“I’m very strongly of the belief,Peta,that we are a country united under one flag. And if we’re asking people to identify with different flags – no other country does that – and we are dividing our country unnecessarily.

“Now,we should have respect for the Indigenous flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag,but they are not our national flag.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made a point of placing the flags behind him in press conferences to show his support for First Australians,but his decision to pursue the Indigenous Voice came at an undeniable political cost.

That cost continues to mount as household pressures grow. Every blow to household budgets helps Dutton claim that Albanese spent too much time on Indigenous rights when he should have done more to fight inflation.

Dutton invites a backlash from Indigenous leaders about his remarks but no doubt calculates that this will work for him – just as the progressive attacks on Donald Trump seemed to amplify his message and help him win.

The Trumpian tactics are obvious. Some conservatives are cheering Dutton for challenging the “woke” agenda – even though Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy points out the Indigenous flags have been official flags of Australia for decades.

The timing is revealing. Dutton is about to reveal the costings of his nuclear energy policy but is happy to detonate an Indigenous dispute. Labor wants this week to be all about nuclear,but Dutton knows the tricks required to set up a distraction.

Will this work? The referendum outcome showed that 9.5 million Australians voted against the Voice. In the weeks before the vote,theResolve Political Monitor in this masthead showed that 84 per cent of Coalition voters were on the No side and 33 per cent of Labor voters felt the same. Dutton assumes he can win some of those Labor voters.

In doing so,of course,he plays a nakedly political game over Indigenous rights without doing anything practical to help. That is not leadership.

Dutton calculates that this will work,but he risks paying a political price. Will voters really thank him for talking about flags instead of telling them what he will do about the cost of living? Do Australians want three years of culture war after the next election?

Labor is trying to brand Dutton as angry,negative and divisive. His latest ploy makes him look all three.

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