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Coalition to suspend Labor's marine parks: Abbott

PUBLISHED: 26 Aug 2013 06:15:00 | UPDATED: 27 Aug 2013 07:40:36PRINT EDITION: 26 Aug 2013
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Coalition to suspend Labor's marine parks: Abbott

“We do not want to lock up our oceans,” says Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, adding that the “last thing” the Coalition would do is declare a marine protected area without proper consultation. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Joanna Heath, Adam Rollason, James Massola , Joanna Mather and Alex Boxsell

Each weekday of the federal election campaign, the Financial Review is following all the action as it happens, bringing you all you need to know. Signs are that momentum has shifted against Kevin Rudd’s Labor party but it still remains within striking distance of the Coalition. Here's a rundown of how the day unfolded.

4.55pm: And that’s a wrap for today.

Here’s what the main players have been up to:

• Kevin Rudd spent the day in Sydney, where he conducted an early morning radio blitz. He popped up at a childcare centre in Peter Garrett’s old electorate of Kingsford-Smith before making an announcement with Deputy PM Anthony Albanese of $52 million for the earliest stage of a high-speed rail line on the east coast.

• Tony Abbott started the day in Brisbane and then travelled to the Gold Coast. He took the opportunity to talk about the Coalition’s announcement of loans for apprentices at a truck factory before moving on to dementia funding.

• Clive Palmer and Bob Katter provided the comic highlights of the day, while this video of Julian Assange might keep you up tonight.

No word yet on where the Rudd camp is off to tomorrow morning, while the Abbott bus is off to Newcastle.

Thanks for joining us again, we’ll be back early tomorrow.

4.35pm: Abbott’s last event of the day, at the Australian Fishing Trade Show, feels like a victory lap.

He’s pitching directly to the fishermen and women of Australia.

The local LNP MP, Steve Ciobo, holds the seat of Moncrieff by 17.5 per cent and it shows.

Abbott delivers a short stump speech in which he promises a Coalition government would suspend and review Labor’s marine park legislation.

The promise draws a big cheer from local fishermen and women.

“We do not want to lock up our oceans,” he says, adding that the “last thing” the Coalition would do is declare a marine protected area without proper consultation.

“We won’t make decisions that damage the lives and livelihoods of people without talking to people first,” he says.

Fishermen and women are decent, hard-working Australian who deserve a fair go – and people who want to do the right thing by the environment.

A Coalition government would protect the environment, he says, but ensure that commercial and recreational fishing is not stymied either.

Stump speech done, Abbott tries his hand at casting a line into a nearby pool of water.

LNP MPs and Senators Richard Colbeck, Abbott’s fishing spokesman, Ciobo, Karen Andrews and Ron Boswell look on.

Abbott leaves to cheers and it’s on to Newcastle for the Abbott media team.

Photo: James Massola

Meanwhile, Fairfax photographer Alex Ellinghausen captured this pic of Abbott with a baby that doesn’t need kissing.

Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

4.05pm: Julian Assange is allowed to have a little fun during his confinement in the Ecuadorian Embassy, apparently – he has joined something called “Juice Rap News” to rap about the election.

Yes, really.

He makes his appearance from about 3:30 onwards. And a warning: this video includes a John Farnham parody.

3.42pm: Meanwhile, Tony Abbott is talking tackle:

Photo: James Massola

3.38pm: The Financial Review’s Neil Chenoweth has been chatting with British Labour MP Tom Watson, the politician most closely associated with the hacking and bribery investigations of News Corp’s News of the World and Sun newspapers that has led to more than 100 arrests:

Watson has expressed shock at Rupert Murdoch’s Australian tabloids becoming what he described as “propaganda sheets” that abused their monopoly position.

“It’s supposedly satire but this reads more like a propaganda sheet than a newspaper,” he told The Australian Financial Review in Melbourne on Monday, singling out the Daily Telegraph’s front page that photoshopped Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Deputy PM Anthony Albanese into a scene from the 1970s television series Hogan’s Heroes.

“And I was really taken aback by The Courier Mail. It’s Brisbane’s only paper. That’s an abuse of their position if they’re going to pump out propaganda.”

“As the Leveson Report noted, newspapers used to be clearly delineated between news and opinion. Readers need to know what is editorial and what isn’t.”

Watson also tweeted this earlier today:

3.30pm: The Abbott bus has arrived on the Gold Coast and is headed to the Australian Fishing Trade Show, where the opposition leader will meet locals, give a speech and make a local announcement.

Photo: James Massola

2.50pm: The Liberal Party has put this video up on its YouTube page – it shows an unfortunate Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus conducting a press conference to an empty room yesterday.

Embarrassing press conferences happen to both parties though, if that offers any solace to Dreyfus:

2.43pm: The Coalition’s communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull is unhappy about a billboard he’s spotted in Brisbane.

2.38pm: The Financial Review’s James Massola, who’s travelling with Abbott, has obviously been finding it all a bit hard on the stomach:

With an average of three events a day in the road and a usual 6am start, it’s easy to miss breakfast and lunch, in particular.

Earlier at Queensland Uni, three of the more enterprising journos on the bus located the cafeteria and quickly grabbed a (healthy) sandwich.

But the Abbott bus is running behind schedule so for the rest of us, a quick stop was made at a largish, US-based burger chain. You know the one I mean.

Photo: James Massola

2.28pm: The Financial Review’s data journalist Edmund Tadros has updated our poll of polls with the latest Essential survey. Click below to take a look.



2.15pm: Someone obviously disagrees with Ellis.

Sportsbet has just told us they have received “the biggest bet in Australian political history” from a punter who has put $750,000 on the Coalition to win on September 7.

With odds of $1.07, the punter would collect $802,500 if the party wins.

As a result of the massive bet, Labor are now looking at odds of $9.50 to win – “their biggest odds since the 2010 election result and worse odds than when Julia Gillard was in power”.

