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When Peter Dutton stood up last week and announced he was appointing a young up-and-comer as his new home ownership policy spokesman, there’s a chance Canada was in the back of his mind.
There, after eight years as Canadian prime minister, liberal Justin Trudeau is expected to be unseated in 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 in which he ejected a reporter while he casually munched on an apple.
During a TV interview that became a train wreck – for the reporter – Poilievre promised to take action on housing and raged against the country’s government. He said Canadians were living in ‘housing hell’ after years of left-wing governance – and vowed to fix the situation.
“There will be a lot of vested interests and bureaucracies that will be unhappy when I’m prime minister,” he warned.
Housing is also on the mind of millions of Australians, amid high interest rates, booming house prices and the years-long debate over the government’s negative gearing and housing policy.
Pierre Poilievre, 41, threw a journalist out in a recent interview when he munched on an apple
It’s an issue the Australian Greens in particular have exploited during Labour’s 22 months in power.
Max Chandler-Mather was last week dubbed the true ‘opposition’ spokesman on housing.
The young Greens MP often gets under the skin of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and has forced several changes to national policy.
Until last week, Mr Dutton did not have an official housing spokesman to represent the Coalition on the issue.
Enter Andrew Bragg, whom Mr Dutton has now appointed to the role.
Senator Bragg is a Liberal Party moderate, long considered a future candidate for the Finance and Treasury portfolios due to his background in accounting.
He follows in the footsteps of Max Chandler-Mathers, and Poilievre may have provided the blueprint for him to follow.
Max Chandler-Mather has truly earned his title as the true ‘opposition’ spokesman on the matter, often getting under the skin of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
Pierre Poilievre: how Canada’s apple-cutting Conservatives are winning in the polls over housing
If Canada went to an election today, Mr. Trudeau would face a crushing 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 wildly popular — if divisive — and his proposed housing policy offers reassurance to young Canadians struggling to break into the market.
He plans to force the country’s major cities to increase the number of homes they build by 15 percent each year.
Any local governments that do not meet their quota will have their federal grants withheld.
Sir. Poilievre said a region that builds just 10 percent more houses, instead of the 15 percent target, would lose five percent of its total federal funding.
If Canada went to the polls today, Mr. Trudeau would face a crushing defeat at the hands of Mr. Poilievre, polls show
But cities that can exceed their targets will enjoy a ‘building bonus’ as an additional incentive.
‘More housing, more money. Less housing, less money. It will be a very predictable mathematical formula,’ Poilievre said of the carrot-and-stick policy.
He blames the Trudeau government for creating additional layers of bureaucracy that hinder new construction and programs.
Beyond policy issues, Mr. Poilievre wins voters over with his fiery manner.
One particular video shows an interview he conducted in which he answers a reporter’s question precisely while munching on an apple.
The journalist is clearly repulsed by Mr Poilievre and struggles to formulate many of his questions.
He describes Mr Poilievre’s policy 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 would appoint 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 Minister, who hopes to forget the question.
Polls suggest Canadian voters like what they see from Mr. Poilievre.
An Ipsos poll from December showed 72 per cent of Canadians think Mr Trudeau should step down and let his Liberal party choose a new leader ahead of the election.
Meanwhile, support for Mr Poilievre was steady at 56 per cent.
And in January, an Abacus Data poll of 2,199 voters found 40 percent would vote Conservative, while just 25 percent favored Mr. Trudeau’s Liberas.
A more recent poll from late February by Leger put Mr Poilievre 10 points ahead of Mr Trudeau as preferred prime minister, up one point to 41 per cent.
Andrew Bragg: the moderate Peter Dutton hopes will reverse the Coalition’s housing policy
Sir. Dutton chose the moderate Liberal senator to be the Coalition’s home ownership spokesman this past week.
Sir. 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. Channeling Mr Poilievre’s pointed takedowns of government in Canada, Mr Bragg said: ‘Under Labor the Australian dream is fast becoming the Australian nightmare.
‘We must restore home ownership as possible for the average worker.
‘I look forward to working with my colleagues to develop solutions to this nasty problem.
“Too many feel the great Australian dream is out of reach and they will never own a home. This is unacceptable.’
Sir. Bragg is now the coalition’s spokesperson for home ownership
Sir. Bragg has no qualms about going toe-to-toe with his own party on issues he’s passionate about.
He was a vocal supporter of Indigenous Voice to Parliament – a position he would not have been able to publicly take had he been promoted to the frontbench ahead of the referendum.
In the final weeks of the campaign, Mr Bragg urged the Prime Minister to delay the vote to drum up more support. The Voice was ultimately defeated with 60 percent of the nation against it.
Sir. Bragg was long considered a candidate for the shadow assistant treasurer portfolio left vacant by the resignation of Stuart Roberts.
Having worked as an accountant for Ernst and Young prior to his career in politics and having long shown an interest in committees focused on finance and economics, he seemed like a perfect fit.
The role was eventually given to Queensland LNP member Luke Howarth.
Commenting on Mr Bragg’s appointment, Mr Dutton said: ‘Andrew’s astute political mind and advocacy will stand him in good stead for this critical portfolio area for the Coalition under my leadership.’
Sir. Bragg said: ‘Home ownership has an unrivaled 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
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 raised another 1 billion. USD for public housing and housing before the party offered their much-needed support for an Albanian priority.
Some Labor insiders say the reason Mr Chandler-Mather can get under the Prime Minister’s skin so well is that 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 housing developer to build homes.
These homes will subsequently be sold and rented out at below market prices to help tenants and first home buyers.
What is becoming abundantly clear is that housing is shaping up to be a key battleground in an election expected next year.
As it stands, it is quite clear that the real opposition to Labor on the housing front is Max Chandler-Mather