The prime minister has denied his attempts to pivot toward a softer, more empathetic persona is to counter poor polling, as he looks to shore up support in Queensland.
A week out from polling day, Scott Morrison admitted he could be “a bit of a bulldozer” but implored Australians to stick with the coalition, saying he would explain his motives and concerns and “empathise a lot more”.
On Monday, Mr Morrison denied his about-face was due to poor polling for the government ahead of Saturday’s election and his sagging popularity rating.
“I don’t agree with that,” he told the Seven Network.
“I’m just being honest with people. Over the last three years, it’s required a lot of strength to take Australia through (the pandemic) and we are continuing to need that strength.
“But what will change in the next few years is opportunities will increase.
“As we go into the next phase we are going to … move into that higher gear needed to secure that opportunity.”
Mr Morrison spent Monday in Queensland, where he went on the attack in the seat of Blair, held by Labor on a 1.2 per cent margin, spruiking his new housing policy at a display village southwest of Brisbane.
The prime minister contrasted his scheme, which allows first homebuyers to dip into their super, against Labor’s shared equity scheme as he sought to bring the election battle back to the economic front in the final week.
“If you’re asking me, ‘Am I going to agree with those who want to stand with the big-union super funds?’ I’m going to stand with the home buyer,” he said amid criticism the scheme would leave young Australians worse off in retirement.
“That’s who I’m standing with and I’ve stood with 300,000 of them in the past three years.”
Mr Morrison also visited a community darts centre in Cairns alongside Leichhardt LNP member Warren Entsch, who is facing a challenge to retain his seat, held on a 4.2 per cent margin.
Speaking to retirees about the region’s economic recovery, Mr Morrison tied Australia’s tourism rebound to the local Cairns industry.
“Meeting a lot of the local tourism operators, they convinced me that what was needed was Cairns and tropical north Queensland to lead the way again when it came to getting tourists back to Australia,” he said.
But the pitch may be too late for almost 15 per cent of the Leichhardt electorate who have already cast their vote.
The coalition remains behind in the polls, trailing Labor on a 54 per cent to 46 per cent two-party preferred basis, according to the latest Newspoll.
Mr Morrison leads his Labor rival Anthony Albanese on the preferred prime minister measure by a single point – 43 per cent to 42 per cent – but has taken a hit recently with a steady decline from 45 per cent since the end of April.
The prime minister has tried to sell a more positive message to voters disturbed by the consistent barbs and attacks by both parties in the lead-up to the vote.
The prime minister’s pitch at the coalition’s campaign launch on Sunday centred around aspiration and ambition.
