Dutton, Hamer and the image that became an instant election meme
Ah, the Kooyong campaign. What a dizzying, absurd time the months of April and May were for this reporter.
The Liberal centre, where first-time federal candidate Amelia Hamer is trying to retake the seat from independent MP Monique Ryan, was always going to be exciting viewing. But I didn’t expect those weeks to be this wild.
Amelia Hamer, Jane Hume and Peter Dutton are on the 2025 campaign trail.Credit: James Brickwood
Between hacking thefts by the MP’s husband, a swarm of Private Brothers, secret property portfolios, High Court challenges to the local council over political signals and a grandmother punching a neo-Nazi-linked doorman, the campaign was truly off the chain.
This brings us to the photo in question; chosen by Age as one of the defining images of the year. Taken at the Tower Hotel in Hawthorn East, the unofficial Kooyong Liberal headquarters, the photo captures then-opposition leader Peter Dutton making a solo appearance in the coveted seat during the 2025 election campaign.
Hamer shows senior Senator Jane Hume and Dutton taunting Ryan with their beers in small crop holders. Our trio’s alleged expressions were a mixture of surprise, grimace and grimace.
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My colleague James Brickwood, who took the strange photo, previously wrote that the photo captured a “vibe” in which an inexperienced and uncertain Hamer was left adrift during the meet-and-greet.
I have a different opinion. I had watched Hamer closely for weeks at this point and at no point did I feel like he was weird. Quite the opposite; In person, Hamer is attractive, confident and self-assured. How he appeared on television and in the narratives surrounding him often differed from how he was received by local people. This narrative mostly stemmed from a story I told about their negligence in home ownership while campaigning as a tenant. But he was very talkative and smiling in the bar and at meetings.
That’s what happened the night this photo was taken. Dutton’s arrival was delayed after nuclear energy protesters wearing hazmat suits with fake Geiger counters triggered a security alert. The bar was packed with Hamer’s loyal and tired campaigners, and as the night progressed people began to check their watches.
