Turnbull, who heads the center-right Liberal Party, visited the governor-general on Sunday to lock in a July 2 election date and trigger the unusually long campaign.
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The Prime Minister stressed the Coalition’s record on border protection, its plan to build new 12 submarines and navy frigates as part of its defence industry investment plan, the importance of science and innovation, and the need to pass laws to re-establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission in his re-election pitch.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a polished millionaire former banker whose socially liberal views include support for gay marriage, is up against Labor’s Bill Shorten, an ambitious and articulate former union chief whose mantra is fighting for middle and working class families.
There have only been six such elections – which will see both houses of parliament dissolved Monday and all 150 House of Representatives seats and 76 Senate places up for election – since the Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901.
The opposition Labour Party needs to gain 21 seats in the lower house to win although changes to electoral boundaries mean it nominally holds three of those seats already.
Turnbull has consistently outpolled Labor leader Bill Shorten in terms of personal popularity but his government has struggled to propose an alternative to Labor’s big-spending promises on health and education.
It will not necessarily be an easy march to victory for the PM, after a Seven-ReachTel poll found the Labor and Coalition’s primary votes both sitting at 50-50.
Treasurer Scott Morrison last week announced the government’s budget, in what was widely regarded as a de-facto election campaign launch.
The government said it would cut the company tax rate in stages over 10 years and also provided modest tax relief for workers earning over A$80,000 per year.
There were no major tax cuts or cash handouts for voters, with the government keen to emphasise its economic management record. But recent figures suggest the government is now running neck-and-neck with Labor.
The speech prime ministers deliver on the day they call the election is a critical opportunity to frame the campaign and its defining issues.
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The next federal elections are due to be held in Australia before the start of 2017. If legislation passed by the lower house becomes stalled, or is rejected, twice in the Senate, resolving the conflict can be achieved by a double dissolution of parliament, where all seats in both houses are then contested.
