ANALYSIS: Morrison's launch was another reset moment — but an unscripted joke laid bare the real battle
But in picking the last Sunday to make his final pitch to voters, Morrison did so after more than 2.5 million votes have already been cast.His centrepiece announcement was aimed at first-home buyers, having earlier in the day unveiled changes aimed at tax incentives to encourage older Australians to downsize their homes.
If re-elected, the Coalition would allow first-home buyers to raid up to $50,000, or 40 per cent, of their their superannuation to get into the market.The money withdrawn, plus some of the capital gains, would have to be returned to superannuation accounts when the home is sold.Housing has been a core issue this campaign. With prices setting records and interest rates on the rise, frustration is building in the community that a generation of Australians could well be locked out of the market.
Morrison heads to the polls as living costs soar, amid a war in eastern Europe and an increasingly expanding China in the Asia-Pacific.“Better days are ahead but we cannot take them for granted," he warned.Josh Frydenberg was tasked with going after Labor leader Anthony Albanese.Morrison all but ignored Albanese in his 51-minute speech. The task of savaging the Labor leader was left to Morrison's deputy, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
But he'll need to win his seat to do that — something far from certain as he faces the fight of his political life.Frydenberg and other moderates in once-safe seats in traditional Liberal heartland could be out of jobs in a week. They won't have lost them to a Labor opposition but to the so-called teal independents, women who are socially progressive, economically conservative, pro-climate and pro-integrity.That many of the teal candidates aren't running as Liberals is a sign of how conservative and male the party has become.Morrison has played a major role in driving the moderates out of his party.Posted