Dutton bent a pipe when he tried his hand at plumbing, got on a drill press and made two holes, and attempted electrical work on a visit to the Hunter Trade College near Maitland, NSW.
Fumbling with some wiring after a demonstration, Dutton suggested he should perhaps “stick to my day job”.
“No comment,” a supervising teenager said.
The college was located in the marginal seat of Paterson – one in a string of knife-edge north coast and Hunter electorates the Liberals are hoping to seize from Labor.
Blue-clad volunteers lined the New England Highway, enthusiastically shaking Liberal signs at passing drivers en route to Dutton’s event.
“Honk to say no to Labor’s ute tax,” one poster read. “Honk to boot Albo,” said another.
But Labor is confident it can lean on locals’ distaste for nuclear power to sandbag the seats at the May 3 election.
The Coalition has proposed building one of its nuclear reactors at the Liddell Power Station, about an hour from the trade college.
Dutton has not yet visited a future nuclear site on the campaign.
Asked if he would make the trip and speak to voters, he said the details of his future movements would arrive “in due course”.
“I want a zero emissions technology, I want cheaper electricity, and our (proposal) brings the cost of electricity down and it keeps the lights on,” he told reporters.
He continued to hammer the Liberals’ cost-of-living talking points, vowing to lower taxes and cut immigration to bring down rents.
But he also floated indexing income tax thresholds to address bracket creep.
“It’s an aspiration for us,” Dutton said.
“I want to clean up Labor’s mess ... and get ourselves into a position where we can have a tax system, which is fit for purpose.”
Dutton was in the region to spruik a $260 million plan that would establish 12 technical colleges over its first term - including one in the Hunter.
The policy would revive Howard-era technical colleges, providing vocational training to students in their final years of school, encourage more young Australians to pick up a trade and help plug skills shortages in the construction industry.
He also made his 11th petrol station stop of the campaign at Metford 7-11, where he purchased a box of doughnuts and took a photo with a bewildered family.
AAP
