Where voters have already decided

Campaign Confidential: Postal voting stats reveal where the punters are raring to go. Plus: a disturbing confrontation in Indi, and what we most want to know about Albo and ScoMo.

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First votes are in

Chisholm MP Gladys Liu and Prime Minister Scott Morrison attends a community lunch on Tuesday. More postal votes have been received in Chisholm that any other electorate. Picture: Jason Edwards

Queenslanders are absolutely rarin’ to vote in this election, lodging far more applications for postal votes than people in any other state, new AEC data reveals. The AEC has so far received more than 19,000 valid applications in the seat of Brisbane alone, which represents about 15 per cent of total voters in that seat. Applications for postal votes are high across all Queensland electorates, suggesting two things: the parties have sophisticated systems for encouraging the postal option in the Sunshine State; and a significant proportion of Queenslanders have already decided who will be getting their vote, and can’t wait to do so. The AEC has not revealed how many valid postal votes have been received from many of the Queensland electorates as yet, but it would seem while the Banana Benders have been the quickest off the mark in applying for postals, Victorian voters have been the speediest in terms of actually lodging the finished ballots. The marginal electorate of Chisholm, held by Gladys Liu for the Liberals, is currently leading the tally board, with the AEC already in receipt of 1594 valid (but as yet uncounted) postal votes, followed by Gellibrand with 1299 votes.

Spectacular vernacular

Labor’s funny man Jason Clare (left) with candidate Gordon Reid, leader Anthony Albanese and Emma McBride. Picture: Liam Kidston

The Bolter from Blaxland Jason Clare continues to impress with a deft turn of phrase on the campaign trail. Fronting the press pack on Tuesday, he accused Scott Morrison of “doing more backflips than Nadia Comaneci” and shot down claims Labor’s Help to Buy scheme was a death tax by stealth, saying the suggestion had “more baloney than a New York deli”. This follows his description of the Prime Minister as being “all tinsel and no tree”, and his damning indictment of the government’s approach to stopping China’s increasing influence in the Pacific: “They’ve done two thirds of bugger all”. In a world of pre-scripted talking points, the Blaxland Bolter is bringing the funny, and we ♥ it.

Panel beaters

The Federal Election panel on SkyNews in 2016 (L-R) Stephen Conroy, Mathias Cormann, Peta Credlin, David Speers, Richard Marles and Graham Richardson. Picture: Supplied by SkyNews

WITH his affable air and knack for an impromptu witticism, Campaign Confidential predicts the Bolter from Blaxland will get snapped up by one of the networks for their election night coverage. As yet, only Nine have revealed their line up, which will see Julie Bishop, Bill Shorten, Jane Hume, Matt Canavan and Kate Ellis offering their insights during the count. While Seven and Nine have long played around with fancy graphics to spice up their coverage, Campaign Confidential reckons the best election telecasts feature panellists who are well-informed but who can also be trusted to speak candidly when the chips (or indeed the votes) are down. Labor’s John Faulkner and the Coalition’s Nick Minchin were always pretty good at this. That said, a bit of snippiness between panellists also adds to the fun of the telecast, especially at that magic moment of every count when the outcome is not 100 per cent confirmed, but clearly looking bad for one side.

What we want to know about our leaders

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture: Jason Edwards

Labor leader Anthony Albanese. Picture: Liam Kidston

AS someone once said: “Google it, mate” – and that’s exactly what Aussies have been doing recently with regards to our political leaders, asking the global search platform all kinds of weird questions about Albo and ScoMo. According to analysis conducted by Marketix Digital, when it comes to Scott Morrison, Aussies seem most curious about his age, but also want to know where he lives, how much he earns, and how good he is (how droll). And when it comes to Anthony Albanese, casual Googlers most want to know his age, his religion, and how he lost weight. But the number one question Aussies are asking Google right now about the Labor leader? It’s this: Can Anthony Albanese win the next election? We’ll find out on May 21.

A true blue volunteer

Tom Maher, a volunteer for Ross Lyman, recovering in hospital. Picture: Supplied

Disturbing news from Indi, where the Liberals are attempting to wrest the seat off Climate 200-backed independent Helen Haines. Tom Maher, a dedicated volunteer for Liberal candidate Ross Lyman was in Violet Town installing corflutes when he was confronted by someone who tried to remove one of them. The incident led to Tom suffering a heart attack, although thanks to Medevac he is now resting comfortably in hospital in Melbourne, awaiting surgery on Friday. Lyman posted on Facebook that the “identity and motivation” of the person who confronted Tom is still unknown, as they reportedly “did not stay on the scene and assist”. While that’s a horrible indictment on whoever it was, we’re pleased to see Tom has lost none of his fight, and wish him a speedy recovery.

Originally published as Where voters have already decided