The second-biggest bet in Sportsbet’s history was $300,000 on Julia Gillard to win the first leadership battle against Rudd last year.

Sportsbet also informs us that there have been 11 times the bets placed on LNP candidate Bill Glasson to win the seat of Griffith than PM Rudd.

2.07pm: Well, here’s a different take on Newspoll, from the indefatigable Bob Ellis.

He’s undertaken his own analysis of the poll, which puts the Coalition ahead of Labor by 53 to 47 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, and comes to the conclusion that Labor is actually ahead by a massive margin. He concludes:

2.05pm: Here’s some clever marketing.

Toiletries company Bathox Australia has sent samples of its latest election-themed bodywash to Press Gallery offices.

“With claim and counter-claim that our politicians are telling porkies during the election run-up, Bathox Australia, a small manufacturing business based in the heartland of Sydney’s Western suburbs, has come up with the perfect solution to get them to clean up their act,” says the accompanying press release.

There is the blue-coloured “Tony’s Home and Hosed” option for Liberal voters, with desert lime and wild orange extract, or the red “Kevin Will Clean Up” has the slightly more girly ingredients of jojoba, peach and vanilla bean extract.

Given the factory is in Western Sydney, the competing sides might want to pay the politically minded owners a visit...

Photo:Joanna Heath

1.51pm: Looks like Abbott is not the only exercise-mad member of the Coalition. Here’s Philip Ruddock taking the stairs to the 7th floor rather than the elevator at the Queensland Brain Institute.

Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

1.42pm: Abbott, health spokesman Peter Dutton, mental health spokeswoman Concetta Fierravanti-Wells and local LNP MP Jane Prentice have just promised $9 million to the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia and Research at the University of Queensland.

The money comes from the $200 million Abbott promised at Sunday’s campaign launch.

The centre currently has 35 scientists and hopes to increase that to 70 within five years.

Abbott says fighting dementia has been a bipartisan priority since 2004 and the extra money is an elevation of that commitment.

It’s a sensible policy and a low-key event, over in about half an hour.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott tours the Queensland Brain Institute during his visit to the University of Queensland.

Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

The Abbott travelling media team are back on the bus. The word is they are now heading to the Gold Coast.

1.34pm: Back to the Battle of the Mavericks....

How should politicians be more accountable?

Clive Palmer: “Tony Rabbit leads off with in 10 years time he’s going to have a balanced budget. Why not 20 years time or 30 years time? Tony Rabbit won’t be in parliament that long, that’s why.” (Yes he really is saying Tony Rabbit).

He then makes a pitch for the journo vote:

“Journalists are the last sentry at the gates of freedom,” Palmer says.

Katter says when he was in the Nationals party all he had to do was shine the shoes of his party elders.

“[But] when I became an independent, I had to be extremely reactive. We are the only two-party system left on earth!” Katter says.

He then waxes lyrical on how Australian politics can be fixed:

“Please God, there are forces out there being unleashed today and you’re watching two of them today.”

The two are asked how they managed to make friends and do preference deals if they’re at each others throats for votes?

“It took about three seconds to stitch up a preference deal between the two of us,” Katter says.

“He brought in some extra votes we couldn’t have brought in”, and vice versa.

And that’s it. Today’s campaign will be infinitely less interesting from now on.

1.22pm: Meanwhile, in Queensland...

1.18pm: Both Palmer and Katter are asked what they would do on social issues like abortion, gay marriage and euthanasia.

Palmer says he would allow a conscience vote.

“I don’t have a position publicly on those issues. I don’t think leaders of the party on these issues should say what their position is,” Palmer says.

Katter dismisses the question: “We’re people on a mission, we have a nation to change. We don’t want to be fooling around with irrelevancies.”

Katter adds that if there was a preferential system of voting in the Queensland state elections, his party would be running the state government – which at the next election “we intend to do anyway”.

A question on funding...

Palmer says there is some electoral funding coming from his companies.

“I own everything, so I’m the one that decides that – yes, of course, we’re putting money in.”

Katter’s turn: “Our resources are very, very small. It has been so tempting to take money from so many people, which we have had to refuse.”

“That wasn’t me Bob,” Palmer quips.

1.11pm: At the Press Club, Katter says his party hasn’t completed all of its policies – and he won’t submit them to the Parliamentary Budget Office. “I’m doing them myself,” he says.

Palmer says he has worked with economists in Paris, New York and London (name dropping, anyone?).

He is also bigging up his experience as a corporate tycoon – we have “people with 2 years of experience in the private sector” running the economy, he says.

1.07pm: Back to the Palmer vs Katter debate.

The Financial Review’s Laura Tingle asks Palmer about allegations he has made concerning Mal Brough and Peter Slipper.

“Brough said to me who would like me to provide all the money required to prosecute Peter Slipper,” Palmer says.

“I refused.”

He says Joe Hockey had “no involvement in this whatsoever” beyond wandering over and discussing coffee, biscuits and how much he liked Clive Palmer’s resort.

Next question: What would happen if you had the balance of power in a hung parliament?

Katter says the 43rd parliament “was never a hung parliament”.

“They had three votes up their sleeve they could count on. Would to heaven it was.”

Here’s Palmer having a go at Rudd and Abbott during the debate:

1.06pm: Meanwhile, Labor’s clearly been having a bit of fun with Photoshop:

1.04pm: Why wouldn’t people be better off voting for the Nationals?

There has been a lot of backlash in Queensland against cuts made by Campbell Newman, Palmer says.

But then he continues...

“What’s really under threat in this country is democracy – Rupert Murdoch directs from New York, he sends over one of his apparatchiks who has sworn an oath of allegiance to a foreign country to tell Australian journalists what to write,” Palmer adds.

Murdoch is directing the Coalition campaign by “remote control, skype, twitter from New York.”

Then it’s Katter’s turn....

A rural person voting for the Nationals is like giving a “pay rise to the executioner,”, Katter says.

And we have an ex-National running for us in a key seat, he adds.

