Bill Shorten missing from crucial seat campaigns
Bill Shorten has gone missing from Labor campaign materials in must-win seats as polling reveals voters in marginal electorates dislike the Opposition Leader; How the leaders spent their Easter ceasfirel; Bob Brown leads anti-Adani convoy in a Tesla; and, the Coalition battling water buyback backlash. ELECTION UPDATE
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Bill Shorten has gone missing from Labor campaign materials in must-win seats as polling reveals voters in marginal electorates dislike the Opposition Leader.
Internal Coalition polling has Mr Shorten at minus 19 overall on its favourability measure in about 20 marginal seats across the country, which means the voters who dislike the Labor leader outnumber those who like him.
The Daily Telegraph has obtained Labor mailouts for seven NSW electorates that fail to mention Bill Shorten — including battleground seats of Gilmore, Lindsay, Robertson and Bennelong — in further evidence that Mr Shorten is weighing on the party’s bid to govern.
Even deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek’s March newsletter did not make mention of Mr Shorten.
A Coalition campaign source said it comes up consistently in internal research that people find Mr Shorten “untrustworthy and they think he is hiding something”.
The Coalition clearly believe Scott Morrison is winning the battle for popularity given the Prime Minister has taken to repeating the line: “If you vote for Bill Shorten you’ll get Bill Shorten. If you vote for me and the Liberal and National parties you will get me to serve you as your prime minister.”
Mr Shorten’s image issues have clearly been at the front of mind for the Labor campaign, with Ms Plibersek playing a front and centre role and campaign posters focusing on selling the pair as a leadership package deal.
But it’s not all good news for the Coalition, with Labor’s internal track-polling recording swinging voters in marginal seats in the past week labelling Mr Morrison as “hopeless”, “lurching to the right”, a “backstabber” and “immature”.
Labor also pointed out that some Liberals — including Wentworth candidate Dave Sharma — have stripped their materials of party branding.
Mr Sharma, who lost his bid to win former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s vacated seat in October’s by-election to Kerryn Phelps, was instead using the slogan “a modern Liberal” on his corflutes.
The most recent Newspoll put Mr Shorten’s satisfaction rating at minus 14, with 37 per cent of respondents satisfied with the Opposition Leader compared with 51 per cent who were dissatisfied.
On the same measure Mr Morrison was at plus 1, with 45 per cent satisfied and 44 per cent dissatisfied.
Family fun and worship over Easter for leaders
It was an armistice … of sorts.
Sunday’s federal election ceasefire was all about family for the leaders of the two major parties after calling a truce on campaigning for the Easter weekend.
But there were plenty of photo opportunities with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Labor leader Bill Shorten attending church and joining Easter egg hunts.
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And then there was also Labor’s cheeky move to unveil a $118 million package aimed at struggling veterans and their families 30 minutes before the truce took effect at midnight.
While the coalition is unlikely to quibble with the extra support, it is likely to criticise the 11th hour timing of the announcement, which also comes days out from Anzac Day.
Mr Morrison spent his morning attending Sutherland’s Horizon Church with his family while Mr Shorten attended a Brisbane Anglican Church service with his mother in-law and ex Governor-general Quentin Bryce.
Speaking on Sunday outside his Pentecostal church, Mr Morrison said it was “the bedrock of our family”.
“They’re a community that’s full of love for others and they’ve just been a tremendous support to us personally and it’s a very important part of our lives,” Mr Morrison said.
He later attended the Royal Sydney Show, where he wandered agricultural stalls, watched dog jumping and posed for selfies.
Mr Shorten took part in an Easter egg hunt at a golf course and even posed for the cameras with the Easter bunny. “It doesn’t matter what God you worship or if you worship none, a day like today is about family,” he said.
DOLE DRIVE GETS SUPPORT
Almost three-quarters of Australians believe the dole should be increased to cover basic living costs, according to a new poll.
Commissioned by welfare advocacy group the Australian Council of Social Service, the polling showed most respondents held concerns about the tax cuts in the federal Budget.
“The evidence is in and, as this polling confirms today, there’s widespread support for Newstart to be increased,” ACOSS CEO Cassandra Goldie said.
