It’s finally on — and so is the debate

Yesterday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the election. This has, understandably, set chins wagging in the Crikey bunker and among our readers. Poll Bludger William Bowe crunched the numbers to find the likely outcome, while Bernard Keane discussed the shape of the electoral contest. Elsewhere, Charlie Lewis explained the buzz around electric cars.

On the likely winner

Steven Westbrook writes: An observation for those running parallels between the NSW state election and the federal election: if I remember correctly, the NSW state polls had been pretty much even stevens for the 12 months preceding the election. It would appear to me that NSW Labor’s problem is that its vote is locked up in safe seats, so the 49% TPP didn’t translate into marginal seat gains. The federal polling has been consistently pro-Labor for several years, except for a brief time when Malcolm Turnbull narrowed the gap. And the federal ALP does not need a significant swing just to gain marginal seats from the Coalition.

On the policy battle

Margaret Marshall writes: Bernard wrote: “Labor has a more coherent policy set …”

Who are you kidding Bernard? They both agree on Adani. The both agree on Manus Island and Nauru. They both agree on most things. Both of them don’t know what to do about the Murray/Darling Basin and the lack of water. Both don’t know what to do about The Great Barrier Reef. Both of them believe in growth and the big Australia. Both agree on migration. The ball is in the air … they even agree on political football. Vote independent and forget the major parties.

On electric vehicles

Richard Shortt writes: Like solar panels on roof tops and sustainable energy farms — be they solar or wind — EVs [electric vehicles] will arrive and be devoured creating a burst of sales, manufacturing (sadly not here) and usage. Once again, the thinkers and pundits of the 20th century will be proven wrong by a wide margin by the thinkers and pundits of the 21st century. As we once had no gas stations during the transition from horses to horse-power we will see charging stations, posts and convenient locations spring up like wild flowers across the nation. Have no doubt, the revolution is here and its electric.

Peter Hannigan writes: The “take away your utes” line from the PM is quite weird when you think it through. My understanding is that the classic ute shape used in Australia (Holden, Ford) was only made here. They were built on car chassis with the ute body shape. That means the supply of these utes has stopped now with those companies ceasing all car production. And who was responsible for that? The Coalition courtesy of the Abbot government.