WHY ALBO IS DOWN BUT NOT OUT – AND THE FINAL WEEKS WILL MATTER THE MOST

DOWN but not out, with a long way to go.

It’s hard to think even Anthony Albanese would deny that of the two men vying to be Australia’s prime minister, he has had the worst first week on the election campaign trail.

The Labor leader got to enjoy all of 15 minutes basking in the glow of the campaign spotlight, laughing and chatting with parents at a playground in Launceston, before his day took a turn.

Mr Albanese’s blunder on key economic figures, including the unemployment and cash rate, sent his campaign careening off the tracks. His contrite apology for the mistake did not quell a tidal wave of bruising questions about his economic credibility. One misstep lead to another, with a press conference cut short further fuelling the sense this was a campaign in chaos.

But on Thursday Mr Albanese showed the first signs of pulling his campaign out of its tailspin, going to a place previous Labor leaders have dreaded: a coal mine in the Hunter.

But the day wasn’t without incident, with the Coalition seizing on a poorly explained answer to a question on asylum seeker boat turn backs and offshore detention centres, to imply Mr Albanese was changing Labor policy.

But even if he was let off the hook for that remark, there could be no hiding from the false claim that Labor’s urgent medical care clinics were fully costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office.

All Mr Morrison had to do was lie low and let Labor make things worse for itself. That’s not to say he stood still.

Mr Morrison’s week also hasn’t been without controversies, including spruiking his jobs commitment at a manufacturer in Parramatta poised to lay off workers in favour of hiring people in Vietnam.

He was also grilled about his failure to establish a national integrity commission. Many Labor figures are choosing to see the week as a timely wake-up call, and they’re not wrong to think most Australians will not be paying attention until the final weeks.