A cumbersome answer to a simple question has shown that the Albanese government may have used its stage three tax cut changes to successfully skewer the Coalition before the Dunkley byelection.

Coalition heavyweights, including Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, Senator Bridget McKenzie, and Senator Jane Hume, turned out en masse in the seat of Dunkley, which takes in large chunks of Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, to spruik their candidate and a $900 million rail upgrade.