Costings row, Albo courts Stokes, plus Dutton the biggest loser in defamation case

Hey, it’s me, the undecided voter likely to change my mind because Labor hasn’t released its costings yet!

Today, the back and forth between both camps was dominated by this fairly insider-ish clash over the opposition’s decision to wait until the 11th hour to release the costs of its policies.

“How can you trust an opposition that says they want to take the reins of the Australian economy when they haven’t been prepared to share with you what their policies cost?” thundered Scott Morrison.

The bulldozer hasn’t been parked just yet.

This morning, former Labor leader Bill Shorten confirmed the opposition would release its costings on Thursday, following the precedent set by Tony Abbott at the 2010 and 2013 elections. Later, opposition treasurer Jim Chalmers hinted the size of the deficit under Labor (already at record levels) might be slightly bigger.

“What matters most is the quality of the investments. We’d be inheriting a trillion dollars in debt, and no plan to grow the economy the right way,” he said.

That didn’t stop Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese facing a barrage of questions about Labor’s costings, which followed him out the door of a press conference today. 

Just to give this very 2013 “whose deficit is bigger” fight a bit more oomph, the Coalition released its costings today. The key feature was a $3.3 billion cut to the public service, increasing the efficiency dividend from 1.5% to 2%.

Morrison, when asked whether this cut to the public service was “mean spirited”, argued it was an “entirely sensible” move that most taxpayers would agree with.

“They’re paid well,” Morrison said of the senior public servants tasked with delivering those cuts.

A few more observations about the Morrison campaign: the prime minister was in the Northern Territory seat of Lingiari today, which the Coalition hopes to claw back from Labor (it’s had a few visits from Morrison and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce).

For the second straight day, the campaign followed a pattern of suburban housing development in the morning followed by hanging out with seniors in the afternoon. 

Also, Morrison’s wife, Jenny, has been with him on the campaign trail ever since Sunday’s launch, which came days after his admission that he maybe needed to show a softer side. Make of that what you will.

Over in Perth, meanwhile, Albanese continued his full court press of the town’s dominant media mogul Kerry Stokes, addressing a breakfast hosted by The West Australian. 

And in a courtroom far from the leadership hustings came an embarrassing loss for one of the Coalition’s most senior figures. A full bench of the Federal Court upheld an appeal from refugee activist Shane Bazzi against a judgment that found he’d defamed Peter Dutton in a tweet calling the defence minister a “rape apologist”.

Finally, a few more slightly desperate-sounding interventions from a number of the Liberal Party’s elder statespeople. Former prime minister John Howard was out campaigning in the Victorian marginals of Chisholm and Higgins (the latter is a bit too tealish for Morrison). His voice is also being used to robocall voters.

That call included a message for any Liberals risking a teal protest vote:

“A vote for an independent would risk a hung Parliament, which would mean gridlock, and be disastrous for our country.”

Speaking at an oil and gas lobby conference today, former foreign minister Julie Bishop had a similar warning, claiming a vote for the teals would “eat the heart out” of the Liberal Party. All going well then.