Federal election 2016: Mothers first then all attention to the G-G

Malcolm Turnbull began his Sunday like many Australians: breakfast before a Mother’s Day outing with his family.

Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull with grandson Jack enjoy a Mother’s Day outing in Sydney yesterday.

Malcolm Turnbull began his Sunday like many Australians, with a spot of breakfast before heading off to enjoy a Mother’s Day outing with his family in the fresh air.

Dressed “smart casual” in a shirt and a pale-blue jumper draped varsity-style over his shoulders, the Prime Minister and wife Lucy left their harbourfront home in Sydney’s Point Piper to meet their daughter Daisy and grandson Jack at nearby Centennial Park.

“Thank heavens for all the mothers! Celebrate them, respect them and love them,’’ Mr Turnbull had exalted on Twitter as most of the nation was waking up. And he kept with the theme as he wished the media camped outside his home a happy Mother’s Day too.

At the playground next to Centennial Park’s restaurant a pregnant Daisy looked on as her father wrangled the rambunctious toddler and posed for a few photos, ­betraying little sign of the duty he would perform a mere few hours later after he touched down in a drizzly Canberra just before noon.

There was a costume change: the chinos replaced by a charcoal suit and tie in his preferred tone, dotted with small turtles, parrots and crocodiles, and it was straight to The Lodge for a meeting with cabinet secretary Arthur Sinodinos and a quick cup of tea and lunch of sandwich triangles.

Then the white Beemers wound their way through the Canberra mist to Yarralumla, where the Prime Minister and Governor-General sat on Chesterfields and, over a cup of tea, put the nation on track to a historic double-dissolution election.

A clutch of political tragics with umbrellas lined the entrance of Government House to see Mr Turnbull arrive for his meeting with Peter Cosgrove — and 19 minutes later, depart.

Back at Parliament House, Mr Turnbull’s message went from mothers, to mandates.

Taking the podium in the main committee room, flanked by Australian flags, Mr Turnbull started awkwardly on a non-political note, praising the love of mothers.

“We love you all so much. Your love has made us what we are. Happy Mother’s Day.”

But then the rhetoric kicked in.

Speaking mostly without notes, Mr Turnbull used strong hand gestures to mark out key points of the Coalition’s agenda, outlining “a very clear choice” ­between the government’s plan for jobs and growth, and Labor’s high-taxing, high-spending agenda.

It was a time for optimism, but only on the back of the government’s plan for jobs and growth, Mr Turnbull said.

The Prime Minister quickly turned to Labor’s record and the risk facing Australia’s ­future under a government led by Bill Shorten.

Wrapping up his pitch to Australia, Mr Turnbull told us what he was really chasing: a mandate.

“These are exciting times for Australia. These are times for confidence, for optimism, for a clear plan and we will be seeking a mandate from the Australian people on the 2nd of July,’’ he said.

“I will be seeking a mandate from the Australian people, as the Prime Minister of this country, to carry out this plan because we know that it will lay the way, clear the way for us to have the greatest years in our history.”

And with the clock ticking ­behind him, the 55-day countdown to when Australia decides Malcolm Turnbull’s fate began.