Tom Minear: Scott Morrison’s Melbourne jaunt not-so-subtly kicks off election campaign

Despite election day still being months away, the PM has shifted into campaign mode and is seizing on the positive mood as lockdowns finally end.

The only thing missing from Scott Morrison’s first day in Melbourne for six months was a baby for him to kiss.

He rolled gnocchi and made spring rolls, he filled up a hydrogen car and took it for a spin, he snapped selfies, patted dogs, bumped fists and even got a hair cut.

Fresh from a dramatic trip to Europe, the PM’s arrival in Melbourne unofficially and not-so-subtly kickstarted the election campaign.

While the big day is still likely to be six months away, Morrison has shifted into campaign mode, wanting to seize on the positive mood on the east coast as lockdowns finally end and people look forward to a summer uninterrupted by Covid.

Scott Morrison rings the bell after making spring rolls at a Chinese restaurant in Box Hill. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Geraghty

Every conversation the PM had with voters on the streets of Malvern on Tuesday centred around him celebrating Melbourne’s reopening. Even after his government’s struggles with the vaccine rollout, no one had a bad word to say back to him, although that was to be expected in a Liberal stronghold.

Scott Morrison chats to people on the street during a visit to Malvern. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Ostensibly, Morrison is using this week in Melbourne to sell his climate credentials, having committed Australia to reach net zero emissions by 2050. On Tuesday, he launched the government’s future fuels strategy, fobbing off questions from journalists who reminded him how he had once accused Labor of trying to “end the weekend” with their electric car policy.

Morrison drew on his latest slogan — “choices not mandates” — to maintain Labor’s plan was the wrong option, but he also went a step further in suggesting how this would define his overall campaign.

“I think Australians have had enough of governments telling them what to do,” he said.

“We’ve just been through two years of governments having to tell people what to do. For Liberals, that does not come easily.”

So Morrison will be staying out of their way — unless he sees them on the campaign trail.

Originally published as Tom Minear: Scott Morrison’s Melbourne jaunt not-so-subtly kicks off election campaign