Dutton fires gun on the election

Anthony Albanese may think he's being smart by announcing the election the day after Peter Dutton's reply-to-the-budget speech, but because the decision has leaked, he's handed the starters gun, and a lot of the advantage, to Peter Dutton.

Today's agenda will be set by Dutton's speech, not Albanese's announcement. Albo will go to the election in Dutton's shadow.

Dutton's speech casts a huge working-class shadow, with pitches to the people who used to be rusted-on Labor voters, and more recently so-called Howard Battlers.

Labor thought they had him when he rejected their tax cut, but he's come out with a more tax-effective cost of living measure by halving the petrol excise.

This will go to the benefit of those who live in the outer suburbs, or who drive for a living. It will cascade through our manufacturing, retail and transport sectors.

It is one in the eye to the inner-city latte sippers who prefer public transport and vote Greens or Labor and does nothing for those who've bought a Tesla or the latest Chinese BYD. It's a sign to those frustrated by the botched energy transition that he is on their side.

Not only does it channel John Howard, who won an election partly off fiddling with fuel excise, but it even harks back to John Hewson's radical Fightback plan which would have entirely abolished the fuel excise in favour of a GST.

And it can be delivered now, at a cost of $6 billion versus Labor's $17 billion for a 70 cents a day tax cut.

Dutton's pitch is to those who make things, those whose bodies are engaged in their work, and those who own the small businesses that employ them.

There's $12,000 to support them to provide apprenticeships, and a target of 400,000 apprenticeships all up.

Some of this is to help fix the housing crisis. Dutton has two policies that could make a real difference here. $5 billion for infrastructure and a decrease in immigration.

The expenditure on infrastructure is supposed to unlock 500,000 new homes. I doubt it. Maybe a tenth of that, but he is heading in the right direction.