“Eventually they will all come to us. The worst thing the National Party can have happen is go into office so people can see what they are like.”

This time “we are out to ATTACK and HOLD THEM TO ACCOUNT!” Katter finishes.

1.01pm: Let’s check in on another debate: the “Battle of the Mavericks” taking place at the Press Club in Canberra – that is, Clive Palmer vs Bob Katter.

Katter is wrapping up what is best described as a spirited performance in his opening statement.

“If you don’t give small parties like us a go, you will BREAK YOUR COUNTRY!!” Katter exclaims.

Stay tuned for what will be an entertaining Q&A session.

12.57pm: Another question, from Reynah Tang, president of the Law Institute of Victoria. He wants to know what approach both sides will take to appointments to the courts and ensuring diversity.

Mr Dreyfus says he’s proud that Labor has appointed more women to the bench and it is important that the federal judiciary reflects the very diverse nature of our community. Merit-based appointments are important but the process must embrace the full field of candidates.

Brandis says there’s no great competition between the two parties on appointing women to the bench, but he personally believes diversity is a consequence not a policy objective. If you have a just society and then pick the best people, you will end up with diverse institutions.

And that wraps up the great legal debate. If you missed it, you can watch again below:

12.51pm: Questions are still flowing back at the great legal debate between Mark Dreyfus and George Brandis.

Trish Hyde from the Australian Corporate Lawyers Association wants views on proper consultation for regulatory change – will there be more?

Brandis says the Coalition has committed to cutting red tape and scaling back regulation and it’s in the Liberal Party’s DNA, but not Labor’s. He criticises Kevin Rudd’s track record here and says the Coalition is eager to free up the system and the cost of doing business.

Dreyfus says his has been a very consultative government and that would continue after the election. It’s been vital given our hung parliament of the last term, he says.

12.48pm: It’s time for Rod Clement to give his take on the day, this time targeting Rudd’s high-speed rail plan:

12.45pm: Meanwhile, Abbott is at the University of Queensland for the second event of the day.

Abbott will talk about another announcement from his campaign launch on Sunday – a pledge of $200 million for dementia research.

The announcement ties in to a specific research project that is being undertaken at the university. That specific research is being undertaken by the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research, which is part of the Queensland Brain Institute.

Abbott will make “remarks”, we’ve been told but there’ll be no doorstop – which is unfortunate as Abbott would no doubt face questions about Malcolm Turnbull’s comments on the Coalition’s paid parental leave policy.

Turnbull told Greg Cary on Fairfax radio 4BC in Brisbane that “everything’s got to be paid for and it’s a choice, Greg”.

“I mean, it really is a choice and when people say it’s too much or it’s too generous that’s a reasonable objection.”

Ouch. Tell us what you really think, Malcolm.

Abbott, of course, defended one of his signature policies during his earlier doorstop in Brisbane.

12.44pm: Fiona McLeod, SC, from the Vic Bar wants the Commonwealth’s share of legal assistance funding to return to 50 per cent (it currently provides about 32 per cent, the rest is picked up by the states).

Dreyfus says he won’t commit to a number but he wants to make a real step forward in terms of greater federal funding.

Brandis says there is no obviously appropriate ratio and won’t commit to 50/50 either. He can understand the distress caused by the drop in federal funding but the important thing is about meeting needs, and the private profession has a role here too.

12.39pm: And back to the legal debate for concluding remarks...

Dreyfus objects to the label “social engineering” which Brandis used in the context of anti-discrimination law harmonisation.

He says it was a good thing Parliament passed Labor’s reform of sexuality-based discrimination. He says he’ll work hard to protect human rights in his next term.

He also wants Brandis to commit that he won’t in future comment about cases before the court, alluding to the James Ashby-Peter Slipper matter.

Brandis says he never misspoke on the issue and attacks Labor instead for criticism of High Court Chief Justice Robert French after the court struck down Labor’s so-called Malaysia solution.

Brandis says both sides actually have a lot in common in the legal affairs area, but much of the debate has been about means rather than ends. He says aspirations are all very well, but asks who is more likely to achieve those ends?

Next up: questions from the floor.

Neil Brown QC has one on international arbitration and investor intervention.

Dreyfus is saying Labor’s approach to free trade agreements has been right and it is not being driven by big tobacco challenges to plain packaging laws.

Brandis says he would review the situation but also wants to say how important is to promote Australia as an arbitration hub.

Greens Senator Penny Wright has also been watching the debate.

12.34pm: A quick update on the party leaders...

The Financial Review’s Jason Murphy has more on Rudd’s high-speed rail announcement:

Kevin Rudd, flanked by Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese, painted the Labor party as a party that built for the future, citing similarities between high-speed rail and the national broadband network.

The rail line – between Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney – would be an “enormous stimulus for regional communities”, said Mr Albanese, mentioning the Southern Highlands, Wagga Wagga, Albury-Wodonga and Shepparton.

Construction jobs and environmental benefits were key reasons for the project, Mr Albanese said, but high-speed rail was also a “driver of innovation”.

Meanwhile, the Abbott press pack has arrived at the University of Queensland.

12.30pm: Dreyfus takes a shot at the Coalition’s idea of sending someone with a wallet to buy back boats in Indonesia.

He says the opposition is trying to shut out judicial review of immigration decisions and that is something the High Court would likely strike down. It would mean a swamping of the High Court and other federal courts with immigration work.

Brandis responds by talking up Howard Government policy in this area.

12.27pm: It's Brandis’s turn, and he expects proposed Coalition legislation on immigration will be challenged in the High Court.

Critics have said it would attempt to remove the influence of the courts in reviewing government decisions.

Brandis says the UN refugees’ convention has always been supported by the opposition and wants to remind us that it requires there be safe haven for refugees who have a justifiable fear of persecution.

That’s why he can’t understand what’s wrong with temporary protection visas.

12.22pm: The next topic: legal aspects of immigration policy.

