Labor-held battleground electorate Parramatta top of the stops

Parramatta has emerged as the top battleground electorate of the campaign, attracting more visits from the two major parties’ leaders than any other.

Labor’s candidate for Parramatta Andrew Charlton speaks to locals in Harris Park, in Sydney's western suburbs. Picture: Britta Campion/The Australian

Parramatta has emerged as the top battleground electorate of the campaign, attracting more visits from the two major parties’ leaders than any other since the election was called.

Scott Morrison has visited the seat on five occasions, while Anthony Albanese’s attendance at a Hindu community dinner on Friday night marked his first foray into the electorate, which Labor holds on a margin of 3.5 per cent.

The Launceston-based Bass (0.41 per cent) and Leichhardt (4.17 per cent) in far north Queensland, both held by the Liberals, sit equal second on the leader tracker with a combined five visits by the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader.

The Coalition hopes to pick up Parramatta, a strongly multicultural seat at the geographic heart of Sydney, following the retirement of Julie Owens after 18 years in parliament. The Liberals have selected local businesswoman Maria Kovacic, while Labor has parachuted in Rudd government economic adviser and business entrepreneur Andrew Charlton in its bid to retain the seat.

 

Reid, which neighbours Parramatta to the southeast, closer to Sydney’s CBD, was the most visited seat at the end of the 2019 election campaign.

In total, only 46 of the 151 lower-house seats have featured on the leaders’ itineraries in the first 25 days of this campaign – and only 12 have hosted both Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese.

The Prime Minister has visited nine Labor seats where the Opposition Leader has not yet set foot: Corangamite, Corio and Dunkley in Victoria; Macquarie in NSW; Blair in Queensland; Fremantle and Perth in WA; and Lingiari and Solomon in the Northern Territory.

Mr Albanese, whose campaign was shortened by a bout of Covid-19, has been to only four Coalition-held seats that Mr Morrison has not visited: Brisbane, Dickson and Hinkler in Queensland; and Moore in WA.