Right before a truce is called by both parties for ANZAC Day commemoration, the nation’s federal election campaign kicked into day thirteen with pollies anxious about water, “death taxes” which don’t exist, and gas field pipelines.
Also, Bill Shorten went for a run with Johnathan Thurston. That alone may have done more for his popularity than years of focus groups could ever do.
Shorten was in Townsville for his big run with JT, also taking some time to announce a Labor government would axe the controversial Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), a fund first introduced by the Abbott government aiming to commit billions into infrastructure projects across northern Oz. Instead of the NAIF, Labor want to fund big ol’ pipelines that link gas fields all over QLD and the NT.
Shorten called the NAIF an “abject failure“, and said his government’s proposed Northern Australia Development Fund (NADF) would use $2.5 billion dollars on things like tourism projects and pipelines across Queensland‘s Galilee and Bowen basins.
Labor’s Tony Burke – who is mad as hell about the drama surrounding a $79 water sale made by the Coalition – has announced plans for a commission of inquiry into the purchase should Labor win the election.
Here’s the detail (using that term loosely) from @Tony_Burke office on his election promise to investigate #watergate. Sounds like a royal commission into Barnaby Joyce 2017 water deal only. #AUSVote19 #agchatoz pic.twitter.com/MvlMnjDd0O
— Kath Sullivan (@KathSully) April 24, 2019
Back on the campaign trail, Scott Morrison told the country he’d put $63 million dollars towards wellbeing centres and jobs assistance for veterans. ScoMo was probably hoping to draw attention away from the persistent shadow of Clive Palmer – the multimillionaire is haunting the PM as report after report comes out saying he will make a preference deal with Palmer, all but guaranteeing the billboard occupier a spot in the Senate.
Also, ScoMo almost ate a fly.
The scare campaign around ‘death taxes’ won’t go away, either. The Labor Party has accused the Libs of having a “lie machine” in full swing, given neither party seems to even be considering installing such a tax despite both of them attacking each other over the concept.
Labor NSW responded to the Liberal Party’s own death taxes campaign by publishing an advertisement that features a four-year-old interview where ScoMo refuses to rule out an inheritance tax. We live in a post-truth world, kids, and this shit is going to become more and more normal.
The number one enemy of conservatives everywhere, progressive lobby group GetUp!, was forced to apologise and retract an advertisement that featured a Tony Abbott lookalike refusing to rescue someone drowning at the beach. The whole thing was meant to be a metaphor for climate change, but it quite possibly missed the mark. It’s worth noting GetUp apologised to Surf Lifesaving Australia… but not Abbott.
Both major parties will chill tomorrow, before hitting the campaign again on Friday. The first television election debate finally has a home, too, and will be screened on 7Two. So I guess figure out how to get that on your telly if you’re bothered.