Dreyfus says the government is confidant of its position regarding PNG in the face of a High Court challenge that was launched last week.

He says there has been a challenge in court to just about every change in policy in this area for the last 30 years.

He wants Brandis to show support and not reflect Coalition negativity or “play politics” with this area.

12.16pm: Back to the great legal debate...

On legal assistance funding, Dreyfus says John Howard slashed funding by half and Labor has been trying to close the gap ever since.

He praises former federal attorney-general Robert McClelland’s effort and he says he is committed to repairing the “slashing that occurred” under the Coalition.

He says he’s very disappointed to hear Brandis oppose advocacy work and says it’s about gagging community legal centres, something which is truly disgraceful, given he claims to be “the champion of free speech”.

Brandis says “there’s only one of us here who has the monopoly on confected outrage”.

He says he doesn’t want to see a person denied legal advice because the money is being spent on political advocacy. He calls it a “bogus” freedom of speech argument.

Once again, a reminder to click here if you would like to watch a live stream of the debate.

12.14pm: A bit more from Rudd’s press conference...

The PM responds to a question about a comment he made yesterday on the government not having a mandate for the carbon tax.

“What we had a clear mandate for was acting on climate change, and we have as one of the first steps of this government.

“We also had a mandate to increase the mandatory renewable energy target.

“We also had a mandate to put a price on carbon.”

12.12pm: We’ve moved on to the next topic: access to justice. Always a tricky one, as many people criticise both parties for a lack of proper funding.

Brandis is asked how the Coalition can invest more in this area when it’s already promised to axe the mining tax and abolish the carbon tax.

He says he’s a supporter of access to justice and all citizens should have the right to access a court as a constitutional entitlement. He says the Labor Party owns the rhetoric but the Liberal Party owns the outcomes in this area.

He says Labor has cut legal assistance funding at the Commonwealth level, although Dreyfus got some more money in the most recent budget.

Brandis says in a restrained environment money should be spent where it is needed – resources should go mostly to casework rather than on advocacy.

12.07pm: The Victorian Bar Council president Fiona McLeod is still waiting for both candidates at the legal debate to make some firm commitments.

12.05pm: Dreyfus has listened to Brandis on national security, but says he still hasn’t learned more than the single sentence the Coalition has put out in terms of policy.

Brandis is now accusing Dreyfus of talking flamboyantly about cyber security. He says there’s no funding for it in the budget and it represents Labor’s all talk-no action approach.

He says the Coalition is prepared to provide the proper funding.

Dreyfus responds that ASIO has been shown to be adequately resourced. He says Brandis is “flinging figures” about.

12.03pm: Back to the great legal debate: The Financial Review’s Marcus Priest tells Senator Brandis he previously strongly supported an independent national security monitor. Do you commit to implementing Mr Walker’s recommendations?

Senator Brandis says no, not all of them.

He says he previously had reservations of the far reach of initially proposed national security laws and the lack of safeguards. The final form was a “compromise which satisfied us”.

But now he’s having a go at Mr Dreyfus. He says the AFP and Customs have suffered substantial cutbacks under Labor, while ASIO had its budget increased, but only for a new premises in Canberra.

Meanwhile, Brandis is unhappy with interruptions during the debate.

12.00pm: Moving away from the debate for a moment and back to Labor’s high-speed rail announcement.

Albanese says the high-speed advisory group has released a report today on the implementation of the high-speed rail scheme.

“A range of recommendations, the government is taking them up.

“The government understands high-speed rail is part of the country’s future.”

We will introduce legislation before the end of the year to enable the beginning of the implementation of the high-speed rail scheme, Albanese says.

“One of the great divisions at this election is about building for the future and infrastructure.

We have a distinction on rail.”

Rudd is asked - is this funding you have pledged today enough to get high-speed rail going?

“We believe and the committee believes it is possible to attract private investment for this project,” Albanese says.

“The $52 million we are pledging today will ensure that [early] work will take place.”

He says the money should be looked at as an early public investment.

He continues with the comparison to the Coalition’s PPL scheme:

“The difference is this provides a return”.

Albanese and Rudd are asked about a second Sydney airport.

“Our position is very clear, we support a second Sydney airport. We’ve established a process that is looking at the detail – evidence-based policy,” Albanese says.

11.58am: The debate moves on to topic 2...

Marcus Priest says the government’s own national security monitor has criticised control orders and other controversial aspects of national security laws.

Dreyfus responds that Labor has made sure Australia’s security facilities are well-resourced and Labor set up the role of the independent national security monitor (who is silk Bret Walker, SC).

Dreyfus adds that the national security framework has disrupted four potential attacks and ensured a number of men are serving lengthy terms of imprisonment.

There are reports on his desk about aspects of the law that will be addressed after the election, he says.

But Dreyfus says he won’t commit today to implementing Bret Walker’s recommendations.

11.53am: Dreyfus says he didn’t hear anything to suggest Senator Brandis is “going to lift a finger” to bring in a national profession and he has been silent on Queensland’s withdrawal from the national model.

Brandis says he understands why Queensland withdrew – it was “because they weren’t happy with your model”.

Dreyfus says this empty rhetoric gets us nowhere. Senator Brandis fires up and says “it’s no empty rhetoric”!

Things are already getting heated.

And just a reminder to click here if you would like to watch a live stream of the debate.

11.52am: Simon Breheny from the Institute of Public Affairs has been commenting on the debate on Twitter.

11.50am: More from the legal debate:

Senator Brandis says if you want to get the other states on board on National Legal Profession Reform it might be an idea not to hector and abuse them.

He says when the Commonwealth takes the lead on a national initiative it can’t assume a “bully pulpit” and demand the states follow.

Brandis says this isn’t a party political issue – both sides support creating a truly national profession. But the argument is about the model and he wants less influence from Canberra and more respect for the various state professions as they look to harmonise their separate regulations.

11.49am: Some more from Rudd...

