Boats and climate. The opening skirmishes of the 2016 election campaign show the perennial frictions of Australian politics remain just that, perennial - despite the passing of Tony Abbott and talk of a new more hopeful discourse.

More interesting than these rehashed themes is the way they are being deployed to evince a sincerity deficit on the other side. This is what rival politicians do when their opponents essentially agree with them: quibble over commitment.

On the first day of the contest, this withering process was happening in both directions.