Election 2022: Behind-the-scenes of life on Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese’s campaign bus
Early starts, late nights, mystery bus tours and flights, reporters reveal what life on Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese’s election buses is really like.
Federal Election
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Life for reporters on-board election campaign buses is fast and frenzied with no clue about what town or city they’ll wake up in tomorrow, and no semblance of time.
Now, News Corp’s political reporters take you behind-the-scenes to explain what it is like on the ‘Albo Express’ and Scott Morrison’s campaign buses.
EARLY MORNINGS, LATE NIGHTS ON SCOMO BUS
Life on the magical mystery Morrison bus isn’t all that glamorous.
It’s early mornings and late nights.
It’s washing your socks in the bathroom sink and using a hotel hair dryer to get them dry enough in time before your early bag drop.
It’s hard hats and hairnets hiding dry-shampooed hair.
It’s high vis covering the last clean shirt you’ve got.
It’s chowing down plane food – not because it’s good, but because it’s food.
It’s typing stories on your phone’s notes app while trailing behind the prime minister at a factory, and opening up your laptop to fill in the blanks as the bus heads to the next location.
It’s zigzagging across the country – hitting almost every state and territory within two weeks. Most of the time you board a flight with no concrete idea about where you’ll land.
On my first day I flew to Perth.
Next day it was Adelaide, then a quick visit to my home town of Brisbane meant a cuddle with my dog and a home cooked meal at mum and dads.
A weekend in Sydney meant a bit of a sleep in before we headed to the hot and humid Northern Territory for Anzac Day, and then North Queensland – Townsville and Rockhampton and Cairns.
And then a complete shock to the body going from the humid north to foggy Tasmania.
You lose track of time and days.
“What day is it” is a common question thrown across the bus aisle.
In between the whisky tastings and the 2-up, there’s frantic filing on the bus between jobs and on the airport tarmac while waiting to take off to destination unknown.
It’s waking up and turning on three different news channels while scrolling through social media and rapidly reading the front pages of all the major newspapers, trying to determine what the biggest questions to throw to the Prime Minister will be that day.
It’s being in beautiful towns and bustling cities and barely seeing any of it except for pic face and press conference locations.
It’s getting to know the Prime Minister and his staff by night, but by day throwing them hard questions that Australians deserve to know the answer to.
It’s not all glamour, it’s a lot of hard work, but it’s an experience like no other.
- Ellen Ransley
LIFE ON-BOARD THE ‘ALBO EXPRESS’
A reinvigorated Anthony Albanese blitzed through an ethanol refinery, a press conference and a visit to an aged care home in a matter of hours with the travelling media pack always alongside – until Covid-19 struck.
Labor’s campaign had to carry out the fire alarm evacuation plan for real on April 21, proving the execution is always a vastly different beast no matter the level of preparation.
As a journalist on the campaign bus, dubbed the “Albo Express” on Labor’s end, this meant hours of being in limbo not knowing what would be happening the next day, when, or where.
But the ambiguity of the magical mystery bus tour is par for the course, with the press pack and our Labor-aligned keepers making an unspoken agreement to just accept all plans are strictly need-to-know and remain within the cone of silence.
There is at least structure to cling on to; early starts are guaranteed, as are long bus rides, mystery flights, highly stage-managed photo opportunities and the daily stress spiral before and during the theatrical 30 minute press conference.
Then there is a lot of frenzied activity; hurried writing in buses, frantic hand-raising to get picked for a coveted question, and rushed phone calls.
There is lightning quick bulk Googling before the plane takes off for research purposes, terms like “safeguard mechanism”, “how much is a carbon credit”, and “Why Jason Clare is not Labor leader”.
We could touch down anywhere a RAAF base exists; Brisbane one day, then Sydney, then Alice Springs, onward to Darwin, back down south and all the way over to Perth.
All semblance of time is lost and the press pack keeps on tumbling forward, kept going on the smell of an oily rag, persistence, camaraderie and a peculiar attachment to reporting news.
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Originally published as Election 2022: Behind-the-scenes of life on Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese’s campaign bus
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