He's announced the establishment of a High Speed Rail Authority that will oversee the development of the project.

“If we were to build this entire high-speed rail project by 2035, it would cost less than Mr Abbott’s unaffordable, unfair, paid parental leave scheme.

Put that into context – what is more necessary for the country’s future?” Rudd asks.

“This [PPL] scheme benefits a small group of people but everybody in Australia then has to pay for this scheme.”

11.45am: Back to the great legal debate...

In his opening statement, Senator Brandis says it’s three years since he last debated for the Financial Review against Robert McClelland.

He says McClelland basically had his priorities right, with a big focus on national security. But in the last term of Parliament there have been three attorneys-general – McClelland, then Nicola Roxon who pursued a “kind of social engineering”. Now he sets his sights on Dreyfus.

The first question for Drefyus is on the national legal profession reform. It’s a regulatory reform for all lawyers and law firms but after more than a decade of talks, only NSW and Victoria support it.

Dreyfus says he’s disappointed more progress has not been made. He says this reform is about Australia as a trading nation – people need to know a law firm can act for it anywhere in Australia.

He adds that the Commonwealth can’t act alone on the National Legal Profession Reform. He’s been talking to all the state bar associations and law societies and he’ll be “putting his shoulder to the wheel” to make it happen if elected.

11.42am: Meanwhile, Kevin Rudd has just stood up with deputy Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Sydney to announce preliminary funding for the first leg of the east coast high-speed rail, which we blogged about earlier today.

He brings up Tony Abbott’s campaign launch yesterday.

“Many people have asked me, ‘well, what was his vision? I didn’t hear much of that at all’.

“National elections are about priorities. Our priority on infrastructure is absolutely clear,” Rudd says.

11.40am: Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus starts his opening - he gets in an early shot at George Brandis over national security. He says the Coalition’s policy only consists of one line in its election paper.

11.35am: Priest says there has not been much discussion of legal affairs issues during the campaign but that is all about to change. The five debate topics are the national legal profession reform, national security, access to justice, the AG’s role relating to the courts and the judiciary and the legal aspects of immigration policy.

Priest jokes that no make-up artists have been upset this morning, but only because we don’t have any.

11.32am: The Financial Review’s Marcus Priest is introducing the debaters now: federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Senator George Brandis. Both men look comfortable as they prime themselves for their introductory remarks.

11.29am: The great debate between Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and opposition spokesman George Brandis is about to begin. You can watch it below:

11.17am: Coalition HQ has put out a missive pointing out that more than 3000 asylum seekers have arrived in Australian waters since Rudd announced his PNG solution.

“Two boats have arrived in 24 hours, with the latest carrying 65 people on board. The number of illegal arrivals since the PNG election fix was announced has now exceeded the 3000-person capacity of Manus Island,” opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said.

“Not only have more people arrived illegally by boat than can be accommodated at Manus Island since Labor’s announcement of its PNG election fix, but if Labor is re-elected accommodation on Manus Island won’t be ready until next year.”

The Financial Review’s John Kerin points out, however, that asylum seeker arrivals have fallen 30 per cent on a relative basis, if you compare the five weeks before the PNG announcement to the five weeks after.

11.15am: Just 15 minutes until the Financial Review’s great legal debate. We’ll have a live stream of the debate plus more here on the blog, and you can join in the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #agdebate.

11.08am: With Abbott’s paid parental leave scheme a key attack target for Labor, Rudd spent some time chatting to parents and children at a Sydney child care centre this morning.

The PM’s questions to the little ones were pretty standard – “what’s your name?” featured heavily.

For the parents, the questions were a little more pointed. He asked whether paid parental leave had helped them with the family budget immediately after birth, to which they replied – not surprisingly – yes.

Labor’s minimum wage scheme was “helpful but not too expensive”, Rudd insisted, whereas the Coalition’s plan would see money go to people who in some cases didn’t really need it.

For many parents, the availability and affordability of child care places are as important as parental leave.

At the Mascot child care centre there are few spare spots, a staff member tells the Financial Review. There is no availability in the two-to-three years age group, but occasional vacancies in the three-to-five years group, she says.

11.00am: Abbott might expect Labor to support his PPL scheme if the Coalition wins, but Rudd is continuing his attack on the plan.

10.50am: Abbott says he believes the Labor Party will help pass the Coalition’s paid parental leave scheme if it loses.

“I want to ensure women have a fair dinkum choice for careers and families. It’s important everyone has access to a fair dinkum scheme and that will only happen under a coalition government.

“Do you seriously think the Labor Party will say no to the women of Australia?”

He is asked about his position on Israel:

“I am a friend of Israel, I always have been and always will be.

“There has been a bit of wobbling under the current government.”

But he refuses to comment on potential military intervention in Syria.

“What has happened in Syria is very serious. [If reports of chemical attacks are true] that is an affront to all nations with decency for respect and human rights. But I’m not going to make a difficult situation worse by speculation before we know what the facts are.”

10.45am: Some more from Abbott...

He says he expects the paid parental leave scheme to pass through parliament, despite opposition from the Nationals:

“Our PPL scheme is all upside for families and all upside for business.

“Small business and families get the benefit from it.

“This is a great policy, it shows the Coalition gets it when it comes to the modern family and workplace.

“We will have the clearest possible mandate for this and I expect that mandate to be respected.”

Here’s a pic of Abbott speaking to workers before his press conference.

Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

10.41am: Abbott declines to be more specific on the surplus pledge he made yesterday at the Coalition campaign launch.

“We will deliver a surplus as soon as we humanly can and we will deliver a surplus quicker and more reliably than the Labor party. The budget bottom line will always be better under a Coalition government.

“We just don’t know what the starting point is.”

“With that kind of deterioration [we have seen under Labor] it would be foolish for me to give an absolute guarantee but I can say the budget bottom line will always be better under a Coalition.”

