Ready to rumble but halted at the brink, insiders fret as election vibe shifts on Peter Dutton

When Norman Mailer landed in Kinshasa to cover the Rumble in the Jungle half a century ago, the great American writer feared for the aging boxer Mohammad Ali’s literal life.

George Foreman — the fitter, younger opponent — looked lethal. Defeat was “in the air”, Mailer thought. 

But eight days…