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 newcomer as his new spokesperson on homeownership policy, there was a chance Canada was in the back of his mind.

There, after eight years as Canada’s prime minister, liberal Justin Trudeau is expected to be defeated in the 2025 election by fiery young conservative, opposition leader Pierre Poilievre.

Poilievre, 44, is winning over Canada’s 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 caught a journalist off balance while casually tapping an apple chewed.

During a TV interview that turned into a train wreck for the reporter, Poilievre vowed to take action on housing and railed against the country’s government. He said Canadians are living in “housing hell” after years of left-wing rule — and vowed to rectify the situation.

“There will be many vested interests and bureaucracies that will be unhappy if I am prime minister,” he warned.

Housing is also a priority for millions of Australians, amid high interest rates, rising house prices and the years-long debate over negative debt and government housing policies.

It is an issue that has particularly benefited the Australian Greens during Labor’s 22 months in power.

Max Chandler-Mather was last week named the true spokesman for the ‘opposition’ on housing.

The young Greens MP regularly steps into the shoes of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and has forced several changes in national policy.

Until last week, Mr Dutton had no official housing spokesperson representing the Coalition on the issue.

Enter Andrew Bragg, who Mr Dutton has now appointed to the role.

Senator Bragg is a moderate Liberal and has long been considered a future candidate for the Treasury and Finance portfolios due to his background in accounting.

He’s come to take Max Chandler-Mather’s mantle, and Poilievre may have given him the blueprint to follow.

Pierre Poilievre: How Canada’s apple-munching Conservative wins in the housing polls

If Canada were to hold an election today, Mr. Trudeau would face a crippling defeat by Mr. Poilievre, polls show.

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

He is already immensely popular – even 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 fail to meet their quotas will have their federal subsidies withheld.

Mr. Poilievre said a region that builds just 10 percent more homes, instead of the 15 percent target, would miss out on five percent of its total federal funding.

But cities that can exceed their target will enjoy a ‘construction bonus’ as an extra incentive.

‘Build more houses, more money. Build fewer houses, 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 even more layers of bureaucracy that hinder new construction and programs.

Policy issues aside, Poilievre wins over voters because of his fiery mannerisms.

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

The journalist is clearly flustered by Mr Poilievre and struggles to express many of his questions.

He describes Mr. Poilievre’s politics as taking a “page from Trump’s book,” to which Mr. Poilievre asks, “which page?”

After stumbling and stuttering for several excruciating seconds, the journalist asks the Prime Minister, hoping to forget the question.

Polls show Canadian voters like what they see from Poilievre.

An Ipsos poll from December found that 72 percent of Canadians believe Trudeau should resign and let his Liberal Party choose a new leader before the election.

Meanwhile, support for Poilievre remained stable at 56 percent.

And in January, an Abacus Data survey of 2,199 voters found that 40 percent would vote Conservative, while only 25 percent were in favor of Trudeau’s Liberas.

A more recent Leger poll from late February shows Poilievre ten points ahead of Trudeau as prime minister-designate, up one point to 41 percent.

Andrew Bragg: Moderate Peter Dutton hopes the Coalition’s housing policy will change

Mr Dutton last week appointed the moderate Liberal senator as the coalition’s spokesperson for home ownership.

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 battle it out with Minister Julie Collins as this issue continues to dominate. Following Mr Poilievre’s sharp takedown of the government in Canada, Mr Bragg said: ‘Under Labour, the Australian dream is fast becoming the Australian nightmare.

“We must restore homeownership to the extent feasible for the average worker.

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

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

Mr Bragg has no qualms about engaging with his own party on issues he is passionate about.

He was an outspoken supporter of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament – ​​a position he would not have been able to take publicly had he been promoted to the frontbench before the referendum.

In the final weeks of his campaign, Bragg urged the Prime Minister to postpone the vote to gain more support. The Voice was ultimately defeated, with 60 percent of the nation opposing it.

Mr Bragg had long been considered a contender for the shadow assistant treasurers portfolio left vacant following the resignation of Stuart Roberts.

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

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

On Mr Bragg’s appointment, Mr Dutton said: ‘Andrew’s keen policy sense and advocacy will serve him well in this crucial portfolio area for the Coalition under my leadership.’

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

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

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

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

The Greens secured another $1 billion for public and community housing before the party offered their much-needed support for an Albanian priority.

Some Labor insiders say the reason Chandler-Mather can get into the Prime Minister’s shoes so well is because he reminds Mr Albanese of a younger version of himself.

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

These homes would then be sold and rented at below-market prices to assist renters and first-home buyers.

What is becoming very clear is that housing is becoming a major battleground for the elections expected next year.