Peter Dutton Admits Accountability for Coalition's Loss, Acknowledges Defeat

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Peter Dutton has delivered his concession speech, flanked by his wife Kirilly and their children Harry, Tom and Rebecca.

The outgoing Opposition leader — who has lost his Brisbane seat of Dickson to Labor’s Ali France — said it was “not our night” as he accepted responsibility for .

Dutton conceded just after 9.30pm, following a call with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, whom he congratulated on his success.

“I said to the prime minister that his mum would be incredibly proud of his achievement tonight, and he should be very proud of what he’s achieved,” Dutton said from Liberal HQ in Brisbane.

Election analysts predict Labor will win a second term with a “comfortable majority”.

Dutton apologised for a campaign that “clearly wasn’t good enough”.

“I accept full responsibility for that,” he said.

“It is not our night as I point out, and there are good members and candidates who have lost their seats.

“And I am sorry for that. We have an amazing party, and we will rebuild.”

Getting emotional, he thanked his family for their support.

“I am blessed to have an amazing family — Bec, and Harry and Tom. They have stood by me through thick and thin and I am grateful for the support and their love.”

Dutton praises victorious France, reflects on public life

Dutton praised France following her win, and said she will “do a good job as a local member”.

“She lost her son Henry, which is a tragic circumstance no parent should ever go through,” he said.

“I said to Ali that her son Henry would be incredibly proud of her tonight.”

It is the third time the single mother-of-two has gone up against Dutton in Dickson, having

Reflecting on more than two decades in public life, Dutton thanked his constituents for placing “their faith” in him since 2001.

“Twenty-four years is a long time to be in public life, and it has been an amazing honour,” he said.

“Our liberal family is hurting across the country tonight, but including in my electorate of Dickson, and I want to say thank you very much to all of them.

At times emotional, Australian Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton accepted responsibility for the Coalition’s election loss. Source: AP / Pat Hoelscher

He noted being defence minister as a career highlight and described serving as Liberal party leader since May 2022 as “the greatest honour”.

“I love this country, and I’ve fought hard for it,” he said.

“We’ve been defined by our opponents in this election, which is not the true story of who we are, but we’ll rebuild from here.

“We’ll do that because we know our values, we know our beliefs, and we’ll always stick to them.”