How lucky was Peter Dutton that only a few hours before the NSW Liberal Party publicly imploded, he had reignited debate on immigration and refugees by proposing a ban on all Palestinians desperate to escape the hellhole of Gaza.

While Liberals worked frantically – and unsuccessfully – behind the scenes to lodge nominations for council elections, Dutton was in an aircraft hangar, welcoming home Olympians who had covered themselves in glory. From there, he did an interview on Sky which finished on visas for Palestinians.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during Question Time.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Talk about perfect timing. For weeks after, Dutton did what he does best. He kept the focus on the government’s competence – or lack of it, smothered discussion of any other issue, and raised questions about national security which splattered ASIO, all without being quizzed over the dysfunction of a branch of the party he leads in a state vital to his election prospects.

In that first interview on Sky, he claimed people would be shocked to think “ASIO’s not conducting checks and searches on these people.” He later amended that to say whatever checks occurred were not rigorous enough and, in any case, ASIO could only act “according to the policy of the government of the day”.

Not once in the many interviews he did to ramp up the pressure on the government, and where the focus stayed on ASIO and whether it had conducted appropriate security checks, was Dutton asked about........

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