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Why Canada’s Pierre Poilievre – a sassy conservative who achieved viral fame over his takedown of a reporter while eating an apple – is Peter Dutton’s model to defeat Anthony Albanese… and the single move that proves it

When Peter Dutton stood up last week and announced he was appointing a young up-and-comer as his new spokesman for home ownership policies, there’s a chance Canada was in the back of his mind.

There, after eight years as Canadian PM, Liberal Justin Trudeau is expected to be trounced at the 2025 election by a fiery young conservative, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre.


Poilievre, 44, is winning over Canadian Gen Z and Millennial voters, in part because of his ambitious policies to boost housing – and also because of a viral TV interview moment where he threw a journalist off-kilter while casually munching on an apple.  

During a TV interview that became a trainwreck – for the reporter – Poilievre vowed to take action on housing and railed against the country’s government. He said that Canadians were living in ‘housing hell’ after years of left-wing governance – and vowed to rectify the situation. 


‘There will be a lot of vested interests and bureaucracies that are going to be unhappy when I’m prime minister,’ he warned.


Housing is front of mind for millions of Australians, too, amid high interest rates, booming house prices and the years-old debate over the government’s negative gearing and housing policies. 

Pierre Poilievre, 41, threw a journalist off-kilter in a recent interview as he munched on an apple

Pierre Poilievre, 41, threw a journalist off-kilter in a recent interview as he munched on an apple

It is an issue the Australian Greens, in particular, have capitalised on during Labor’s 22 months in power. 


Max Chandler-Mather was last week dubbed the true ‘opposition’ spokesperson on housing. 


The young Greens MP frequently gets under the skin of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and has forced several amendments to national policy.

Up until last week, Mr Dutton did not have an official housing spokesperson to represent the Coalition on the issue.


In comes Andrew Bragg, who Mr Dutton has now appointed in the role. 

Senator Bragg is a Liberal party moderate, long considered a future candidate for treasury and finance portfolios due to his background in accounting.

He is coming for Max Chandler-Mather’s mantle, and Poilievre may have provided the blueprint for him to follow.  



Max Chandler-Mather has well and truly earned his title as the true 'opposition' spokesperson on the matter, frequently getting under the skin of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

Max Chandler-Mather has well and truly earned his title as the true ‘opposition’ spokesperson on the matter, frequently getting under the skin of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

Pierre Poilievre: how Canada’s apple-chomping conservative winning in the polls over housing

If Canada were to head to an election today, Mr Trudeau would be handed a crippling defeat at the hands of Mr Poilievre, polls show. 

The Conservative Leader is known for his no-nonsense approach to politics, and straight-talking style.


He’s already immensely popular – albeit divisive – and his proposed housing policy is offering reassurance to young Canadians struggling to break into the market.

He plans to compel the country’s major cities into increasing the number of homes they build by 15 per cent each year.


Any local governments that fail to meet their quota would have their federal grants withheld.


Mr Poilievre said a region that builds just 10 per cent more houses, instead of the 15 per cent target, would lose out on five per cent of its overall federal funding.

If Canada were to head to an election today, Mr Trudeau would be handed a crippling defeat at the hands of Mr Poilievre, polls show

If Canada were to head to an election today, Mr Trudeau would be handed a crippling defeat at the hands of Mr Poilievre, polls show

But cities which can exceed their target will enjoy a ‘building bonus’ as further incentive. 


‘More homebuilding, more money. Less homebuilding, less money. It will be a highly predictable mathematical formula,’ Poilievre said of the carrot-and-stick policy.


He blames the Trudeau government for creating further layers of bureaucracy that are impeding new builds and programs.

Beyond matters of policy, Mr Poilievre is winning over voters for his fiery mannerisms. 


One particular video shows an interview he conducted, in which he answers a journalists’ questions with precision all while munching on an apple.

The journalist is clearly thrown off by Mr Poilievre, and struggles to articulate many of his questions.   

He describes Mr Poilievre’s politics as taking a ‘page out of Trump’s book’, to which Mr Poilievre asks: ‘which page?’



