You might have mistaken the affair for a largish shire council meeting: aluminium chairs set out in rows, a bit of a stage too low to give most of the attendees an actual line-of-sight on the proceedings and big video screens set to blue with strange geometric shapes splashed across them bearing an endless repetition of the words the Turnbull campaign wants to bleed into the consciousness of voters in this last critical week. Strong Borders; Exports; Stable Government; Innovation; Small Business; More Jobs. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull makes a pitch on government stability at his campaign launch. Credit:Andrew Meares If this was the most exciting time to be alive, as Turnbull insists, you'd very nearly question the worth of living. Tony Abbott appeared to be doing just that. Seated up the front, right next to John and Jeanette Howard, Abbott assumed that look of strained nonchalance a man might get when he realises he has wandered in to an audience with a monarch only to discover his fly was down. The lips were pursed, the eyes flitted here and there, but there was no escape. Turnbull dealt with the Tony dilemma expeditiously.

"I welcome today my distinguished predecessors, John Howard and his wife Jeanette and Tony Abbott with his wife Margie," intoned the newish Prime Minister. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull with his grandson Jack and wife Lucy at the party launch in Homebush, Sydney. Credit:Andrew Meares "John, you set the gold standard leading the most successful and effective government, your reforms set Australia up for the longest period of prosperity in our history." There was the merest beat as the assembly wondered as one what Turnbull, who had brought down Abbott before he had been given the chance to complete a single term of government, might say in praise of his quarry. "You make us proud every time you stand up as our Foreign Minister": Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull heaped praise on Ms Bishop at the Sunday launch. Credit:Jason Edwards

"Tony you brought to an end the chaos and dysfunction of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years and you remain a powerful and dedicated advocate for our cause." And that was that. Abbott had been a handy opposition leader and was now, umm, a helper. Tony Abbott listens as Malcolm Turnbull launches the 2016 election campaign. Credit:Jason Edwards Turnbull took not much time to get to the point he wanted to make. Bill Shorten was a rotter and a liar and a danger to the nation, particularly in these post-Brexit times, or words to that effect. "This is no time to pull the doona over our heads – or as Labor and the Greens would have it, to pretend that the good times will just keep rolling no matter how much you tax, how much you borrow, or how much you spend."

Poor Malcolm Turnbull, by then wearing a sheen of fever upon his brow, looked rather as if he'd like to pull a doona over his head and, as he bore manfully on, and on, and much of his audience appeared to feel the same way. There was the occasional outbreak of cheering, but mainly when Turnbull called Shorten a rotter and a scoundrel and a liar and a scaremonger, or words to that effect. It took a while to work out that this downmarket, homely and yes, daggy, atmosphere was almost certainly a carefully planned affectation. Not a hint of the Turnbull harbourside mansion out here in western Sydney, thank you very much. The Liberals would leave that to Bill Shorten, who had all the hoopla and dress circle and themed music and a hundred T-shirted enthusiasts waving banners when he launched Labor's campaign last week.

Turnbull was just a common man with the flu bravely pointing out – several times – that Shorten ran scare campaigns and therefore wasn't fit to run the country. Loading A week to go. Follow us on Twitter