Bass and Braddon in the balance as Tasmanian voters excoriate Scott Morrison

Fishers on Burnie jetty, in the Tasmanian seat of Braddon, are dwarfed by mountains of woodchip ready for loading. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

In Stanley, an impossibly beautiful hamlet on the rugged north-west coast of Tasmania, Scott Morrison could easily be a creature from another planet. Alastair Houston, who owns the Ship Inn, says the prime minister is “so distant, in distance and in everything that goes on … He doesn’t know much about Tasmania.”

Stanley, population 553, is in the federal electorate of Braddon. The Liberals hold the seat on a 4% margin. In the neighbouring electorate of Bass, also Liberal-held, the margin is even tighter. Bridget Archer won the seat in 2019 by just 600 votes.