Federal election 2019: Labor unveils first ad campaign

Labor’s first election ad splices footage of the Shorten family and spruiks a “fair go” | WATCH

• Federal Election 2019 Full Coverage

Labor’s first official election ad starring leader Bill Shorten will debut on commercial television tonight, launching the party’s “Fair Go For Australia” campaign.

In the slick ad, seen by The Australian, footage of the Shorten family is spliced with the Opposition Leader sitting with hospitals patients, talking to schoolchildren and wearing high-vis vests on job sites.

“Hi, I’m Bill Shorten,” the opposition leader says to the camera, as he sits behind a desk in front of a large window overlooking the Melbourne skyline.

“As a dad of three I know Labor’s fair go plan is good for families. Labor will upgrade hospital emergency departments, help meet cancer treatment costs and invest in MRI machines and scans,” Mr Shorten narrates.

“We’ll raise wages, properly fund schools, invest in renewables to keep power prices down and tackle climate change. We’ll pay for our plan by closing tax loopholes, making banks and multinationals pay their fair share of tax.”

The ad will air during the 6pm news tonight and again later in the evening, but the cashed-up party won’t say how much money has been spent to secure the prime time slots.

The opposition has chosen this ad focused on health to launch its campaign, after internal tracking showed positive feedback from the $2.3 billion cancer care package announced by Mr Shorten’s in his budget reply.

Despite the prime minister’s delay in calling the May poll, Labor’s campaign is in full flight with staff working from its campaign headquarters in Parramatta. Targeted local social media advertisements and attack ads were rolled out last weekend and Mr Shorten has been travelling the country spruiking his Fair Go message.

A Labor source told The Australian that the party has brought forward its TV advertising rollout to complete with the government’s taxpayer funded advertising campaign.

Labor claims Austender contracts show the government is spending up to $1 million of taxpayer’s money a day on advertising, a figure the Coalition deny but refuse to clarify.

Liberal Senator Zed Seselja told Senate Estimates today that the government won’t be giving “a rolling update” on the cost of advertising.

Scott Morrison and Mr Shorten agreed on Tuesday to a bipartisan blackout of political advertising and campaigning on Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Anzac Day.