Coalition, Labor start week two of election campaign on equal footing

Labor leader Anthony Albanese visits Tritium e-technology manufacturers in Murarrie, Brisbane. Picture: Toby Zerna

Anthony Albanese has started the second week of the campaign determined to avoid mistakes and to push the debate and the agenda back on to what Labor regards as safe territory – renewable energy, Medicare, the NDIS, disaster relief – and away from the economy and border protection.

Scott Morrison is equally determined to keep the election campaign focus on the economy and argue how “managing money” sustains Medicare, the NDIS and disaster relief.

Both the Opposition Leader and the Prime Minister are also determined to highlight the other’s “lies” and conduct their own scare campaigns to frighten the one-in-three voters who are looking at casting a ballot for the minor parties or independents to support “stable” major party government.

Given Labor has lost its early, large polling advantage over the Coalition, Morrison is now back well in front of Albanese as preferred prime minister, and the primary votes are essentially the same, the 2022 election campaign is starting today with Labor and the Coalition on an equal footing.

In Brisbane, Albanese sought to reframe and reset the campaign from his perspective by talking about an optimistic and positive Labor future with renewable energy powering new Australian manufacturing, a new scheme for disaster relief, and renewed vows of support for Medicare and the national disability scheme.

Oh, and a great big scare aimed at pensioners and older Australians that the Coalition will introduce the system of the cashless debit card, in use in selected pilot areas, for pension payments.

Albanese looked more certain on home turf and was fired up, avoided the economy and played down the persistent presence of his blunders last week on border protection.

His defence in a radio interview that: “Offshore processing, of course, began when I was Deputy Prime Minister back in 2013”, as well as his continued support for the messages going to pensioners about the debit card and the ongoing fight over costing of Labor’s renewable energy plans, were the areas of risk but nowhere near the disasters of last week.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison in the electorate of Swan, Perth, on Monday.

In Perth, Morrison played to the strength of the national economy enabling governments to pay for social services such as Medicare and the NDIS, and particularly highlighted the importance of the resources sector as he announced new support for minerals, rare earths and critical minerals.

Morrison, with an eye to the seats at risk in WA said: “A strong Western Australian economy means a strong Australian economy”.

He tried to play down internal splits within the Liberal Party over transgender agendas in women’s sport, but didn’t hold back in demanding Albanese stop Labor’s “despicable and disgusting lie” that was frightening old people about the pension.

But, as they parried and sparred across the continent, there was one thing the two leaders agreed on – voters should support the major parties to ensure there was a majority government, and both claimed there would be no deals with independents to form a minority government.

This is winner takes all, and there’s not going to be any quarter given for the next five weeks.