Like actors in a Japanese Kabuki play, Labor government ministers Tanya Plibersek and Murray Watt, and Liberal frontbencher James Paterson, have this week played down their respective party’s prospects in Saturday’s Dunkley byelection.

Kabuki theatre is known for stylised performances, lush costumes and glamorous make-up more than for high drama, and the Dunkley parallel is uncanny. The marketing, political drum-rolls and hype in both parties’ campaigns are intense – but not the content.