Peter Dutton has a tell

On the Opposition leader's theory of shame

Consciousness had nothing to do with it, except that, having scouted the opposing team, our coaches could diagram formations, draw up plays, and, most important, explain the “reads”—in other words, the tells, the clues, the signs, the symptoms—that would disclose what to expect from the first few flickers of movement on the line of scrimmage.

—James Livingston

The winter session of Federal Parliament has been particularly fractious, culminating in Peter Dutton suggesting he might sue community independent Zali Steggall for saying that his policy of restricting Australia’s intake of Palestinian refugees is racist. This is the same person who last year told another independent MP, Kylea Tink, to “toughen up” after she complained about the abuse she had received from a Liberal MP.

The tells, the clues, the signs and the symptoms of what sort of person Peter Dutton is have been there for a long time and his recent behaviour has been a further flickering movement on the line of scrimmage. Th…