With the federal election campaign still in its early stages, the
are already flying, with the Coalition attacking Labor’s plans for the
Rather than bowing to Coalition pressure, Labor has chosen to reinforce and even push its economic plan by
promising serious investment in infrastructure and healthcare, trying to remain on a positive message and presenting itself as the party of the future.
The Prime Minister
has evidently chosen to play it hard and to go negative from day one. Even though this approach is not free of risk for him and his party, it will certainly help him to differentiate himself from his predecessor
who, back in 2016, tried to resist the temptation and pressure to go negative. Within his own party, he was subsequently strongly criticized for the way in which he conducted the campaign, and many, particularly on the right, never forgave him for what they deemed to have been an overall disappointing and poor performance. Morrison doesn’t want to walk into the same trap.
As the ABC’s election analyst Antony Green
explains :
Labor goes into the election with not just an advantage in the polls, but also with a technical one. Taking into account recent redistributions of seats in
Victoria the party starts at projected 72 seats nationally compared to the Coalition’s 73, and it is the Coalition which first and foremost has to defend electorates at which Labor has a shot this time around. Election forecasts always deal in probabilities, but, even so, the odds are on the ALP winning it.
Where do we stand after a few days of campaigning, and how is the campaign likely to unfold?
On this
three incredibly knowledgeable participants weigh-in on these questions: Ben Oquist, Executive Director of the
pollster
and John Scales, Managing Director at
You find up to date election coverage
here.
For related stories on Australian politics, read
this.
Reflective contemplations 
One thought on “Australia: Morrison goes hard and negative.”