Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese will formally launch their election campaigns with major events this Sunday, as Labor and the Coalition scramble to nail down their election pitch to voters before Easter. Source: The Age.
Labor has confirmed its campaign launch will be in Perth this Sunday, reflecting Western Australia’s importance in Mr Albanese’s plan to maintain power.
The city hosted Labor’s last campaign launch in 2022, when the party unveiled its Housing Australia Future Fund and asked voters to boot out the Morrison government.
The Coalition has kept the details of its launch plans under wraps, though The Age confirmed it will also launch its campaign on Sunday.
The formal launch of an election campaign marks the point at which political parties have to take over the cost of running their campaigns, such as paying staff salaries and chartering a plane for the leader, and the taxpayer no longer underwrites the costs.
The location of the Liberal launch remains a closely guarded secret, but the two most likely cities are Sydney, where the party’s campaign headquarters is located, or Melbourne, where the Coalition is hoping to win a swag of suburban Labor seats including McEwen, Hawke, Chisholm, Aston and Dunkley off the back of an unpopular state Labor government.
Both party leaders are expected to unveil a major policy initiative at their launches and sharpen their message, hoping to capture the attention of undecided and disengaged voters before the Easter holidays.
It’s unusual for both campaigns to be launched so early in the course of a five-week campaign.
But with the Easter long weekend starting on April 18, followed by the Anzac Day long weekend the following week, which also coincides with school holidays, the two major parties have little choice but to launch this coming weekend.
Early voting will commence two days after the campaign launches – Tuesday, April 15 – with both parties hoping their pitches will be fresh in voters’ minds.
FULL STORY
Major parties race clock, and each other, to make big pitches to voters (By James Massola, The Age)
