Election campaign at half-mast as leaders remember Pope
Dominic Giannini |
Leaders have paused politicking and trading barbs as a papal-sized shadow was cast over the election campaign.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton cancelled campaign events and attended church services to pay tribute to the late Pope Francis as early voting opened across the country.
Mr Albanese had planned to campaign in Melbourne while Mr Dutton was scheduled to hit the hustings in Orange.
“His kindness, humility and devotion was admired by people of all faiths and people of none, that’s why his loss is being mourned,” the prime minister said on Tuesday after attending mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne.
Mr Dutton, who attended a service at Sydney’s St Mary’s Cathedral, added: “I don’t think it’s a day for overt politicking at all, I think the day is best spent reflecting”.
But some politicians still hit the hustings to capture pre-poll voters, with Nationals leader David Littleproud announcing a veterans hub in the seat of Calare while Greens leader Adam Bandt hit booths in the marginal Melbourne seats of Wills and Macnamara.
With the Pope’s death overshadowing a day of campaigning in a week when Easter, Anzac Day and school holidays also fall, the coalition is running out of time to unveil and sell its major policies in the run up to May 3.
It still has its defence spending policy to unveil and has flagged a major announcement on domestic violence.
Parties wouldn’t get maximum impact if they announced policies too late because early voting meant they “can’t reveal it at the last minute the way they used to”, University of Tasmania public policy associate professor Kate Crowley warned.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said key policies about funding Medicare and tax cuts were put in the field early because it took time to cut through to voters as “people aren’t hanging on every word that politicians say on a day-to-day basis”.
The Liberals are preparing a massive advertising blitz in the final week-and-a-half of the campaign while the Nationals are pouring more resources into the seats of Hunter and Bendigo as it sandbags Calare and Cowper on the NSW north coast.
Several pre-poll voters who spoke to AAP said they would be travelling on election day, leading them to cast early ballots.
They almost unanimously nominated the cost of living as their top election issue, while nuclear power and US president Donald Trump also rated a mention.
“I’m looking for a party less about what they’re going to do here in Australia but how they’re going to situate Australia in the broader scheme, and how they will handle Trump and some other politicians,” IT worker Pete Loy, 44, said at a voting booth Sydney.
Pollster Kos Samaras told the National Press Club the coalition wasn’t adapting to changing demographics as more young people enrolled to vote.
During the coalition’s campaign launch, Mr Dutton notably referred to Menzies’ forgotten people and Howard’s battlers.
“Well, Menzies’s forgotten people are probably all deceased now … and Howard’s battlers are heading into retirement so we’re dealing with a very different Australia,” Mr Samaras said.
“The only solution for the coalition, if they’re to turn the polls around in the next two weeks, is to pivot and find a way to talk to those younger voters that they’re losing.”
Those votes weren’t going to Labor but towards minor parties and independents, he said.
The prime minister and opposition leader are due to go head-to-head in a third leaders’ debate in Sydney on Tuesday night.
AAP
