Albo’s blitz – where he’s going and why Peter Dutton is in his sights

Five critical Queensland seats are among 20 that will be blitzed by Labor in the final two days of the election campaign. But where will Anthony Albanese visit?

Labor is planning a six-state, 20-electorate blitz for the final two days of the campaign – including five key Queensland seats – but Opposition leader Anthony Albanese won’t be personally making the trip to all of them.

Announcing a 20-seat blitz, Mr Albanese will visit about half of them including at least one each in five states while high-profile frontbenchers will help him round out the rest.

Labor will finally release its election promise costings during the blitz, with less than 48 hours left in the campaign, after days of pressure which saw him sensationally walk out on a press conference on Tuesday.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese. Picture: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

In a bid to breach the LNP’s “fortress Queensland”, Labor will target marginal LNP-held seats Brisbane, Leichhardt, Dickson, Longman, Ryan.

The Coalition are worried about Brisbane, Longman and Leichhardt, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison making a visit to the far north Queensland seat earlier this week, while Ryan is under pressure.

It would require a significant swing to remove Defence Minister Peter Dutton from his electorate of Dickson, with it considered unlikely to change hands, but Mr Albanese will be backing his captain’s pick to win the seat Ali France.

Mr Dutton was reduced to a narrow 1.6 per cent margin in the 2016 election when there was a 5 per cent swing against him and if that was repeated it would lead to a shock defeat.

Labor frontbenchers, including Jim Chalmers, Penny Wong, Jason Clare, Richard Marles and Tanya Plibersek, will help the Opposition leader round out the 20 electorate.

Mr Clare, who has acted as Labor’s campaign spokesman, said there were just a few days left for Australians to make their choice.

“We are in the final sprint now,” he said.

“Things need to change, we need a better future, and Labor is ready to help build a better future.

Defence Peter Dutton is not expected to lose his seat. Picture: Jane Dempster/The Australian.

“For things to change, we need to change the government. That means we need your vote.”

All 20 seats being targeted across the country and Coalition held as Mr Albanese goes on the offensive.

Mr Albanese and his frontbench team will start Thursday in Sydney, targeting Reid, John Howard’s former seat of Bennelong, Robertson and Banks.

On the final day tomorrow, the Labor blitz will then move to South Australia to tackle Boothby, where the Liberal Party is under significant pressure and has a retiring member and Sturt.

From there to Tasmania for the bellwether seats of Bass and Braddon and Victoria for Chisholm, Higgins, Casey, and housing Minister Michael Sukkar’s seat of Deakin.

The WA seats of Swan, Pearce and Hasluck, with Labor predicted to win at least two of these, will also be targeted.

Originally published as Albo’s blitz – where he’s going and why Peter Dutton is in his sights