By Kat Wong

Peter Dutton stepped into the shoes of an aspiring home buyer as he spotlighted what he hopes will be a vote-winning housing policy.

Like many other parents, the opposition leader toured a newly built house with his young adult son on Tuesday.

The crisp two-storey family home located on the outskirts of Melbourne represents the kind of housing the coalition hopes to help young Australians buy.

“Like every parent, I despair at the thought of our kids not being able to get into housing,” Mr Dutton told reporters.

“Young families are putting off having kids, older Australians – parents and grandparents – are staying in the workforce longer to try and provide their kids with some money.”

For the second day in a row, the opposition leader brought his 20-year-old son Harry on the campaign trail.

The younger Dutton on Monday said he was “saving like mad” to put down a deposit, but his father – who has maintained a multimillion-dollar property portfolio – dodged questions when asked if he would give his kids a leg up.

When pressed the following day, the opposition leader drew a common link between himself and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – who also has a son in his 20s.

“Our household’s no different to many households where we want our kids to work hard to save and we’ll help them with the deposit at some stage,” Mr Dutton said.

“But in many families … they haven’t got that luxury.

“The prime minister and I might be able to help our kids, but it’s not about us.”

Mr Dutton took his campaign to Maddingley in the northwest Melbourne seat of Hawke.

While it is held by Labor MP Sam Rae on a 7.6 per cent margin, the coalition is hoping outer-suburban families – who have been acutely affected by the cost-of-living crisis – will swing in their direction at the May 3 election.

The coalition’s newly announced housing policy could be its biggest vote winner yet after Mr Dutton recently had to walk back other plans to cut public servants and end their work-from-home arrangements.

The plan would allow first-time buyers of newly built homes to deduct interest payments from their income taxes on the first $650,000 of a mortgage.

Mr Dutton and the coalition have bled support in recent weeks, with some speculating perceived associations between them and US President Donald Trump’s administration were putting off voters.

Recent polling done for the Nine papers showed one in three voters are less likely to pick Mr Dutton because of their views about the US leader.

When asked about Mr Trump, the opposition leader steered away from the topic.

“This election … is a contest between Anthony Albanese and myself,” Mr Dutton said.

“It’s about the future of our country.”

Sometimes it’s best to leave the kids at home, Peter