Abbott is asked about comments made to the Financial Review’s James Massola about his desire to follow in the footsteps of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher’s style of economic management:

“A market economy is an extraordinarily efficient way of creating wealth and the good thing about an economy is it is not about creating winners and losers but helping everyone to get ahead.

“The great thing about a market economy is everyone can win at the same time.”

10.37am: Tony Abbott has just stepped up with the Liberal candidate for Petrie at the Mills-Tui factory. He’s having a go at comments made by Rudd on the carbon tax.

“Mr Rudd admitted yesterday on the Insiders program that the government had no mandate for the carbon tax.

“If there was no mandate for it, why did Mr Rudd and his colleagues vote for it in parliament?

“There is a yawning trust deficit and this is what I am determined to address.”

10.30am: Chris Bowen is speaking outside his electorate office in Fairfield.

He is seeking to put pressure on the Coalition on their costings.

“Just under two weeks ago we saw the release of the PEFO. That’s what he said he was waiting for to release his costings. Two weeks have gone by and not a word.”

He repeats Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus’s lines on Abbott’s pledge at the campaign launch yesterday to bring the budget surplus to 1 per cent of GDP and raise defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP by the end of the decade.

“Without a magic pudding, without fairy dust there is only one way all those things can be true – and that is real and significant cuts.

“Yesterday, Tony Abbott chose to tell us nothing about those cuts.”

Bowen says he’s confident Rudd can still win the election despite poor polling results.

“This election is competitive, tight and neck and neck. Kevin Rudd has a remarkable ability to campaign across the country. He has come back from behind before, and he can come back from behind again.”

On Rudd’s admittance yesterday that the government did not have a mandate for the carbon tax: “He’s being honest, up front, calling it as he sees it. He takes mandates very seriously. You can’t get a mandate if you’re not honest with people about the future.”

10.17am: Tony Abbott has just given a stump speech to workers at the Mills-Tui plant.

“I want to try to ensure Australia remains a good place to do business.

“As far as I am concerned, we must remain a manufacturing economy.

“We will do everything we can to try to ensure Australia has the skilled workforce into the future that it needs.”

He reminds the gathered press of his announcement on loans for apprentices made at yesterday’s campaign launch:

“Doing a trade, no less than going to university, is a good way to make the most of your life.

“For far too long the stress has been on universities.

“We should never neglect the importance of trade skills.

“It’s not a hand-out, because it will have to repaid but it is nevertheless a hand up.”

A press conference is expected shortly.

10.15am: A vote for Palmer United is a vote for the happy party, according to candidate Sally Cox.

Meanwhile, according to Palmer himself, this video was played at his party’s campaign launch.

Do yourself a favour and watch it.

10.07am: Abbott is due to hold a press conference soon at heavy vehicles builder Mills-Tui, but before speaking he’s posed with workers in front of a fire truck being worked on for the Tassie fire service.

Photo: James Massola

10.02am: Looks like Joe Hockey’s tweet this morning praising Virgin might have been an attempt to make up for his criticism of the airline yesterday that led to a conversation with Sky News’s Peter van Onselen.

9.50am: Rudd earlier made some pledges on GST on ABC radio in Sydney.

“The bottom line is this – our position on the goods and services tax is crystal clear. There will be no increase in the rate and it won’t be extended to food.

“Mr Abbott has said it’s all on the table through his tax review.

“Our position is clear on that.”

He’s now mixing it with the kids at Mascot Early Childhood Centre.

Photo: Joanna Mather

9.42am: A cute reminder that candidates have families too.

This is Amelie, 4, and her dad is Matt Thistlethwaite, the Labor candidate for Kingsford-Smith.

She’s been missing her dad while he’s busy on the campaign, so when he turned up at an event with the Prime Minister she forgot all her earlier shyness to break through the crowd with a cheerful “daddy!!!”.

Photo: Joanna Mather

9.38am: Rudd is yet to make his announcement on high-speed rail, but Greens and Labor MPs are getting in early on Twitter.

9.35am: The Abbott campaign has arrived at Mills-Tui, specialised heavy vehicle builders in Labor MP Yvette D’Ath’s Queensland seat of Petrie.

Mr Abbott will be talking about his pledge to provide apprentices with $20,000 loans to help them train.

The visit to Petrie is a sign that the Abbott campaign is switching from defence to attack and fancies its chances of winning seats in Queensland.

The Coalition candidate for the seat is Luke Howarth, who must overcome D’Ath’s 2.5 per cent margin. Abbott will hold his doorstop for the day in about 45 minutes.

9.30am: The new Parliamentary Budget Office? Rudd is visiting a childcare centre in Mascot in Sydney this morning.

Photo: Joanna Mather

9.28am: Meanwhile, Joe Hockey knows that every minute is precious on the campaign trail...

9.17am: It was less than two weeks ago that Abbott was thanking his Facebook followers for reaching 150,000 ‘likes’ for his page. This morning, he’s not far off 200,000 – while Kevin Rudd’s page remains far behind on just over 107,000.

9.13am: Don’t forget that we’re hosting a debate between Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and opposition spokesman George Brandis at 11.30am (AEST) – and you can follow it here on the blog.

9.10am: This is doing the rounds on Twitter – with a cautionary note that it is unverified.

Gabrielle Ward asked a question of Abbott at the People’s Forum in Brisbane last week about reducing “corporate welfare”.

The forum was meant to be made up of 100 undecided voters chosen by polling company Galaxy. But comments made by Ward on the Queensland Young Labor Facebook site make it look like she is very much a decided voter – if her eye roll after Abbott gave the answer to her question didn’t already give it away.

8.52am: A couple more great photos – and great facial expressions – from yesterday’s Coalition campaign launch:

8.40am: We’ve just been given notice that Rudd’s first media appearance of the day will be at Mascot Early Childhood Centre at 9.20am, but it will be a “picture opportunity” only.

8.37am: In case you missed it, Julia Gillard put out a short statement overnight explaining her absence at next weekend’s Labor campaign launch in Brisbane.

