• Now we’re into the business end of proceedings. The last three years now come down to five days of campaigning and three days of advertising and either side, or neither, can still win it. Given how bereft of inspiration, vision or honesty both sides have been, a hung parliament would be the most fitting outcome, condemning the major parties to having to think outside their tiny little boxes. More likely, one side or the other will secure victory by appealing to voters who have yet to make their minds up and who might even walk into the polling booth not knowing how they’ll vote. Some of those voters, assuredly, are judicious, engaged people who are waiting for all the evidence before finally making up their minds which way to make their democratic choice. The other 95% are people who couldn’t give a stuff about any of this and who will only turn out on Saturday because they’re made to. On current polls, such people will decide who governs us for the next three years.
  • Another debate over having a debate, only this time, because neither side is sure it is in the lead, neither side is entirely willing to commit to one, or walk away. Being questioned by a group of voters town hall-style isn’t serious scrutiny, but the Liberals clearly feel Abbott’s ‘good bloke’ persona plays well. Nevertheless, the perception that Abbott is scared to debate the economy has taken hold, certainly among the commentariat and press gallery. Needless to say, all this childish toing and froing, including ever-snarkier letters between Karl Bitar and Brian Loughnane — neither of whom can exactly boast a strong performance in this campaign — could have been avoided if the parties agreed on an independent debate process. The Americans have a panel of former presidents running theirs. Perhaps we could do the same . It’d be worth it just to entertain the thought of, say, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke and John Howard in the same room.
  • Nice piece by the Canberra Times this morning on how one of the traditions of the Howard government, electorate briefs, continues under Labor despite Penny Wong’s fulminations against them in 2007. Electorate briefs are compilations of spending in each program in each department broken down by electorate and for even small programs can be the bane of the lives of bureaucrats. There’s nothing inherently politicising about the compilation of such data, as long as it’s not prepared for a partisan selection of electorates, but it’s the sort of thing that Labor promised to end when it was presenting itself as purer than the driven snow on accountability when in opposition (see also debates, Charter of Budget Honesty, etc). Labor is, objectively and demonstrably, better than the Coalition on political accountability, but sometimes the Coalition’s lack of sanctimony about how ruthlessly it exploits incumbency is preferable.
  • What’s the opposite of scraping the bottom of the pork barrel? That’s where Labor reached on its new savings measures announced over the weekend. The Saturday Night Massacre wiped out $200 million from the Green Car Fund (not a bad move, given it’s a protectionist rort), nearly $40 million from a climate change program, found just under $50 million extra revenue in grant compliance and another $80 million in savings for employment services programs. Now, we can’t complain too much — if nothing else, at least this campaign has actually offered a semblance of fiscal responsibility and we now have a generation of politicians who don’t believe they can get away with spending their way into office. But Labor’s latest round of savings have a half-baked air about them, especially when tens of millions of dollars are conveniently found when a little ‘internal government reporting’ is applied. Next, Labor will claim they reached down the back of the couch and found some gold coins, a few old 2 cent pieces and a Kiwi 20 cent coin. I reckon on Wednesday Andrew Robb will announce he’s adopting them and adding to his own easy ‘waste and mismanagemen’” savings.
  • If Tony Abbott wins the election, it will be in spite, not because of, any efforts by the LNP to secure the much-needed Queensland swing, on which the Liberals’ hopes now rest. The shenanigans on the weekend, in which a LNP volunteer in Longman was filmed attacking a Labor volunteer, is of a piece with the rest of the LNP’s antics this year — including putting a teenager up to win that seat back off Labor.