COALITION IN HOT WATER OVER BUYBACK
The government is hiding the official valuation it used to strike a water buyback deal that cost taxpayers a record $80 million under the Murray-Darling Basin plan.
The revelation has exposed the Coalition to further criticism after Scott Morrison this weekend declared there had been a “high level of transparency” over the transaction signed off in 2017 by then water minister Barnaby Joyce.
Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick has been fighting for the public release of the valuation of the water but the government had instead offered him the right to see the figures rather than putting it on the public record.
“I refused because it’s not me that needs to be confident the deal was good, it’s the public. If I had’ve accepted the offer then I’d just be part of the secrecy,” he said.
It comes as the Greens urge Labor to back a national royal commission into the Murray-Darling Basin plan if elected which, if agreed, would create a significant point of difference with the Coalition.
— Sheradyn Holderhead
LABOR TOURISM PLAN
Regional tourist attractions will be in line for a boost under Labor’s plans to pump $195 million into the sector.
Bill Shorten will pledge to create a $100 million fund if elected for to upgrade the nation’s regional airports with councils reporting a significant backlog in airport maintenance with projects funded on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
The package would also include $40 million to improve infrastructure for regional attractions.
“Regional tourism provides more than half a million jobs in related industries,” Mr Shorten said.
OUTRAGE AS ANTI-ADANI PROTEST SITE COMPARES MINERS TO NAZIS
Militant anti-Adani activists supporting the Bob Brown-led convoy have compared Queensland coal miners to Nazis who exterminated millions of Jews during the Holocaust.
The provocative comments, slammed by Australian Jewish leaders, come as protesters plan to march on Adani’s city headquarters in Brisbane today.
They are also planning to travel later in the week to the town of Clermont, which is the closest community to the Adani mine, where residents are vowing to refuse activists service.
In response, activists have made fun of their plight, describing it as “a town intent on going the same way of the dinosaurs”.
A private Facebook group called the Stop Adani Convoy, which shows the Bob Brown Foundation logo, has posted a number of repugnant messages, targeting Queenslanders, coal miners and Clermont residents.
One wrote, “all of us will be faced with this dilemma, a job or the future”, to which a user named Ringo Dingo responded: “There were jobs for locals in the gas chambers in Nazi Germany too. There is such things as a bad job.” Another chimed in, saying: “Exactly.”
It’s not suggested former Greens leader Dr Brown had anything to do with the comments. Last night Dr Brown said the offending post was being removed.
The coal industry directly employs 36,700 workers in Queensland and delivered $43.4 billion in gross regional product in 2017-18.
Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council international and community affairs spokesman Jeremy Jones labelled the post “offensive” and said Dr Brown had a responsibility to seek to have the material taken down.
“It’s delusional on the verge of derangement that Australia has anything in common with Nazi-occupied Europe,” he said.
The private Facebook group also took at swipe at Queenslanders.
A person calling herself Carolyn Gross wrote: “Be careful it is QLD redneck territory (and) they hate greenies with a passion.”
A post from an activist named Deborah Wood said: “I got plenty of compassion but the writing is on the wall 4 jobs in those industries (and) if they continue to be in denial about these facts that is their choice.”
The post went on: “I am all in favour of a gradual transition but we are not doing them any favours by implying that they got a god given right to ongoing jobs in this sector of work.
“They don’t and if they r too arrogant to retrain in more sustainable sectors like renewables then they don’t deserve any other preferential treatment to the rest of us.”
Between 500 to 800 anti-Adani activists are expected to join the convoy, which will be part of 10 rallies in four states over 18 days.
Resources Minister Matt Canavan said the Greens’ politics were extreme. “The Greens have had to bring a whole bunch of rent-a-crowd southerners up here to oppose the Adani mine because they can’t get locals to do their dirty work,’’ Senator Canavan said.
“Locals where I live in Central Queensland don’t have a lot of time for people telling them what to do.
“They especially don’t like a bunch hypocrites who benefit from every modern convenience but then oppose the modern industries that provide their comforts.
“These green activists have no respect for Queenslanders and I have no time for their radical extreme politics.”
He called on the Labor Party to distance itself from extreme activists and criticised it for doing a preference deal with the Greens.
— Renee Viellaris
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