The ultimate test of character

With Australians off to the polls on May 21, PM warns Labor poses a risk, while Anthony Albanese says the Coalition has no vision.

And we’re off... Australians will head to the polls on May 21.

Scott Morrison has asked Australians to back a fourth-term ­Coalition government to secure the national recovery amid unprecedented strategic and economic upheaval, as he launched his pitch for a second “miracle” election victory on May 21 and warned Labor posed a risk to the nation’s future.

But Anthony Albanese, seeking to return Labor to power for the first time since 2013, said the Coalition had no agenda “for today, let alone a vision for ­tomorrow”.

“We can and must do better … If I have the honour of serving as your prime minister, I can promise you this – I will lead with integrity and I will treat you with respect,” the Opposition Leader said.

After visiting Governor-­General David Hurley and ordering a House of Representatives and half Senate election for May 21, the Prime Minister said voters faced a choice between a “strong future and an uncertain one” under an Albanese-led Labor government.

“This campaign is incredibly important,” Mr Morrison said. “Because there is so much at stake for Australia and our future. This election is about you, no one else. It’s about our country and it’s about its future.”

Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese will begin their 41-day campaigns on Monday in marginal NSW and Tasmanian electorates, firing the opening salvos of a political race dominated by tight seat-by-seat contests.

Labor needs a net gain of seven seats to take majority government while the Coalition needs a net gain of one seat to retain a majority in the 151-seat House of Representatives after losing ground in a redistribution.

With the Coalition and Labor campaign headquarters bracing for a bruising clash, Mr Morrison said voters could not risk a Labor government at a time of economic upheaval, global pandemic and unprecedented geostrategic ­dangers.

As he embarked on his first campaign stop in the Labor-held NSW south coast seat of Gilmore, where former state Liberal minister Andrew Constance is running, Mr Morrison said the election was a “choice between a government you know and a Labor opposition that you don’t”.

The Opposition Leader defended his left-wing credentials and said he was “in touch with mainstream Australia” as he urged Australians to vote for Labor’s promise of renewal and building “a better future”.

“Today, I say to my fellow Australians: ‘This is our time. Our time to seize the opportunities that are before us,” Mr Albanese said.

Mr Morrison appealed to Australians to look beyond his waning personal popularity, declaring that while his government was “not perfect … and you may see some flaws” it had made “tough choices in tough times”.

“It’s a choice between a strong economy, and a Labor opposition that would weaken it,” Mr Morrison said. “It’s a choice between an economic recovery that is leading the world, and a Labor opposition that would weaken it. It’s a choice between responsible financial management … and a Labor ­opposition that you know can’t manage money. It’s a choice between a strong and tested government team that has demonstrated our ability to make difficult and tough choices in tough times and a Labor opposition who has been so focused on politics over these past few years that they still can’t tell you what they do, who they are or what they believe in, and what they stand for.”

Mr Albanese, who flew to northern Tasmania on Sunday night to campaign in the Coalition-held swing seats of Bass and Braddon, described himself as a “working class lad … comfortable in a boardroom or a pub”.

The Labor leader, who visited the Sydney Royal Easter Show with partner Jodie Haydon on Sunday morning as Mr Morrison travelled to Government House, attacked the Coalition for not having an agenda.

“I will restore faith in our political system by getting rid of the waste and rorts, and establishing a strong anti-corruption commission,” Mr Albanese said.

“I won’t go missing when the going gets tough. I will accept the responsibility that comes with high office. I will lead a government that repays and rewards your hard work”.

Coalition and Labor election headquarters in Brisbane and Sydney kicked into gear on Sunday, shifting resources into key seats and executing their multimillion-dollar ad campaign strategies.

The Australian understands advertising spending will be significantly higher than the 2019 campaign, as parties try to woo undecided voters frustrated with the major parties over their handling of the pandemic.

Coalition and Labor strategists are also preparing for contests with cashed-up Climate 200 independents and the Greens, as they target “on-the-fence voters” and preference flows from Australians backing minor parties.

As Labor pushes for outright victory, the Coalition has launched offensive and defensive strategies to stem losses in Queensland, NSW, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. With the polls expected to narrow closer to election day, neither party on Sunday was confident of avoiding a hung parliament.

After asking General Hurley to issue the election writs, proroguing the 46th parliament and dissolving the House of Representatives from Monday, Mr Morrison promised to stay on as Prime Minister for a full-term if he won re-election.

“There’s a lot to do,” he said. “We have been laying the strong foundation to ensure that Australia can prosper in the years ahead, but it cannot be taken for granted.”

Pitching directly to undecided voters who had turned away from him since the 2019 election, Mr Morrison said: “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.

“We have delivered those lower taxes. We have delivered those lower electricity prices. We have delivered the guaranteed investment in essential services, from medicines to disability to aged care.”

Framing his team as more experienced than Labor’s frontbench and contrasting the Coalition strategy with Mr Albanese’s ­presidential-style campaign, Mr Morrison said he would announce Greg Hunt’s replacement in the health portfolio later this week.

Claiming underdog status, Mr Albanese said he wasn’t interested in Labor’s dominance in public polling. “I don’t worry about polls. I worry about history, and history tells us that Labor has won office three times from opposition since the Second World War,” the Opposition Leader said. “I make this point as well: three gentlemen who did (win government from opposition) – Gough Whitlam, Bob Hawke and Kevin Rudd – none of them had ever served as a minister in the government, let alone as deputy prime minister or acting prime minister which I have.”

The Labor leader said “fear can be a powerful emotion, and I imagine there will be quite a bit over the next few weeks, but I want to appeal to your sense of optimism and desire for a better future”.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce on Monday will head to the Nationals-held Victorian regional seat of Nicholls, which is under threat from an independent, before travelling to the Northern Territory to campaign in Lingiari. Greens leader Adam Bandt will be in Brisbane with his Queensland Senate candidate Penny Allman-Payne and candidates for Griffith, Brisbane and Ryan.