When Peter Dutton stood up this week and announced he was appointing a young up-and-comer as his housing spokesman, there's a chance Canada was in the back of his mind

When Peter Dutton stood up this week and announced he was appointing a young up-and-comer as his housing spokesman, there’s a chance Canada was in the back of his mind

After stumbling and stuttering for several excruciating seconds, the journalist asks the prime ministerial hopeful to forget the question. 

Polls suggest Canadian voters like what they see from Mr Poilievre.


An Ipsos poll from December found 72 per cent of Canadians think Mr Trudeau should step down and let his Liberal Party select a new leader ahead of the election.

Meanwhile support for Mr Poilievre was steady at 56 per cent.


And in January, an Abacus Data survey of 2,199 voters found 40 per cent would vote Conservative, while just 25 per cent were in favour of Mr Trudeau’s Liberas.


A more recent poll from late February from Leger put Mr Poilievre 10 points ahead of Mr Trudeau as perferred prime minister, up one point to 41 per cent.

Andrew Bragg: the moderate Peter Dutton hopes will turn around the Coalition’s housing policy

Mr Dutton tapped the moderate Liberal senator to be the Coalition’s spokesperson for home ownership this past week.  

Mr Bragg has been in parliament since the 2019 federal election, and after five years on the backbench, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has finally promoted him.


He will go toe-to-toe with Minister Julie Collins as this issue continues to dominate. Channelling Mr Poilievre’s pointed takedowns of the government in Canada, Mr Bragg said: ‘Under Labor, the Australian dream is fast becoming the Australian nightmare.


‘We must restore home ownership as achievable for the average worker.

‘I look forward to working with my colleagues to develop solutions to this wicked problem.


‘Too many feel the great Australian dream is out of reach and they will never own a home. It is unacceptable.’

Mr Bragg is now the Coalition's spokesperson for home ownership

Mr Bragg is now the Coalition’s spokesperson for home ownership

Mr Bragg has no qualms going toe-to-toe with his own party on matters he’s passionate about. 



He was a vocal supporter of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament – a stance he would not have been able to publicly take if he were promoted to the frontbench prior to the referendum.

In the final weeks of campaigning, Mr Bragg urged the PM to delay the vote in order to gain more support. The Voice was ultimately defeated with 60 per cent of the nation opposed to it. 

Mr Bragg was long considered a contender for the shadow assistant treasurer portfolio left vacant after Stuart Roberts’ resignation. 


Given he worked as an accountant for Ernst and Young prior to his career in politics, and has long shown an interest in committees focusing on finance and economics, he seemed like a perfect fit.

The role was eventually given to Queensland LNP member Luke Howarth. 


Of Mr Bragg’s appointment, Mr Dutton said: ‘Andrew’s astute policy mind and advocacy will stand him in good stead for this critical portfolio area for the Coalition under my leadership.’


Mr Bragg said: ‘Home ownership has an unparalleled economic and social benefit.

‘The key determinant of success in retirement is your home ownership status, not your super balance.’

He will go toe-to-toe with Minister Julie Collins as this issue continues to dominate

He will go toe-to-toe with Minister Julie Collins as this issue continues to dominate


Max Chandler-Mather: the ‘real’ Opposition on housing policy

Max Chandler-Mather last year successfully forced the government’s hand on the Housing Australia Future Fund. 


The Greens extracted a further $1bn for public and community housing before the party offered their much-needed support to an Albanese priority. 

Some Labor insiders say the reason Mr Chandler-Mather can get under the PM’s skin so well is because he reminds Mr Albanese of a younger version of himself.


The Greens’ latest ambitious housing plan, unveiled by the first-term MP last week, is to scrap tax handouts and invest billions of dollars in a public property developer to build homes.

These homes would subsequently be sold and rented out for below-market prices to help renters and first-home buyers. 

What is becoming very clear is housing is shaping up to be a key battleground going into an election expected next year. 



As it stands, it's abundantly clear the true opposition to Labor on the housing front is Max Chandler-Mather

As it stands, it’s abundantly clear the true opposition to Labor on the housing front is Max Chandler-Mather

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