Leadership Quote by Adam Bandt

It reads like a promise, but it’s really a positioning play: Adam Bandt compresses an entire election strategy into six words and turns a complex parliamentary system into a simple moral binary. “We will keep Peter Dutton out” isn’t selling the Greens as a government-in-waiting so much as a force that can shape who gets to govern. In Australia’s preference-driven politics, that matters. Bandt is speaking to voters who might not be ready to “go Green” as a first choice, but who want their vote to function as a brake on a Coalition leader they distrust.

The intent is tactical clarity. Bandt names Dutton, not the Liberals, because Dutton has become a symbol: hardline on borders, culture-war fluent, and widely framed as a polarising figure. By personalising the threat, Bandt borrows the emotional energy of anti-Dutton sentiment and offers the Greens as the instrument for stopping it. The subtext is also a reminder to Labor: Greens preferences and crossbench dynamics can be decisive; take us seriously, or risk letting the villain through.

It works rhetorically because it’s negative, confident, and collective. “We” binds Greens supporters, soft Labor voters, and anyone tired of Dutton into a temporary coalition. The line quietly normalises a kingmaker identity: not just protesting from the sidelines, but claiming agency over the final outcome. In an era of fragmented majorities, that’s a pitch for relevance dressed up as resistance.