This morning Australians will have their first opportunity to head into the makeshift cardboard booths to cast their vote in the federal election with early voting starting today.
Those who tuned in to Sunday night’s leaders debate got another chance to scrutinise “Scott” and “Anthony”, who are calling each other by their first names but certainly not as terms of endearment.
It was the second debate of the election campaign. It started and ran late into the evening and it was lengthy.
What happened? Here's the quick summary.
We learned that despite Labor making a pitch on higher wages central to its election plan, there is no concrete commitment that a Labor Government would be able to deliver a real wage increase above inflation.
We learned that the prime minister now concedes that saying the vaccine rollout was “not a race” was not accurate and it should not have been described that way.
We were also told by Scott Morrison that he has “never” seen political corruption in his political career.
Both men were asked for their definitions of a woman. Scott said “a member of the female sex”. Anthony said “an adult female”.
And despite the cost of living pressures neither party intends to extend the six-month halving of fuel excise beyond September.
But there are still key facts voters don’t know.
Neither leader wants to be drawn on exactly what they would do if they don’t win an outright majority, which is a real possibility and could require major policy trade-offs to secure support.
Scott Morrison has also been questioned all week about his “red line” threat if Chinese military bases spring up on Solomon Islands — he’s still refusing to say what would actually happen if the line was crossed.
There’s also quite a lot from the debate we can’t decipher because the two candidates regularly shouted at length over the top of each other and the moderator, 60 Minutes reporter Sarah Abo.
This week Scott Morrison ramped up his critique of Anthony Albanese as a “weak” candidate who has been “hiding in the bushes” away from scrutiny for the last three years.
Anthony Albanese took his own swipe at his opponent, “what does it take to wake up this government?” he questioned towards the end of the debate, referencing the bushfires and pandemic.
Channel Nine’s coverage included a whip around the country with marginal seat voters asked for their views on the debate.
Some complained of a lack of respect from the candidates and pointed to the leaders’ interruptions as a frustration.
The leaders will be treating each day as an opportunity to try to convince more voters to mark the box for their party.
Both leaders, but particularly the prime minister, have vented about the problem with being too Canberra-focused or inside the “bubble”, as Scott Morrison describes it.
But the debate gave off a vibe of Question Time tactics from the candidates, a style that doesn’t appear to be embraced in the streets.
The undecided figures in the latest opinion polls, always taken with a large grain of salt, might encourage the leaders to take a few more risks and engage directly with voters, currently a rarity on the campaigns.
Even if they get an earful every now and again on election campaign street walks, it might also help them see why voters in some key marginal seats appear to be tiring of their style of political combat and looking to the crossbench for answers.
