Minorities rule

On day three of Australia’s election campaign, former Queensland copper Peter Dutton, the tough guy opposition leader, had a question for the travelling press pack.

- Bernard Lagan

“You're all experts in this space ... does anyone believe that Anthony Albanese can form a majority government after the election?”

Looking to his right, then slowly panning left, he waited for six seconds of silence to pass before offering an answer to his own question. “There's not one political expert in the country that is predicting that MrAlbanese can form a majority government after the election,” Dutton declared.

The 54-year-old, embarking on his first campaign and hopeful of rendering Labor's Albanese the first Australian prime minister in 94 years to be ousted after a single term in office, may well be right. Albanese, with a slender three-seat majority, doesn't need to lose much to become a loser.