It was the most startling moment of the election campaign so far, and there can be no chance of it being surpassed for the rest of the campaign.
In the ABC leaders’ debate on 16 April 2025, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton admitted he made a mistake. Yes, it was an admission of fault!
He had wrongly claimed the Indonesian president had announced a proposal for Russia to base military aircraft in Indonesia. “It was a mistake, and I am happy to admit [that]”, Dutton said.
By admitting fault, Dutton dared to expose himself as a fallible human being. Not a good look for a prospective prime minister according to the media which seized on this terrible personality flaw, and made major news of it.
For a politician in an election campaign to honestly admit to a mistake is akin to committing hari-kari. So said Dutton’s strategists who were beside themselves with rage. “There is no place for honesty, now or ever”, one later declared.
However, the strategists had it all wrong. The Australian public was delighted to witness a politician give a straight answer to a direct media question, and it will be talked about for years to come.
Video footage has been sent to the National Archives to be marked “highly worthy of preservation”. The category of classification: Bizarre moments in Australian electioneering history.
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