“I think the former Prime Minister is making sure the focus stays very much on the campaign and I thought her statement was very dignified and spoke for itself,” Penny Wong said on Sky this morning.

Here’s the statement:

“I have respectfully decided not to be present at next Sunday’s campaign launch because I simply do not want to distract in any way from Kevin Rudd’s powerful message to the Australian people,” she said.

“I stand with all those throughout our party, and with our great candidates, in voicing my fervent hope for a decisive Labor victory on September 7.”

8.29am: Meanwhile Bob Katter has tweeted that he and Clive Palmer will both be in Canberra:

And Malcolm Turnbull is busy Instagramming:

8.25am: Kevin Rudd is headed for a childcare centre in Kingsford Smith – Peter Garrett’s old seat, where Matt Thistlethwaite is standing for Labor. He’ll be highlighting the Coalition’s paid parental leave scheme, which he says is unfair and unsustainable.

Rudd will then head into Sydney city for an 11.30am press conference with Anthony Albanese on high-speed rail. Rudd is expected to pledge $52 million over the next four years to buy a corridor for the Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne high-speed line. According to our sister publication The Sydney Morning Herald, Rudd would also introduce legislation to protect a corridor for fast trains between Sydney and Melbourne.

The move would enable a start to building a line that could be operational within 17 years, according to a statement from Albanese.

8.23am: Foreign Minister Bob Carr has been on ABC Radio talking about potential Australian involvement in Syria. He is keen to emphasise it is very unlikely there will be a traditional “boots on the ground” style response.

“Our international partners are thinking about an appropriate response. The White House is considering a range of options - there’s probably no use in speculating in great detail.

By all accounts the US military has huge reservations about the prospect of success of a traditional boots on the ground intervention. There are a host of arguments against that.”

Carr says America has learned from the lessons of the Iraq War and so the Australian people also have higher expectations from their government:

“They want more candour from the government this time around.”

8.19am: Tony Abbott’s been on Radio National talking about trust.

“It’s not just a fiscal deficit, it’s a trust deficit,” he says. “We will say what we mean and we will do what we say” - while he defends the fact that the Coalition hasn’t yet released all its policies.

He says the Coalition will “have more to say about savings” this week and give a “full fiscal position” next week.

8.10am: Kevin Rudd has just finished a hard-hitting interview with Kyle and Jackie O show on Sydney’s 2DayFM.

He says he still thinks a turnaround in the polls is possible:

“In my political career I’ve probably been written off a thousand times and I’ve managed to come back. We’ve got a long way to go – a lot of folks will just be switching on. People will make up their own minds.”

He says he’s taking the campaign pretty easy, in fact: “I’m relaxing and having a beer every half an hour.”

He bites back on the story of the make-up artist, who claimed she was treated badly by Rudd in Brisbane last week:

“It was just untrue. When you’re going on to a television program two or three minutes to going on – I look up, I smile, they go pat, pat, pat and no more was said,” Rudd says.

“What sort of an extraordinary beat-up that was for certain newspapers.”

Kyle tries to get his plans for the day in Western Sydney out of the Prime Minister - he says he will contact him later “on the secret bat phone”.

Here’s a clue, Rudd continues - take Parramatta, throw it up in the air, change a few letters and move three suburbs to the left.

Ironically this isn’t too far off what the travelling press pack attempts to do every day.

7.53am: Labor campaign spokesperson Penny Wong has again been out attempting to cast Tony Abbott as a politician not worthy of trust.

“[He is] pretty short on what his plans are and what he wants to do to the Australian people.

“How can you trust a man who refuses to tell you what his plans are for cuts?

“One thing you can trust for Tony Abbott is he will make you pay.

“There is no government in waiting that has been so unwilling to share with Australians the scale of their plans.”

Wong also defended the government’s continued claim that the coalition has a $70 billion black hole in its costings, despite economist Saul Eslake putting the figure at $30 billion.

“Until Joe Hockey tells you what his real plans are, Australians are entitled to take him at his word.

“Even at $30 billion that’s still a big hit on jobs, education.”

7.35am: Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph is reporting the majority of voters in seven marginal NSW seats want a second international airport.

The poll of 3800 voters across western and south-west Sydney shows an average of 65 per cent support for a second airport, with Badgerys Creek now the most popular site since the proposal was first mooted in 1986, over Labor’s preferred option of Wilton.

While the Badgerys Creek site falls in the seat of Macarthur, voters in the electorates of Lindsay, Werriwa, Banks, Barton, Parramatta, Greenway and Reid all support it as the site for a second airport.

A Galaxy poll in the paper last week showed 72 per cent of the state’s voters want a second airport for Sydney, 49 per cent of them in favour of Badgerys Creek, with 51 per cent of Labor voters in favour of the site as the best option.

The finding was almost identical among Coalition voters, the poll found.

7.31am: Liberal frontbencher Andrew Robb has told ABC radio “You’ve got to run scared until the very last minute”, AAP is reporting.

“My view is you look at the polls but you get on with the job.”

Robb worked on the coalition’s campaign in 1993 which at the time was considered the “unloseable election”. However, Paul Keating managed to deliver victory to Labor.

7.26am: Meanwhile Graham Perrett MP, of the marginal Queensland seat of Moreton, has provided us with his regular update of his morning exercise soundtrack to get the day started:

7.25am: Tony Abbott has just appeared on Channel 7’s Sunrise program. He says the Coalition will “say more” about proposed savings this week.

“We won’t be able to reveal the absolute final fiscal position until all of our policies are on the table and that will be the final week but we will have more to say about our savings this week,” Abbott says.

“I’m very confident our final costings will be out well before the Labor Party’s.”

David Koch presses Abbott on his 10-year surplus pledge – why do parties keep tying themselves to such pledges?

“It is important we get back to surplus as quickly as possible. We will do that by eliminating big and small waste and ... there is ridiculous waste.”

“It is important to get there as quickly as we can and our overall budget bottom line will be better than the Labor Party’s.”

