Josh Frydenberg is having a tougher campaign than expected. It’s getting considerably more vicious in the formerly genteel, blue ribbon seat of Kooyong as the treasurer faces down a determined assault by teal independent Monique Ryan.

Front-page picture stories in Melbourne featuring Frydenberg’s wife, two young children and even the family dog buttress massive spending on social media and a suburban forest of advertisements and signs to buttress his re-election chances in what he calls “the fight of his life”.