Anthony Albanese will embark on an intense pre-election national travel campaign to visit key Labor seats and a handful of regions he could target to win a second term.
The Prime Minister has visited 43 constituencies since his new phase of tax cuts was announced in January, 29 of which are already in the hands of the Labor Party.
But he and opposition leader Peter Dutton appear to have had the same idea: Dutton visited 14 of the same electorates in the same period.
In New South Wales, both leaders have overlapped in the Labor seats of Dobell (Emma McBride), Parramatta (Andrew Charlton) and Sydney (Tanya Plibersek), as well as the Teal seat of Wentworth (Allegra Spender).
In Queensland, the duo separately visited the national headquarters of Capricornia (Michelle Landry), the highly sought-after Greens headquarters in Brisbane (Stephen Bates) and the Liberal headquarters of Dickson (Peter Dutton).
In Victoria, there has been a doubling of seats between Labor’s McEwen (Rob Mitchell) and Dunkley (Jodie Belyea) and Greens leader Adam Bandt in Melbourne.
The Prime Minister has visited 43 constituencies since announcing his new phase of tax cuts in January, 29 of which are already in the hands of the Labor Party. But he and opposition leader Peter Dutton appear to have had the same idea: Dutton visited 14 of the same electorates in the same time period.
The pair visited the Labor seats of Swan and Perth in Western Australia, as well as Adelaide in South Australia and Solomon in the Northern Territory.
But Albanese’s tour has been much broader in scope than Dutton’s, embarking on what appears to be a calculated move to defend the seats he needs to retain.
Labor won the 2022 election with a slim majority, winning 52.1 per cent of the overall two-party preferred vote.
But the Coalition, Teals and Greens are circling the seats they believe they have a chance of winning and, despite recent momentum in the polls, there are concerns that Labor could fall into minority government territory.
Dobell, for example, won with a margin of 6.5, while Dr Charlton in Parramatta won with a margin of 4.6 per cent.
Dr Charlton has faced significant backlash for his multi-million-dollar property portfolio while also representing a working-class seat.
A source told Daily Mail Australia the timing of the travel blitz made sense following the successful rollout of the Stage Three tax cuts, which reversed Scott Morrison-era benefits legislated for high earners to give more to average Australia.
Albanese’s tour has been much broader in scope than Dutton’s, embarking on what appears to be a calculated move to defend the seats he needs to retain. The premier pictured is Gosford on the Central Coast on Sunday.
The government faced some backlash for breaking an election promise, but has generally had voter support for the changes.
“He should go out and tell as many people about them as he can,” the source said. “It’s a good time to get some votes,” the source said.
‘The worry is that when the elections come, people will have forgotten that money, or they will have forgotten who made it possible. Memories are short.’
Some analysts and insiders within the Labor camp expect the Prime Minister to call an early election, prompted by the implementation of tax cuts and a $300 electricity rebate recently announced in the Budget.
But there are logistical elements at play. The prime minister has long maintained that he wants the election cycle to be extended to four years and has offered no clear indication that he intends to call the election early.
On Monday, Albanese said “it will be when it’s scheduled… well, that’s the scheduled date.”
‘I think three years is too little. I just wish it were four years. Each state and territory government has four years. The federal government has three.
But a referendum would be needed to make changes to the election cycle, and the prime minister is trying to stay as far away as possible from talks about future referendums following Voice’s crushing defeat.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton (pictured in Adelaide on May 1) has also embarked on a pre-election travel campaign across Australia.
The Prime Minister (pictured with his fiancee Jodie Haydon in Gosford on Saturday night) has long maintained that he wants the election cycle to be extended to four years, and has offered no clear indication that he intends to call elections early.
Daily Mail Australia revealed on Monday that its deputy minister for the republic, Matt Thisthlethwaite, faces the ax ahead of an imminent cabinet reshuffle as the prime minister distances himself from another referendum.
The tight political agenda for the remainder of 2024 is also at stake.
Queenslanders will go to the polls for the state election in October this year, while Western Australians will go to the polls in February 2025.
There’s also the US presidential election in November, a rematch between President Biden and Donald Trump, which will attract the attention of Australians across the country.
Thanks to the budget, the Labor primary vote rose one per cent on last month to 34 points, while support for the Coalition fell one point to 37 per cent.
In other good news for Albanese, his approval rating rose three points to 47 per cent, while Dutton’s stood at 38 per cent.
