Crikey

What a bizarre weekend on the hustings that was. From footage of Gillard and Rudd studiously avoiding each other and pointing at maps of Queensland, to disgraced former ALP leader Mark Latham emerging in the press pack and Tony Abbott standing up at the Real Action at the Liberal Party campaign, there was a plethora of goodies for political junkies in need a quick sugary hit.

Truth is better than fiction for Tony Wright at The Age:

“The federal election has turned into a crime novel. Kevin was killing the government. Julia and her secret assassin squad killed Kevin, or thought they had. But Kevin, still breathing and returning to the crime scene under cover of darkness, began killing Julia. Julia, knowing not what to do, killed herself.”

The staged Gillard and Rudd meeting was reminiscent of another political photo op for Michael Kroger in The Oz: “While it was altogether in different circumstances, the awkwardly stage-managed meeting between Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd did remind me, if just for a moment, of the last photo opportunity involving Elena and Nicolae Ceausescu.”

Phillip Coorey was reminded of another awkward political duo: it “…was as cringeworthy as John Howard and Peter Costello’s double act during the dying days of the 2007 campaign when they appeared in their shirt sleeves and pretended to like each other,” he writes in The Sydney Morning Herald.

But Rudd helping Gillard helps Rudd, says Paul Kelly at The Oz:

“This extremely contrived unity “fix” is fragile but should assist Labor’s campaign, notably in Queensland. It is far superior to Rudd’s humiliating exile, with media leaks engulfing Gillard. Rudd’s self-interest is obvious: a Labor victory to which he makes a tangible contribution.”

Apparently Gillard didn’t need Rudd’s support. Based on the latest Newspoll, “Julia Gillard was repairing the damage inflicted on the Rudd government in western Sydney and Queensland before the former PM joined Labor’s campaign,” says Dennis Shanahan in The Oz.

Stuff Julia, this was Rudd’s revenge. “All he did was publicly put the little lady in her place,” writes Sally Morrell in the Herald Sun. “Rarely have I seen Ms Gillard made to look so submissive, so less the feisty so-called real Julia. And so less prime ministerial.”

Leadership has turned into one of the key debates in this campaign, with every ex-ALP and Liberal leader jumping in to have their say. “Leaders asserting their leadership. Grabbing the loud hailer. Saying something. Saying something seriously crazy, sure, but somehow the epic interventions define these strange and unwieldy times,” writes Katharine Murphy in The Age.

That other Labor leader Mark Latham appeared on Saturday in the press pack as a guest reporter on Nine’s 60 Minutes, even aggressively shaking Gillard’s hand and demanding to know why the ALP had complained about his presence. Gillard was frustrated by the Latham stunt, declaring on Insiders yesterday: “We’re in the middle of an election campaign, I’m the Prime Minister of this country, I’m not a human interest story.”

Latham’s accosting of the PM was “the most bizarre moment yet” in this campaign for Michelle Grattan, who noted in The Age “Just when you thought Labor couldn’t inflict any more harm on itself, it has managed to do so.”

Latham should be ashamed, since he “has become all he once claimed to despise, and a sad parody of himself,” laments Phillip Coorey in the SMH.

Nine News stalwart Laurie Oakes was unimpressed by Latham appeared as a guest reporter for Nine’s 60 Minutes. When asked how damaging Latham was for the Labor Party, a clearly frustrated Oakes replied “I’m more concerned with how damaging he is for the Nine Network… he’s not a journalist, he’s still full of bile and settling old scores.”

Speaking of Laurie Oakes, Lindsay Tanner wrote a column in The Oz yesterday declaring that he was not the Oakes leaker and how frustrated he was by the media’s focus on the leak stories: “It’s about time some journalists stopped playing detective and started asking serious questions about the content of both parties’ policies.”

It was a good weekend for Real Action man Tony Abbott, as he kicked off the Liberal Party campaign launch with a speech (full text here) to the Liberal faithful, focused on conservative values and special attention to controlling national debt and spending:

“…Our task is nothing less than to save Australia from the worst government in its history. Now I know this is a big claim but consider the facts. This is a government that’s broken promises, that’s wasted money and tried to clobber the country’s most successful industry with a great big new tax…

We must offer the Australian people a better way. So I say again, if elected a Coalition government will end the waste, pay back the debt, stop the big new taxes, stop the boats and help struggling families and we will do that from day one.”

