Seems like poor old economists are everyone’s punching bag today. There has been criticism from economists who prescribe to all different schools of economics (even Steven Hamilton has had a crack at the Coalition’s housing policies in the Fin) because I dunno, I know I only did high school economics, but even I know that giving people access to more money only increases the demand and therefore makes houses more expensive. But apparently, our major parties, who refuse to actually do the things that would make a material difference (reform the tax system, tackle distribution of houses) just want to continue tinkering.

Albanese has singled out Chris Richardson in his press conference:

I’m happy to bring Chris Richardson here, to have a look at the construction and have a look at the jobs that are being created here, and have a look at the economic activity that’s right here.

And then I’m happy to bring him back and meet the people who are living here in a home as well.”

Anthony Albanese is back in Adelaide, walking alongside Labor’s most popular politician, Peter Malinauskas AND standing in front of a housing development, so you can see what Labor really wants to push today.

Skye Predavec

In the 2022 election, the count in the seat of Brisbane was on a knife edge.

The LNP came first on 38%, Labor second with 27%, and the Greens third also with 27% – just 11 votes behind Labor.

A surprising trend emerged: when right-wing minor party candidates were eliminated their preferences favoured the Greens over Labor.

Preferences from United Australia and One Nation voters, as well as Animal Justice voters, propelled Greens candidate Stephen Bates ahead of Labor, at which point Labor preferences won the seat for Bates at the expense of sitting LNP MP Trevor Evans.

Elsewhere in Queensland, in the seat of Groom, independent Suzie Holt went from fourth place with 8% of the vote to finish second with 43% on preferences.

This improbable result occurred because she was favoured above the Liberal National candidate by voters across the political spectrum: Greens, One Nation and Labor voters.

These unexpected results are a reminder that you, the voter, decide your preferences, not the political parties – and those preferences could decide an election.

Given Peter Dutton is promising to cut the public service by 41,000 people, which has been one of the foundational policies of his election campaign (even if the Coalition is yet to actually explain it, because they keep confusing themselves) it was interesting that it didn’t get much of a mention in his campaign launch on Sunday.

It didn’t seem to be mentioned at all. The only utterance of ‘public’ was in relation to hospitals.

Nuclear, a policy which is also on the nose, was at least mentioned three times.

The Liberal campaign has started the day in Brisbane, where the Liberal and Labor party are both trying to take the seat of Brisbane away from the Greens. There has also been commentary that Peter Dutton could be in danger in his seat of Dickson – which is always the case when the Liberal party is looking a little shaky. It falls over the line for the Liberals and has for the last couple of decades that Dutton has held it, so don’t get your hopes up about those stories.

Jacqui Lambie also had opinions about a hung parliament.

All the action seems to be happening in the Senate. So, they can have the hung parliament down there, but quite frankly, it’s still got to get through that house of review. I obviously sit in that. I’m very comfortable with that. I’ve been part of that balance of power off and on for 10 years, so it doesn’t bother me. I’m just getting on with the job and what Australians need me to do.

Over on the Nine network, Jacqui Lambie gave her opinion on the major party campaign launches:

I mean, these two leaders, both Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton this morning become as loose as a bloody goose. I mean, you’ve got to be kidding me. How about you turn the first lot of soil on the first 50 or 60,000 homes that you’ve promised and do not talk to me about those TAFEs. The reasons we have RTOs in the unions running them is because the TAFES have been depleted year in, year out.

Now, I’m not having a go at the unions for picking up, um, for picking that up because nobody else bloody did.

But quite frankly, I mean, I’ve got a TAFE down here that’s got Cold War equipment in it from the 1950s, full of asbestos. And you’re training them? Oh, please.

Here’s a good idea. How about you go to the root cause of the problem and you go to our TAFEs? I’ve got Australian TAFE who can’t even tell me what every one of their TAFE is doing, what equipment that they need. I mean, it’s an absolute mess.

So, seriously, looses as gooses today. And it’s going to get worse the next 20 days.

There was some chatter following Labor’s launch yesterday, that Albanese and Tanya Plibersek had an ‘awkward moment’ where it looked like Plibersek was going in to give Albanese the social kiss (the cheek-to-cheek kiss among friends) but Albanese grabbed both her hands and it was just a bit awkward. The subtext is that Plibersek and Albanese are at odds, because not only did Albanese side line her at the beginning of the government by giving Plibersek the shit-sandwich of environment instead of education as she wanted, he has then come over the top (nature positive laws, Macquarie Harbour ) and over-ruled her decisions.

Plibersek has an actual laugh about it this morning on Seven:

I reckon we should  still all be elbow-bumping. During an election campaign, the last thing you want is to catch a cold from  someone. So that’s on me. I  should’ve done the elbow-bump, I reckon. 

Q: You two still getting along? 

Plibersek:

Yeah, of course! Oh yes!

 Q: Friends, buddies? Just checking. 

Plibersek:

We’re buddies! 

Very convincing.

Barnaby Joyce has been sidelined by his own party so he hasn’t played much of a role in this campaign (a point he will no doubt make if the Nationals vote falls/lose seats, which it is on track to do) but he is still allowed to do Seven’s breakfast show.

This morning he is asked about Angus Taylor’s criticisms of Labor’s tax policy as being a “cruel hoax” and an election bribe and how the Coalition’s promise to temporarily bring back the LMITO is any different.

Joyce:

We want to make sure that we too acknowledge  there is a cost-of-living crisis.  The way we’re going about it is  different. We’re helping people  right now, in fact, we’re helping  people every time they go to the  fuel bowser, because they don’t pay the excise they used to pay, so that’s more money in their pocket. It’s a very, very, very clear  difference. (well, not yet – the policy is not in place)

Now, on the repayment  said, we’ve got to make sure that we have an economy, an economy that’s driving ahead and gives us the  capacity to increase the tax-free  fees to increase our capacity to service the debt.

The way you do  that – hate to say it – go back to issues such as energy. You make sure the energy prices, nobody wants a  reduction in wage rates, there is  only one advantage, it’s energy. So you can’t go forward with 82% of  power, you won’t have a manufacturing economy, then you will have a part-time administrative  economy, and that is how there is a fundamental difference, because what underpins it at the end is the  fundamentals of economics, cheaper energy.

Sigh Banaby. Sigh.

On the neo-Nazi protest outside his office over the weekend, James Paterson says:

I don’t know what their motivation was but, if it was to intimidate, it’s not going to work on me. I’m more determined than ever before to stand up for Australians, to protect them against extremists like these and any other extremists in our community. I particularly resent the attempt by these people to portray themselves as patriots.

There is nothing patriotic about worshipping a failed foreign regime of one of history’s greatest losers, Adolf Hitler. The real patriots are the Australian men and women who went and fought and defeated Nazism. Whenever it rears its ugly head in Australia, it must be fought and combated. I will always stand against it.