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Peter Dutton and Bill Shorten may not appear to have much in common.
But if he's to be believed, the Liberal leader could end up heading to the next election with a level of policy boldness to rival that of Shorten's ill-fated attempt in 2019.
The then-Labor leader's courageous plan to overhaul negative gearing, capital gains tax and franking credit rules, helped Scott Morrison win the "unwinnable" election. It led to a consensus that oppositions were better off playing it safe on policy and instead trying to win votes by keeping the focus on government failures.
Dutton, however, seems to have other ideas. He may not have produced much policy detail in the 21 months since the last election, but he's talking a big game about what's to come.
This week the Opposition Leader has added "significant" tax changes to the list of things he says he'll put to voters before the next election.
The pledge followed a humbling concession on Labor's Stage 3 tax changes, which the Coalition will now support in the parliament.
Dutton skipped the drawn-out fight
Two weeks ago, when the prime minister first announced his broken promise on Stage 3, Dutton demanded an early election. Liberal MPs variously described Labor's re-jigged tax cuts as class warfare, regressive, shameful, inflationary, and Marxist economics (as the prime minister gleefully listed yesterday).
Now they've agreed to vote for it.
Dutton had little choice but to back in the bigger tax cuts for low-and-middle-income earners. And he managed to avoid a damaging internal row over the capitulation. His colleagues largely agreed this was the least bad option.
A handful of Liberals would have preferred to "stand and have a fight" rather than "roll over and get smashed in Question Time", as one disappointed MP privately put it, but this would have given the government exactly what it wanted: a drawn-out fight in which the Coalition would be belted for standing in the way of cost-of-living support.
To keep faith with those disappointed at the Coalition running up the white flag, Dutton insisted he's still committed to the "principles" of the original Stage 3 plan. That means greater tax relief for those earning more than $146,000 a year, who receive less under Labor's changes.
The "fine details" are to come, but we're being led to believe this will be more than a face-saving tweak.
Dutton says his tax plan will be "significant". Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor insists it will be "strong". Both say it will be "in keeping with the Stage 3 tax cuts".
That suggests it will also be expensive.
As the Opposition Leader acknowledges, returning the full amount to those at the top would cost around $9 billion a year. Even returning a significant chunk will require potentially unpopular spending cuts elsewhere if the Coalition doesn't want to blow the budget.
We'll see how brave Dutton is prepared to be.
Ready to go nuclear?
It's not the only risky or costly measure on his policy to-do list.
The Opposition Leader has already pledged to reverse Labor's tax hike for big superannuation accounts. From mid-next year, earnings on super balances of more than $3 million will be taxed at 30 per cent rather than 15 per cent. Reinstating the more generous tax rate will cost the Coalition around $2 billion a year.
That's a lot of money to find to benefit relatively few voters.
Then there's nuclear power, something no Liberal leader has ever dared to take to an election. On this, Peter Dutton is certainly proving more courageous than his predecessors.
He made nuclear energy a focus of his budget reply speech last year, arguing small modular reactors are "safe and reliable".
"The new nuclear train is pulling out of the station," he says. "It's a train Australia needs to jump aboard."
There's strong support in the opposition to lift the ban on nuclear power in Australia, but given the costs involved, it may take more than that for nuclear to become a viable alternative to renewables.
The details of the Coalition's policy are yet to come, but Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy Ted O'Brien has raised the prospect of taxpayer-subsidised nuclear reactors. "There's no doubt that you need government involved," he says.
The Nationals, who this week have been pushing for a blanket suspension of wind and solar projects in regional areas, are most gung-ho about the nuclear alternative. Liberals (who need to hold and win back urban seats) aren't exactly rushing to back the idea of a renewables ban, suggesting the old Coalition wars over climate and energy policy, on show in Monday night's second episode of the ABC docuseries Nemesis, aren't entirely resolved.
LoadingIs industrial relations next?
The Coalition is also talking tough on industrial relations, suggesting the government's changes on multi-employer bargaining, labour hire, right of entry provisions, and casual employees are holding back the economy.
It's unclear whether Dutton will pledge to roll it all back. If he does, he'll be the first Liberal leader willing to campaign on IR since WorkChoices and the defeat of the Howard Government in 2007.
Whether all this talk results in genuine campaign bravery from Peter Dutton is yet to be seen. We may end up with modest proposals, a small target strategy, and an effort to keep the focus on Anthony Albanese's "lies".
But if the Opposition leader does go the election promising significant tax cuts for the top, sweeping spending cuts, subsidised nuclear power, and an industrial relations roll back, we could be in for quite a policy contest.
Bill Shorten will no doubt be watching with interest.
David Speers is National Political Lead and host of Insiders, which airs on ABC TV at 9am on Sunday or on iview.