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DAY SEVEN: THURSDAY APRIL 3

As expected, Donald Trump’s “Liberate the US from the rest of the world” Day sucked a lot of the oxygen out of the campaign.

So, our assessment of Day Seven, Thursday April 2?

We’ll give it to Labor by a short nose, but only because general consensus among the experts late in the day appeared to be that looming world disorder would favour the incumbent Labor government. Dutton countered that by continuing to push the image of the tough guy who could get Trump to axe his tariffs on us, bring China to its knees begging for peace, and to continually repeat his mantra – Albanese is weak and ineffective. Labor continue with its theme of Dutton wanting to trump Australia. Had more fun with the LNP’s plan to axe 40,000 plus public servants.

Let’s look more closely at this theme of Dutton’s – Albo weak, me tough! – that the mainstream mediocre love to highlight.

We may have lost count last night but we think footage of Dutton calling out Albanese as weak, dithering, ineffective, etc, etc, ticked up to three during the ABC Queensland 7pm news and 7.30. It came firstly in Jane Norman’s 7pm news report; Laura Tingle, surprisingly, repeated it at the start of 7.30 and it was repeated again. If Aunty is up to this sort of shit, imagine how the Newscorpse and the Nine radio shockjocks are carrying on.

We think solid, professional news organisations should have given Dutton a few bites at that personal-attack cheery a long time ago but after that, asked the Opposition Leader: Got anything else? Some saleable policies, maybe?

***

Liberal Party public relations officer Peta Credlin used her regular column in the party’s newsletter, The Australian, to push a similar line, albeit she did it to its rank and file. (below)

As it does almost daily in any federal or state election campaign, the The Australian Liberal Party newsletter gave Credlin plenty of column space to deliver to rank and file Libs helpful talking points matching leader Peter Dutton’s message.

Her argument and advice to fellow Liberal Party campaigners was hold your nerve, there’s more to come, and we can win.

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Three changes on the online betting company markets we’re monitoring for this column, and they tended to agree with our assessment of the previous day’s campaigning. At 8pm last night, Ladbroke’s odds remained unchanged from 24 hours earlier but bet365, TAB and Sportsbet showed Labor’s odds shortening and the LNP lengthening or steady.

Sportsbet: Labor $1.61 (was $1.72); Coalition $2.25 (was $2.10)
Ladbrokes: Labor $1.70 Coalition $2.10
TAB: Labor $1.55 (was $1.65); Coalition $2.40 (was $2.20)
bet365: Labor $1.61 (was $1.66) Coalition $2.20 (steady).

***

No changes (no new polls) to the two-party preferred averages of the four current opinion polls we’re keeping an eye on – Newspoll, Resolve, Roy Morgan and YouGov.

Labor: 51.25; Coalition 48.75

Why no Guardian’s Essential Poll? Essential thinks it’s professional or clever or somehow responsible not to publish a two-party preferred figure. We call bullshit, but its latest primary figures suggest however a slight Labor lead.

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Our sort-of-daily award ….

… is back with this amazing offering from Sky LNPNews Host Paul Murray.

Here’s the text on his show’s plug on Microsoft Edge yesterday.

Sky LNPNews host Paul Murray reflects on what it means after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took a tumble on the campaign trail today.

“Clearly Albanese’s days as PM are numbered,” Murray says.

“Australia needs the strong and sure-footed leader we have in Peter Dutton who knows how to get this nation back on track!”

“Albanese has shown he is incapable of walking on a flat, clean surface. Australia needs a leader who can stride confidently along the rocky path ahead of us and that’s the incoming Prime Minister Peter Dutton.”

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