politics

Two childcare centres were dropped from the Opposition Leader’s parliamentary disclosures as he ramped up his push to become prime minister, preventing the public getting a full picture of his wealth.

Dutton claimed at a recent press conference that his 15 failures to disclose the sale of properties, or to declare the purchase or sale of properties outside the 30 day period set down in the rules, did not matter as he revealed his family’s trust, RHT Family Trust, no longer held any assets.

“The assets we own are … a house which has been declared, our private residence. We have money in the bank and that’s it, there are no assets in any trust,” Dutton said.

That trust had been used for years in property transactions including the buying and selling of two childcare centres and a shopping plaza, which could have minimised the Duttons’ tax bill.

Dutton also refused to say how much he and his family were currently worth, declaring that is “not something I’m going to provide” after this masthead revealed he had conducted $30 million of property transactions across 26 pieces of real estate over 35 years, with additional assets bought and sold by the family’s trust, RHT Family Trust.

His property trading volume is even higher than $30 million as the purchase and sale prices of two of Dutton’s former properties, an investment flat in the ACT and a holiday house on Moreton Island in Queensland, are not included in that total as they are not publicly available.

Labor has rightly seized on Dutton’s share and property trading to accuse the Opposition Leader of being out of touch during a housing affordability crisis, just ahead of an election due by May.

Speaking on Seven’s Sunrise on Wednesday, Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt questioned whether the property holdings were “why [Dutton] doesn’t understand the cost-of-living pressures that people are under”.

Dutton should be more transparent.

Great to hear that Peter Dutton is talking about ending political junkets and pointless travel. Although Scott Morrison travelled just as much as Anthony Albanese, his neglect of the Solomon Islands led to that country almost falling under the hegemony of China.

Fortunately, Labor’s foreign minister Penny Wong, has managed to salvage much of the damage done by the Coalition and since the defeat of pro-China’s, Mr. Sogavare, geostrategic stability is returning to the region. This was through skilled negotiation with all stakeholders, without sacrificing $20 billion worth of trade, which happened under Morrison. Labor has restored that trade something greatly welcomed by all businesses involved.

What about the long-lunches for small business at tax-payer’s expense? Is that not a junket of sorts?

As for getting rid of public servants and replacing them with consultants we know that leads in the long run to greater expense, choosing favourites, and less frank and fearless advice.

As for attacking diversity, equity and inclusion, don’t let Dutton fool anyone that he is not emulating Donald Trump’s playbook to the last dotted ‘i’ and crossed ‘t’. Like Trump he will rely on billionaire donors. Gina Reinhart, via the Sydney Mining Club, will pump hundreds of thousands of dollars into Liberal coffers. How will that help Dutton’s “everyday Australians”, millions of whom Dutton was complicit in in denying a tax cut, when he is invited to Mar-a-Lago to share a toast with Trump?