Political leaders are already engaging in pre-election activities, testing strategies and focusing on key battleground seats. Labor's focus appears to be on solidifying their existing support, while the Coalition seeks to reclaim lost ground in marginal seats.
Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese’s return to Canberra this week will likely involve two weeks of road-testing election lines and talking points in parliament’s question time.Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese’s return to Canberra this week will likely involve two weeks of road-testing election lines and talking points in parliament’s question time.
Of course, Labor losing its majority looks more likely – at this stage – than the Coalition winning a majority of its own, so the crossbench comes into play. Getting to the high 60s or low 70s in a seat tally might be enough for either leader to cobble together a clutch of crossbenchers to support them.
Even the most optimistic Liberal sources currently struggle to name a dozen seats the Coalition could realistically win, even before taking into account the ones they may lose; but it’s far simpler to push Albanese into minority government. While Albanese has only visited five Coalition-held seats so far, with Labor realistically in the hunt to win just two of those – the Cairns seat of Leichhardt and Tasmania’s Braddon – Dutton has been focusing largely on marginals and recently held Liberal seats.
Albanese, in contrast, has been shoring up some key Labor seats in exactly those areas: Gilmore, Lyons, Werriwa, Hunter, Shortland and Aston. On swings through Western Australia, potentially Labor’s safest territory, he visited Hasluck, Pearce and Brand. He’s visited Parramatta, Chifley and Greenway in Sydney’s western suburbs mortgage belt.
Parliament returns on Monday for two weeks. It might be the last sitting period of this term before the election. The budget is pencilled in for 25 March, but most Canberra observers are now expecting the election to be called shortly after the WA election in early March, which would cancel the budget.
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