With the first week of election campaigning over, both Labor and Liberal will be looking towards a better second week, as misunderstanding and insensitive comments rock the respective parties. At the same time, minor parties and independents face the heat, with One Nation notably seeing the largest downturn in the opinion polls. Who exactly has come out on top from this weeks campaigning and who has seen the bottom of the barrel?
Winners:
The Greens: With little scandal and lack of controversy, the Greens come out as the clear winners of this first week. As Labor’s best bet at pushing laws and legislation through the senate, even with a win during the election and riding high from the wave of Environmentally thoughtful voters, it is very possible that the Greens do better than the 10% of the popular vote they gained in the last federal election. Should Labor refuse to give quality responses on environmental issues and take a stand to ensure Adani, at the very least, follows all scientific advisement, they could find many of their primary voters moving further left and voting Green.
The United Australian Party: With a week filled with a lack of controversy for the United Australian Party, they do seem to be on the move to gain atleast one seat in the coming election, with the Seat of Bruce in Melbourne only being contested between them and Labor. With the downwards spiral of One Nation in light of recent controversies with leader Pauline Hanson, it is possibly many of the One Nation voters move to this new party, seeking a change of tone. Keep an eye on this space within the coming weeks.
The Labor and Liberal Parties: Despite a rocky week for both parties leaders, as well as key party members, both parties as a whole have benefited from the fall of One Nation, with both increasing in the Primary vote Polls. However, Labor continues to lead by a decent margin in the Two party preferred polls, and little seems to be swaying any opinion on that.
Losers:
Peter Dutton: Starting the election campaign trail off with incredible controversy, Petter Dutton’s inappropriate remarks towards his Labor opponent, Ali France, in his marginal seat of Dickson, see him as this weeks biggest loser. With his seat already being in a marginal position, and the nation looking towards a Labor swing, the controversy which rocked Dutton’s campaign, in which he made negative remarks towards his opponents ‘disability’, may see him lose the seat altogether, especially with the time taken for him to have made an apology.
One Nation: Certainly a close second in the losers this week is the One Nation party. With the latest newspoll polling ONP at 4% of the primary vote, down 1% from the last poll, the chances for the party to retain their single seat are rapidly reducing, especially with newcomer UAP looking to take vital voters away from the ONP.
Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten: While both’s parties saw an increase at the polls this week, both party leaders have done relatively poorly over the week, with both thankful for the Easter Weekend respite. With Shorten’s fumble when discussing Labor’s tax on superannuation coming after day’s of intense questioning, the opposition leader will certainly be licking his albeit slight wounds over the weekend. Prime Minister Morrison fared no better over the week, as 3 days of silence on the Dutton controversy caused him to come under fire by many already attacking Dutton. Backing and than quickly withdrawing on Nuclear Power plans for Australia rounded up Scott Morrison’s weak performance this week.
Independent Kerryn Phelps and Centre Alliance MP Rebekha Sharkie: While not losing in any traditional or polling sense, both ladies have seen dirty tactics work to undermine their campaigns. As members of minor parties/independents, both ladies have little money to directly campaign with and as such, tactics such as removing Phelp’s campaign signs by the hundreds and robocalling people pretending to be Sharkie could see the ladies’ already finite resources stretched thin.
Overall, a mixed bag of winners and losers, with no lack of controversy hitting both the Major and minor parties as well as independents. All contenders in this election will need to use this Easter Break to refocus and prepare for the next 4 weeks of campaigning. Watch the Greens and the UAP for possible further breakthrough in the election, as well as the ALP and Lib Coalition for further scandals in the next week.
PoliticsBuff 