Defence Minister Peter Dutton (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch) Peter Dutton is still setting out his stall in his new role as defence minister. But according to Niki Savva’s column in The Australian today, given Scott Morrison’s lamentable performance over quarantine and vaccination, as well as concerns over his apparent “Labor lite narrative”, that may not be all: There is growing hope inside the ranks, including among those who couldn’t vote for him in 2018, that Peter Dutton will use his status as a conservative standard bearer and his considerable internal power to quietly at first, then more publicly if necessary, branch out into other areas, including the economy, to at least provide a stronger Liberal flavour to a Labor lite narrative.