AustLit

'Praise be that Morrison has gone, and that the Liberals have chosen Peter Dutton as their leader. Surely the hard man, the border guard, our ‘protector’ and patriot presented as alternative prime minister will mean the Liberal Party will wander in the wilderness for a long time to come. How can they imagine, as a number of commentators have said, that this choice was in any way an answer to the message sent by women voters and by the success of Greens, Teals and other independents in the May election, not to mention Labor’s win, under nice-guy Anthony Albanese, with his ministry and government now largely representative of the diverse elements of the ‘real’ Australia? To someone old enough to remember the Whitlam win first hand, Labor’s latest victory was enough to bring a tear to one’s eye, and even more so as Albanese’s first declaration was of full implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.' (Alison Caddick : Editorial introduction)