done enough to secure a second term in his own right. LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: If you do end up in minority government, are you to blame for that? ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Look, I accept that the judgment of the Australian people, whatever it is. We currently hold a majority that is important for I think, the country, but I realise how hard it is as well. I want to lead a majority Labor Government, and I'm working each and every day and indeed every minute of every day to achieve that outcome. PROFESSOR CHRIS WALLACE, UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA: If the current generation of politicians would just pause and deeply take in the big problems that we're left with need big solutions, deep solutions. And that is what younger voters are looking for, in particular, not just stuff at the margins. Climate, housing affordability, future jobs. Government could be so much different. It could be so much better. It's time for the Albaneses and Duttons to either listen carefully or move on.