Australian election: parties focus attacks on leaders

In what looms as a deeply personal election battle, both major parties plan to demonise their opponent’s leader.

Scott Morrison’s re-election pitch is anchored around the government’s economic and pandemic management record, keeping Australians safe from increasing threats in the Indo-Pacific and amplifying the experience of his team compared with Labor’s.

Pushing for a fourth-term in government, the Coalition election campaign will be dominated by character assassinations of Anthony Albanese and his senior team and convincing voters Labor can’t be trusted on the economy, national security and post-pandemic recovery.

With both sides predicting a deeply personal campaign, Mr Morrison will paint Mr Albanese as the most “left-wing Labor leader since Gough Whitlam” and accuse the Opposition Leader of trying to steal the election with a small target platform.

Promoting himself as a centrist leader more about “renewal” than revolution, Mr Albanese has compared his approach to Bob Hawke rather than Mr Whitlam.

Asked on Sunday about whether he would be one of the nation’s most left-wing leaders, Mr Albanese said “I am who I am”.

“I am a working-class lad from my background, I’ve been shaped by it, I am someone who I believe is very much in touch with mainstream Australia. I’m comfortable in a board room and I’m comfortable in a pub,” Mr Albanese said.

With Coalition campaign headquarters contrasting the election choice between Mr Morrison’s experience and Mr Albanese’s lack of vision, the Labor leader has talked up his “long record of public service” as infrastructure minister and brief stint as deputy prime minister under Kevin Rudd.

Mr Albanese will run a personal campaign targeting Mr Morrison to capitalise on the public backlash over pandemic management and internal Liberal scandals. Labor frontbenchers have repeatedly called the Prime Minister a “liar” over the past year as part of a strategy to cast doubt in the minds of voters about Mr Morrison’s integrity.

Mr Morrison on Sunday said while his government was “not perfect” and had flaws, it had achieved outcomes for Australia in “incredibly difficult times”.

“This election, others will seek to make it about me. It’s actually about the people who are watching this right now. It’s about them. And what we’ve demonstrated over these past three years is the ability to make those decisions that has ensured that Australia’s recovery is leading the world,” Mr Morrison said.

Anthony Albanese

Prime Minister Scott Morrison

While Bill Shorten went to the 2019 election offering an ambitious agenda to change Australia, Mr Albanese has a more targeted pitch to return Labor into government focused on improving aged care, childcare, Medicare and education without raising taxes. He has also toned back Labor’s ambitious climate change policies.

In an effort to appeal to aspirational voters and avoid a Coalition fear campaign on tax, Mr Albanese has junked key revenue measures under the Shorten-era including a crackdown on tax concessions from negative gearing, dividend imputation, family trusts and superannuation.

The Coalition, which will accuse Mr Albanese of planning “secret tax hikes”, held back major housing announcements in the March budget to rollout during the campaign and compete with Labor over the votes of aspirational families and first-home buyers.

The Liberals and Nationals will effectively run three campaigns in inner-city, outer-suburban and regional electorates as they sandbag seats and stem expected losses to Labor and Climate 200 independents. Mr Morrison is hoping residual distrust of Labor will help the Coalition withstand swings, particularly in mining electorates and lower socio-economic seats.