In the second debate of the campaign, Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten answered questions from voters in a people’s forum on everything from franking credits to, yes, post offices.
Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten have agreed to three leaders’ debates – but it took some time to get there.
Nic Ellis/AAP
Pre-poll votes within the first 24 hours were almost double the number at the same stage in 2016. That could hurt some minor parties who traditionally spend big in the last few weeks of a campaign.
Greens leader Richard Richard Di Natale speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra on May 1.
Rohan Thomson/AAP
After the backlash against the formal Labor-Greens alliance under the Gillard government, Shorten is anxious to keep maximum distance between the ALP and the minor party.
Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten were plenty snarky with one another during the debate, but otherwise stuck mainly to their scripts.
Nic Ellis/AAP
Clive Palmer was in the news this week after the Newspoll that showed that his United Australia Party could change the result in marginal seats in several states.
The Adani coal mine has become a key issue for voters.
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West Australian voters need convincing that the Coalition will be better than Labor at managing the economy. Meanwhile, the Queensland seat of Dickson has already descended into personality politics.
Labor’s campaign communications are organised around the word ‘fair’, while the Coalition is focusing on ‘strength’ and ‘security’.
Daniel Pockett and Mick Tsikas/AAP
There are generally two kinds of federal election: one when the government is returned; the other when it is defeated. History tells us the former is far more common.
This Newspoll has the narrowest Labor lead since Scott Morrison replaced Malcolm Turnbull.
Joel Carrett/AAP
While the budget appealed to the Coalition’s perceived strength on overall economic management, wage growth and climate change are likely to be important during the election campaign.
On tax, Shorten one-upped the Liberals, offering bigger immediate tax cuts to 3.6 million taxpayers who earn under $48,000.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
The Labor Party has signalled that equality and fairness will form the centrepiece of its policy framework - but there will be challenges to that if it wins office in May.
Australia’s Harvester Judgement of 1907 defined a living wage as ‘fair and reasonable’ payment sufficient for an unskilled worker to support a family in reasonable comfort.
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Weak economic data and sluggish wages have contributed to the Coalition’s poor showing in the latest Newspoll, which gives Labor a 54-46 lead on two-party preferred.
The funding gap between the most and least well-off schools has grown over the last ten years.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
Schools funding doesn’t pass the playground test of fairness: state schools get less government funding than governments themselves say the schools need.
As prime minister, republican Malcolm Turnbull said there would be no more moves towards an Australian head of state while Queen Elizabeth remained on the throne.
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Bill Shorten is committed to an Australian head of state, but it will likely take lost priority to constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians.
If Bill Shorten becomes the next Australian prime minister, he will have much on his side but will need to be wary of low voter trust in politicians.
Lukas Coch/AAP
If Bill Shorten becomes the next prime minister, his government is likely to be more preoccupied with economic inequality than the Hawke or Keating Labor governments.
With the Coalition and Labor presenting several policy differences, this can be seen as a very ideological election.
AAP/Lukas Coch
As Australians’ trust in politicians continues to slide, whoever wins the 2019 will need to work hard to restore it if it has any hope of bringing about genuine reform.
Senior Lecturer in Political Science: Research Fellow at the Cairns Institute; Research Associate for Centre for Policy Futures, University of Queensland, James Cook University