Good morning. Scott Morrison has called the federal election for 21 May. The prime minister will be out campaigning in Gilmore, NSW, on Monday, while Anthony Albanese will be in the marginal Tasmanian seat of Bass. The two parties began their six-week election campaigns on Sunday. In their pitch to voters, Scott Morrison warned them not to risk a change to an “uncertain” future under the opposition, while the Labor leader says now is the time to seize the opportunity for better times ahead.
The marginal seat of Gilmore, where roughly 80% of the electorate was devastated in the 2019-20 fires, is one of the few that the Liberals could win off Labor. But Morrison is proving divisive among locals. “Morrison? Oh, shit yeah. He is in big trouble,” Grant McLaurin says, happily calling him the “liar from the Shire” to rile up his drinking mates at the Heads Hotel. Meanwhile at the Coalition and Labor campaign headquarters, the parties’ election machines have been humming into gear for weeks. Here’s the who’s who of each operation. We also have a pork-o-meter to track all the barrelling action, a guide to every seat, and everything you need to know as a voter.
