Two weeks down, three weeks to go. That’s what everyone is telling themselves, as this inspiring election campaign continues to take its toll on everyone involved. Julia Gillard finally took her campaign to Western Australia on the weekend, where she pledged money for local infrastructure and attended a junior football match. Meanwhile, Tony Abbott trekked to the Top End on Saturday, where he announced free basic medical and dental health care for families of serving defence personnel. However the big story was Gillard’s visit to Etihad Stadium yesterday, where she witnessed the Western Bulldogs thrashing of North Melbourne.

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So, after 15 days of hard campaigning, Abbott has racked up 24,118km, while Gillard has knocked up 18,314km. Together that’s 42,432km of carbon emissions — the equivalent of more than 300,000 Etihad Stadiums.

Gillard:

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Abbott:

Brown:

  • Bob Brown was at Canberra’s National Convention Centre on Sunday, where he launched the Greens campaign in front of 300 cheering supporters. Brown said the focus of the campaign was winning the balance of power in the Senate.

Downer Watch:

  • Just days after Mark Latham dropped a bomb on Kevin Rudd for being a “snake”, Alexander Downer has accused the former PM of regularly leaking information to the media. “We used him mercilessly to embarrass [Labor’s then foreign-affairs spokesman] Laurie Brereton,” Downer told The Sunday Telegraph. “We would give Rudd information to use against Brereton, and he would use it.” Downer later said his comments had been misinterpreted.

Handball Watch:

  • Who could accuse the two leaders of lacking substance on this election campaign?

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Where they are today:

  • The leaders are out early, with Julia Gillard loading her media pack on the bus before 6am to head to Parramatta for a live cross to Nine’s Today show. Fairfax journalist Ariel Sharp reports: “She does a walk through Parramatta station, charming retailers and shoppers. Buys a classic cheesecake at Michel’s, meets a Christian biker and followed by Lib protestors.”
  • Tony Abbott is in Cairns campaigning in the Labor-held marginal of Leichhardt. Under a warm Queensland sun the opposition leader is expected to make a tourism policy announcement later today.
  • After yesterday’s party launch, Greens leader Bob Brown headed to Perth where he’ll campaign today.

What is the tracker?

Crikey tracks each leader’s amazing race across the country via our Election Tracker. Each day we’ll plot the leaders’ movements, feeding in the key policy announcements and spending commitments, the best media coverage and social media chat, plus the campaign stunts and bloopers. You can also use the tracker as a hub for the best Crikey coverage.

Click on the tabs across the top to watch how many kilometres Gillard and Abbott have clocked up, the movements of other key players and finally our bloopers and stunts bonanza on the right. You can click on each stop to see what they’re up to, with links to extended coverage and detailed electorate information.