Peter Dutton: surprisingly good loser By Catherine Watson
A FRIEND of mine, a man who has despised Peter Dutton for many years, was unexpectedly impressed by the former Liberal leader’s concession speech on election night. “Gracious and sincere,” he said. “The best thing he’s ever done.”
Which reminds us of the scene from Macbeth where Malcolm says of the Thane of Cawdor: "Nothing in his life became him like the losing it."
It made me wonder how our own disappointed Monash candidates bowed out after a sometimes bruising election campaign. Losing speeches are hard. In the midst of their own hurt and disappointment, losers have to be magnanimous to the winner, console their supporters and offer a way forward. Not everyone can pull it off.
I looked at the concession speeches (these days, of course, made via Facebook) of the three serious Monash candidates who didn’t win, Labor’s Tully Fletcher and independents Deb Leonard and Russell Broadbent, to see how well they rose to the challenge.
A FRIEND of mine, a man who has despised Peter Dutton for many years, was unexpectedly impressed by the former Liberal leader’s concession speech on election night. “Gracious and sincere,” he said. “The best thing he’s ever done.”
Which reminds us of the scene from Macbeth where Malcolm says of the Thane of Cawdor: "Nothing in his life became him like the losing it."
It made me wonder how our own disappointed Monash candidates bowed out after a sometimes bruising election campaign. Losing speeches are hard. In the midst of their own hurt and disappointment, losers have to be magnanimous to the winner, console their supporters and offer a way forward. Not everyone can pull it off.
I looked at the concession speeches (these days, of course, made via Facebook) of the three serious Monash candidates who didn’t win, Labor’s Tully Fletcher and independents Deb Leonard and Russell Broadbent, to see how well they rose to the challenge.
Tully Fletcher was the last man standing before the Liberal Party’s Mary Aldred was declared the Monash winner. His concession speech starts conventionally enough, congratulating the new MP, wishing the old Liberal/independent MP Russell Broadbent well and thanking his supporters.
With the formalities done, it’s back to politics, listing the many reasons he should have won (“I was the only Monash candidate who grew up here, went to school here, and lives here …"), how he actually did win in his hometown of Wonthaggi, how Monash voters got it wrong (“Working Gippslanders know Liberals don’t deliver, and independents can’t deliver") and how sorry they're going to be (“Monash missed out with Russell for 20 years and we'll keep missing out with Mary.”).
While he is critical of Aldred and the Liberal Party, he saves his fury for independent Deb Leonard, to whom he refers as 'Million Dollar Deb':
“Sadly, we'll also keep missing out if Deb Leonard, a cashed-up former Liberal, then Green, now Teal, keeps running cynical anti-Labor campaigns in our seat.
“Deb's disappointing decision to run an open ticket and not preference Labor re-elected Russell Broadbent in 2022, and just helped elect another Liberal in Mary Aldred.
“Deb wants her supporters to believe she's progressive. But actions speak louder than words and Deb's actions elect Liberals in a marginal, working class seat that can't afford more Liberal neglect.”
Interesting ... Fletcher thinks the point of Leonard running should have been to help Labor get elected!
A sour note on which to end a farewell speech but he redeems himself slightly with a final call to arms: “None of this deters me or our Labor team. Labor has contested Monash and McMillan at every federal election since 1949. We've won before, and we'll win again.”
A little lacking in grace, but Labor's true believers clearly liked it.
With the formalities done, it’s back to politics, listing the many reasons he should have won (“I was the only Monash candidate who grew up here, went to school here, and lives here …"), how he actually did win in his hometown of Wonthaggi, how Monash voters got it wrong (“Working Gippslanders know Liberals don’t deliver, and independents can’t deliver") and how sorry they're going to be (“Monash missed out with Russell for 20 years and we'll keep missing out with Mary.”).
While he is critical of Aldred and the Liberal Party, he saves his fury for independent Deb Leonard, to whom he refers as 'Million Dollar Deb':
“Sadly, we'll also keep missing out if Deb Leonard, a cashed-up former Liberal, then Green, now Teal, keeps running cynical anti-Labor campaigns in our seat.
“Deb's disappointing decision to run an open ticket and not preference Labor re-elected Russell Broadbent in 2022, and just helped elect another Liberal in Mary Aldred.
“Deb wants her supporters to believe she's progressive. But actions speak louder than words and Deb's actions elect Liberals in a marginal, working class seat that can't afford more Liberal neglect.”
Interesting ... Fletcher thinks the point of Leonard running should have been to help Labor get elected!
A sour note on which to end a farewell speech but he redeems himself slightly with a final call to arms: “None of this deters me or our Labor team. Labor has contested Monash and McMillan at every federal election since 1949. We've won before, and we'll win again.”
A little lacking in grace, but Labor's true believers clearly liked it.
Deb Leonard came close to an upset in this election, though the final result doesn't show it.
She doesn’t mention Fletcher or Labor in her farewell speech. She begins conventionally enough by congratulating Mary Aldred, then relates a conversation with her nine-year-old daughter who said she would be sad if her mother lost.
“I told her that even if I am not elected, we will have won. Because we showed Federal politicians that they can’t take our community for granted, we pushed them to listen to us, we got them to promise funding that they’ve never promised before, we brought our community together and we showed that any person can stand up to the major parties.
“I told her I stood up to do a seemingly impossible thing because it was important, and she can do the same.”
There is much more “we” than “I” in Leonard’s speech, which is addressed to her team and filled with emoticons of hearts, thanks, rainbows and power.
