The prospect of the next election delivering the second hung parliament in the last 15 years has been a distinct possibility since the end of last year when support for Labor first bottomed out.

Even since, its primary vote in The Australian Financial Review/Freshwater strategy poll and other reputable published polls, has shown Labor’s primary vote hovering just below the 32.6 per cent it received at the last election, despite the best efforts of Anthony Albanese and his ministers to focus on little else but the cost of living.