It’s builder v bulldozer as Oz goes to the polls

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison heads into the final stretch of the election campaign this week in full wooing mode. On Friday, like a desperate husband pleading with a spouse who is sick of his ways, Morrison came close to begging: “I can still change. Honest.”

“As we go into this next period, on the other side of this election, I know there are things that are going to have to change with the way I do things,” he said, adding he “can be a bit of a bulldozer”.

Until this new suggestion that the PM would be able to tone it down, Morrison had been presenting himself as the stronger option to opponent Anthony Albanese’s “loose unit”.

“What Australians have needed from me going through this pandemic has been strength and resilience,” Morrison said.

Now he’s trying to convince undecided voters that there would be some change, but still from a safe pair of hands.

However, drawing attention to his character puts the May 21 election focus on himself, when he would want to raise doubts about the fitness of Labor’s Albanese.

It can’t be a good position for an incumbent leader to be in, with his party behind in the polls, and with time running out.

Policy is a tricky area amid cost of living inflation and a complex economic outlook.

Morrison says economic management is the Coalition government’s strong suit, whereas Albanese suggests there’s room for improvement.

Has the PM’s polarising personality caught up with him?

An ABC analysis summed it up: “The Liberal Party is so acutely conscious of Scott Morrison’s unpopularity that its pitch to voters has been crafted to accommodate it.”

News.com.au reported during a focus group of swing voters that Morrison was described as “selfish”, “arrogant” and “obnoxious”.

Albanese has made a number of gaffes during the campaign but he also has a knack for clear, memorable phrases.

He seems to be on top of the issue of voter frustrations with Morrison, describing himself as “a builder” to the PM’s “bulldozer”.

Albanese also didn’t miss the opening he’d been given to reinforce the idea that re-electing Morrison would mean more of the same.

“He will not change. He will just get more arrogant, more out of touch, less trustworthy. If you want change . . . just change the government.”

The result will be keenly analysed on this side of the Tasman.

Morrison must hope the Liberals’ late campaign launch yesterday also gives him a late boost, and that Australians are in the mood to give him another chance.