“I am immensely proud of the positive, community-driven campaign we built together. We showed that politics can be done differently – with integrity, accountability, and putting people first.”
“While we fell short of our ultimate goal, our people-powered campaign has left an incredible mark on Monash. We brought new voices into the political process, forced the major parties to focus on our region, and demonstrated the power of community to shape the debate. We even incited a vigorous fear and smear campaign!
“For the first time in over 20 years, we have a new member for Monash - and for the first time in history, our electorate elected a woman as its federal representative.”
She wishes Aldred all the best as the new Monash MP and urges her to listen to her community, to put their needs ahead of any political ambitions.
And she ends on a high note. “For now, let's hold our heads high, knowing we fought the good fight and left it all on the field. Monash will have better representation and a brighter future because of the courage and conviction we showed.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being part of this journey!”
A gracious farewell with a positive ending - again it's all about us.
She doesn’t mention Fletcher or Labor in her farewell speech. She begins conventionally enough by congratulating Mary Aldred, then relates a conversation with her nine-year-old daughter who said she would be sad if her mother lost.
“I told her that even if I am not elected, we will have won. Because we showed Federal politicians that they can’t take our community for granted, we pushed them to listen to us, we got them to promise funding that they’ve never promised before, we brought our community together and we showed that any person can stand up to the major parties.
“I told her I stood up to do a seemingly impossible thing because it was important, and she can do the same.”
There is much more “we” than “I” in Leonard’s speech, which is addressed to her team and filled with emoticons of hearts, thanks, rainbows and power.
“I am immensely proud of the positive, community-driven campaign we built together. We showed that politics can be done differently – with integrity, accountability, and putting people first.”
“While we fell short of our ultimate goal, our people-powered campaign has left an incredible mark on Monash. We brought new voices into the political process, forced the major parties to focus on our region, and demonstrated the power of community to shape the debate. We even incited a vigorous fear and smear campaign!
“For the first time in over 20 years, we have a new member for Monash - and for the first time in history, our electorate elected a woman as its federal representative.”
She wishes Aldred all the best as the new Monash MP and urges her to listen to her community, to put their needs ahead of any political ambitions.
And she ends on a high note. “For now, let's hold our heads high, knowing we fought the good fight and left it all on the field. Monash will have better representation and a brighter future because of the courage and conviction we showed.
“From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being part of this journey!”
A gracious farewell with a positive ending - again it's all about us.
Russell Broadbent's concession speech is direct to camera. It’s just over 300 words, by far the shortest of the disappointed candidates’ farewell speeches.
No acknowledgement of the winner, his former Liberal colleague Mary Aldred (who helped him in several campaigns during his 20-year tenure of the Monash/McMillan seat), no words of consolation for other candidates, but no blame or excuses either. It’s classic Broadbent, urbane and slightly cryptic.
“You were magnificent,” he tells his supporters who helped him on the campaign, thanking them for their duty at polling booths and distributing flyers and corflutes.
The next part of the farewell speech is addressed to a different audience, a large community of Australians who oppose mandatory vaccinations.
“We fought the good fight, we've done the best that we possibly can to bring the issues that are important to you, especially the vax-injured people across this nation. We raised your voice in the Parliament, we raised it locally and we raised it everywhere we could.
“We've never had a good response from government, not the former government nor this government, but we did our very, very, very best to help you. My staff and I were there with you and for you every week of every day for the last four years.”
In the anti-vax community, the long-time Liberal MP is regarded as a folk hero and freedom fighter. Broadbent refused to have a Covid vaccination and in a speech to Parliament in 2022 reported that he and his wife had used ivermectin when they tested positive for Covid.
“I'm very proud to have represented you,” his speech continues. “So thank you very much, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I really appreciate all you've done. We'll see you in the future somewhere.”
Nice ending, and it brings an extraordinary outpouring from his many admirers. A sample:
No acknowledgement of the winner, his former Liberal colleague Mary Aldred (who helped him in several campaigns during his 20-year tenure of the Monash/McMillan seat), no words of consolation for other candidates, but no blame or excuses either. It’s classic Broadbent, urbane and slightly cryptic.
“You were magnificent,” he tells his supporters who helped him on the campaign, thanking them for their duty at polling booths and distributing flyers and corflutes.
The next part of the farewell speech is addressed to a different audience, a large community of Australians who oppose mandatory vaccinations.
“We fought the good fight, we've done the best that we possibly can to bring the issues that are important to you, especially the vax-injured people across this nation. We raised your voice in the Parliament, we raised it locally and we raised it everywhere we could.
“We've never had a good response from government, not the former government nor this government, but we did our very, very, very best to help you. My staff and I were there with you and for you every week of every day for the last four years.”
In the anti-vax community, the long-time Liberal MP is regarded as a folk hero and freedom fighter. Broadbent refused to have a Covid vaccination and in a speech to Parliament in 2022 reported that he and his wife had used ivermectin when they tested positive for Covid.
“I'm very proud to have represented you,” his speech continues. “So thank you very much, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I really appreciate all you've done. We'll see you in the future somewhere.”
Nice ending, and it brings an extraordinary outpouring from his many admirers. A sample:
Russell Broadbent is a clear winner when it comes to his fans. If only they all lived in Monash, he would have won the election as well.
Thanks to all our Monash candidates for a fascinating election. See you in 2028!
Thanks to all our Monash candidates for a fascinating election. See you in 2028!