It was all about the ‘rules’ on the Election Tracker yesterday, as the two leaders were either sticking by them or wanting to ignore them. Tony Abbott reckons Julia Gillard wasn’t playing by the rules when she called for a second leaders’ debate on economic policy after initially refusing a rematch.

Abbott was having none of Gillard’s efforts to “throw away the rule book”, telling journalists that “you can’t change the rules just because you’re in trouble.” Meanwhile, Gillard, Wayne Swan and John Faulkner were getting cozy with the press yesterday, as they took an unscheduled ride on the travelling media bus.

tracker4-8-10

So, after 17 days of beaten-up controversies ending with the suffix ‘-gate’, Gillard’s Toss The Rulebook, Turkeys have chalked up a stupefying 19,090km, while Tony Abbott’s Obey The Rules, Arseclowns have notched up a staggering 27,575km. Together that’s a mind-blowing total of 46,665km — the equivalent of more than 3.1 million average-sized buses.

Gillard:

  • Julia Gillard toured the NSW central coast yesterday, where she kicked in $10 million towards the construction of the Central Coast Mariners stadium. Gillard said the subsidy would help build a $39 million sporting complex, complete with a 120-room hotel and a hydrotherapy centre. The Mariners expressed thanks on behalf of the seat of Dobell (3.9% ALP) by presenting the PM with a team jersey inscribed with ‘Gillard 10’.

Abbott:

  • Tony Abbott was in Thornlands in the super marginal seat of Bowman yesterday (0.005% Lib), where he announced his $3 billion a year paid parental leave scheme will not take effect until July 1, 2012 and that big business will pay less tax to fund it. Abbott’s scheme – which will be financed by a 1.5% levy on the nation’s 3370 largest firms – will allow women to stay at home with their baby for 26 weeks on their full pay, up to a cap of $150,000. Abbott said his plan offers working mothers “real money for real time”.

Stunt Watch:

  • Julia Gillard continued her ‘Real Julia’ transformation yesterday, as she hitched a ride on the press bus for a journey to the NSW Central Coast. The assembled hacks were clearly surprised by the unprecedented stunt, which included visits from Wayne Swan and John Faulkner. “JG and Swanny join the press pack on the bus to the NSW Central Coast,” tweeted 2UE reporter Latika Bourke from the bus:

    • giullardpressbus

Gaffe Watch:

  • Tony Abbott made a bit of a stumble yesterday when he ridiculed Julia Gillard’s offer of another debate, saying: “Are you suggesting to me that when it comes from Julia, ‘no’ doesn’t mean ‘no’?” News outlets jumped on the phrase, which is linked with anti-rape messages, pointing out it could affect Abbott’s standing with women. Abbott later defended his choice of words, saying he would not accept any implications they were insensitive to women. “I’m not going to cop this kind of vicious smear from the Labor government,” he said.

Bookie Watch:

Quotable:

  • From: Senator Steve Fielding <senator.fielding@aph.gov.au>
    Date:     3 August 2010 1:36:44 PM
    Subject:     Help Steve get re-elected
    “….ZXcgd2Vla3MsI EkgaGF2ZSBiZ WVuIGNhbXBha WduaW5n IG9uIGtleSB pc3N1ZXM gc3Vja…” — a snippet of an email recieved yesterday by a Crikey reader.

Where are they 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.