He is asked about the performance of his daughters at yesterday’s campaign launch – are they interested in a political career?

“They’ve seen enough of politics to appreciate it’s a very good thing but it’s not necessarily for them.

“They’ve been on the trail a few days, not full time, because in the end I’m the politician in the family. It was a real thrill and an honour to have them say a few words yesterday.”

7.10am: Fairfax snapper Alex Ellinghausen and the Financial Review’s James Massola, who are travelling with Abbott, spent some time with the Leader of the Opposition ahead of his campaign’s official launch at QPAC. The launch was a tightly scripted affair. But hours earlier, Abbott allowed exclusive access to himself and his staff as they prepared for the big day:

Tony Abbott in discussion with his chief of staff, Peta Credlin, carrying the blue tie he will wear for the campaign launch.

Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Tony Abbott and his chief of staff, Peta Credlin, watch Kevin Rudd on ABC Insiders.

Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

7.05am: Good morning and welcome to Week 4 of the election campaign. Here’s what to expect today:

  • Kevin Rudd will spend today and tonight in Sydney. He is due to make a speech at international policy think tank The Lowy Institute at some point tomorrow - expect more discussion about Syria here.
  • Tony Abbott is still in Brisbane, and the press pack following him predict they are heading for Cairns.
  • Finance spokesman for the coalition Andrew Robb has already been out talking about the results of Newspoll, and Penny Wong is up first this morning for Labor. More on both of those shortly.

6.14am: The Labor Party has clawed back some ground in the latest Newspoll, with its share of the primary vote the highest since the start of the election campaign, but the Coalition still holds a wide, winning lead.

According to the poll, Labor’s primary vote rose 3 percentage points from last week to 37 per cent, while the Coalition’s support remained unchanged at 47 per cent. The Greens’ primary vote was also unchanged at 9 per cent, meaning the improvement for Labor came from what Newspoll calls ‘others’, whose share of the primary vote fell three points to 7 per cent.

The upshot of the movement is that Labor now trails the Coalition 47 per cent to 53 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, a small improvement on the 46-54 per cent result posted in the previous polling period.

The Financial Review’s Poll of polls shows that while there’s been a slight move back towards Labor in Monday’s Newspoll, national polling and betting markets remain strongly in favour of a resounding Coalition victory on September 7.



The Financial Review’s Electorate calculator gives the following sense of what the Newspoll result might mean for the make up of federal parliament if the election were to be held today, assuming of course the polling played out as a uniform national swing:

Digging deeper into Monday’s Newspoll numbers, Kevin Rudd eked out a one-point rise in support as preferred prime minister to 44 per cent while support from Tony Abbott eased a similar amount to 40 per cent.

Voter satisfaction with Rudd’s performed was up to 36 per cent from 35 per cent, while dissatisfaction fell to 52 per cent from 54 per cent. Abbott also posted a rise in his satisfaction rating, while as up from 41 per cent to 42 per cent while dissatisfaction fell two percentage points to 49 per cent.

On a two-party basis, Monday’s polling matches an Australian Financial Review/Nielsen poll published on Saturday that found the Coalition ahead of Labor 53 per cent to 47 per cent. The Nielsen poll, however, found Labor’s share of the primary vote had fallen 2 percentage points to 35 per cent, while the Coalition’s rose a point to 47 per cent and the Greens were steady on 10 per cent.

Public sentiment also strongly anticipates a Coalition victory, with 71 per cent of those polled saying they expect an Abbott win, up from 57 per cent two weeks earlier.

As for other Monday news, this is what the papers had to say:

The Australian Financial Review

Abbott abandons first-term surplus for 10-year agenda: Tony Abbott has abandoned his intent to return the budget to surplus in the first term of a Coalition government, saying instead that voters would know before the 2016 election when the economy would be back in the black.

Command and control: It’s 5am in the gym at Brisbane’s Hilton Hotel and Tony Abbott is thinking about the most important day of the federal election so far, the launch of the Coalition’s campaign.

Laura Tingle – Abbott promises trust and little else: Abbott seeks to win by exploiting the very cynicism he has so lethally nurtured in the past three years and making a virtue of setting the lowest level for what we can expect from government.

Editorial – Abbott’s gradual revolution: Mr Abbott’s talk of 10-year periods is at once both big and ambitious – he intends to be around for a while – and slow and cautious. He will take his time getting things done, and will take people with him.

The Sydney Morning Herald

Take me on trust: Tony Abbott: A confident Tony Abbott has outlined a 10-year plan for Australia at his official campaign launch that includes restoring the full health insurance rebate, cutting the size of government and increasing defence spending.

A repeat performance from the would-be PM: The new part of Tony Abbott’s pitch for the prime ministership was the introduction by his daughters, evidently devoted to their dad. But it was the old part that was the most important.

The Canberra Times

Labor fails to ring voters’ bells: Graziers Howard and Anne Charles are craving a free trade agreement with China but not even Kevin Rudd’s mandarin or farming roots can prompt them to vote for him.

Is Rudd’s campaign cooked?: It’s hard to look like a statesman while you’re wearing an apron and holding a whisk.

The Guardian Australia

Trust me to govern, Abbott tells Australia as he launches his election campaign: ‘We have a plan and we know how to pay for it,’ Abbott tells party faithful – while ignoring Labor demands for costings.

The West Australian

Abbott’s pitch to voters: Tony Abbott dispensed with new big promises at his campaign launch yesterday, instead calling on Australians to “choose change” to restore trust and competence in Government.

The Herald Sun

Abbott plays for the seniors’ vote: The Coalition hopes the biggest generation in Australian history can help deliver it to power, making an election pitch at winning the Baby Boomers’ trust.

The Australian

Heir falls short of his mentors: As Tony Abbott strode confidently across the stage at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane to formally launch his election campaign yesterday, he knew he was about to deliver one of the most important speeches of his political career.

The Australian Financial Review

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