The commentariat seemed unsure of Abbott’s carefully polished, policy free speech. Abbott was careful to keep all political talk general, with Ben Packham calling it a “policy-lite campaign launch” in the Herald Sun.

This was not your typical campaign launch, says Shanahan in The Oz. “Tony Abbott has created a new precedent in an extraordinary election campaign — - the Liberal leader launched his campaign without making one new promise… Indeed, it was virtually a speech without spending at all.”

Was it a good idea to keep the focus on ALP leadership or should Abbott have offered at least one new idea?

Paul Kelly wanted more: “Liberal strategists know the election hangs in the balance, yet Abbott chose to repeat, not expand, his policy framework”, he writes in The Oz.

Rather than moving forward, the Libs are looking backwards. “Tony Abbott has launched the Liberal Party’s campaign as a poor man’s John Howard,” says Peter Hartcher in the Sydney Morning Herald.

But Abbott knew what he was doing, claims Shanahan in today’s Oz: “…the underdog at the beginning of the election, [Abbott] has adopted the low-key, low-risk strategy of a political frontrunner.”

And Abbott’s good fortune is all thanks to the Labor Party. ”Why else would he spend half of his speech talking about his opponents?” asks Annabel Crabb at The Drum.

Michelle Grattan gave a thumb-up to Abbott’s performance. “Tony Abbott’s challenge at his launch was to look convincing as alternative prime minister — and he did,” writes Grattan in The Age.

Katharine Murphy sums it up in The Age: “Boil it all down yesterday and Tony Abbott’s plan of attack is this: if he can make you loathe Labor more than you fear him then he wins on August 21.”

He’s had a lucky run — “…Mr Abbott had the air of a winner about him yesterday in Brisbane’s Performing Arts Centre, displaying all the characteristics of a man who is on a roll but does not want to jinx it,” says Mark Kenny in The Adelaide Advertiser.

Liberals think they have this one in the bag, claims Michael Madigan at the Herald Sun.”They couldn’t be accused of outright glee, but the almost playful humour of Coalition MP’s at today’s official campaign launch in Brisbane suggests those serving in Her Majesty’s Opposition don’t believe they will be for long.”

Despite all this talk of Liberal getting the economy back on track, Abbott seems to be avoiding the facts: despite his claims, the New Zealand economy is not doing just as well as Australia, writes Jessica Irvine in the Sydney Morning Herald. “Perhaps Abbott was just having a bad economic hair day, or maybe he needs better economic advisers. But it is symptomatic of the lengths the Coalition will go to to the deny the relative success of the Australian economy. It smacks of sour grapes.”

Abbott’s paid parental leave is full of holes too, essentially robbing the poor to give to the rich, says Paul Kerin at The Age. “Politicians always claim their handouts produce economic benefits. It is hard to see what incremental benefits Abbott’s scheme provides.”

Abbott is silly to refuse to debate Gillard on the economy, since “it exposes his attempt to win the prime ministership on the back of Labor’s failures instead of his own credentials,” says Peter van Onselen in The Oz.

Meanwhile, how will the federal election influence the upcoming Victorian state election? Tony Abbott and Ted Bailleu are very different individuals and “…in this election, Abbott has prosecuted a particular brand of Liberalism — anti-immigration, anti-carbon price, anti-boat people — which increasingly clashes with Baillieu’s worldview,” notes Melissa Fyfe in The Sunday Age.

Despite the rhetoric, the two major parties aren’t exactly polls apart. Galaxy had Labor leading the Coalition in the two-party preferred 51-49, which is the same result as the latest Neilsen poll, while the weekend Newspoll has Labor up 52-48.

Ultimately it’s an election between Abbott and Gillard. The Rooty Hill RSL is set for a showdown this Wednesday, as the two leaders battle it out against each other in a “town hall style public forum”.

Bugger the ex-leaders, get your gloves on for this campaign’s biggest fight.