Labor’s election bid suffers in final days

MAJOR cracks are starting to appear in Labor’s campaign for another four years in power.

Not only was their campaign heavily impacted by Chief Minister Michael Gunner’s inarticulate and confusing choice of words in a national TV interview about our border controls, it was also stung by Health Minister Natasha Fyles not ruling out a future leadership challenge during a press conference the following day.

Coupled with those two moments, the talk of the town is where is Nicole Manison — the deputy chief minister and treasurer — and where are all the Labor policies?

For someone who has been front and centre of the Gunner government since they were elected in 2016, Ms Manison has been noticeably absent since she faced the cameras late last month to announce that Territorians would be burdened with an $8.2bn debt next year.

Labor appear to have hidden Ms Manison from the media in the past fortnight to avoid scrutiny on the economy and how she plans to fix it. The economy has been a train wreck under her and Mr Gunner’s watch, so it’s little wonder they don’t want people talking about it.

As much as Labor and Mr Gunner believe Territorians will vote for them because of their handling of coronavirus, voters are smarter than that. Many won’t forget what crime and the economy have been like during the past four years.

If Labor genuinely believe COVID-19 will give them a magic carpet ride to another term in office, they need to think again and start talking about policies.

With only six days until election day, Labor should be seriously concerned about the ever-improving performance of CLP leader Lia Finocchiaro during the campaign.

While it’s still a three-horse race on paper, as each day goes by, Ms Finocchiaro and the CLP appear to be rapidly gaining ground with the electorate.

Strap yourselves in, we’re in for a wild election.