Bridge-building gesture

One leading conservative cautioned that Mr Turnbull would be wise to make a significant bridge-building gesture after the election. If he overlooked Mr Abbott, he should at least earmark for promotion other up and coming conservatives such as ACT Senator Zed Seselja ,Victorian MP Michael Sukkar "and others of that ilk".

"I think he's going to have to," the MP said.

Mr Abbott has kept his head down during the campaign. Apart from a high-profile launch in his seat of Warringah, he has been campaigning for colleagues in marginal seats from Queensland to Western Australia but has not attempted to overshadow Mr Turnbull.

With just over a fortnight until polling day, the Coalition is growing increasingly confident of victory.

Labor started the campaign with a notional 57 seats and the Coalition a notional 89. A party needs 76 to govern in its own right.

Strategists on both sides said it is hard to identify more than about a dozen seats Labor will win from the Coalition on election day. But there is now concern in Labor over some of the seats it holds, including Kevin Rudd's old seat of Griffith in Brisbane, and the seat of Adelaide, held by shadow education minister Kate Ellis.

Not giving up


A party source said Labor's prospects had declined across the city of Brisbane, in part due to the unpopularity of the state Labor government and because "they just don't hate Turnbull like they hated Abbott". Labor's fortunes in northern Queensland are slightly brighter but with the seat of Capricornia considered winnable.

On Wednesday, Labor leader Bill Shorten, also in Perth, showed no sign of giving up and he accused Mr Turnbull of hubris after a fired-up Prime Minister told a West Australian Liberal Party rally on Tuesday night "we will win on July 2".

Mr Shorten said "I believe that we can win and I promise to work day and night with my Labor team every day, every night between now and the election because we are in this election to win it.

"I would never be so arrogant as to say we will win. Apart from any other reason, the election hasn't been held, the votes haven't been counted. How out of touch is this Turnbull just to simply declare that he's won? The people who will decide the future of this country are 16 million Australians. I think it is the height of arrogance to tell Australians that their vote doesn't matter because he's decided that he will win."

Small target strategy

Mr Shorten will announce on Thursday a $68.6 million program to generate local jobs in disadvantaged communities. It will be rolled out in 20 communities with high unemployment and other challenges such as low educational attainment or multigenerational disadvantage.

On Tuesday The Australian Financial Review reported that the Coalition was adopting a small target strategy between now and election day amid high levels of voter disgruntlement and a growing structural disengagement with the mainstream political class. The Coalition will essentially stay focused on its perceived strength as economic managers.

Mr Turnbull pushed this on Wednesday, citing the global financial uncertainty caused by the possibility next week of Britain exiting the European Union as a reason to stick with his government.


"The British people will of course make their own decision and it's a matter for them. But it is possible that Britain will vote to leave the EU. That will cause a degree of uncertainty in global markets, and the anticipation of that is already doing that," he said.

"There are many things that occur in the global economy over which we have no control. There are many shocks that can occur. The way we proof ourselves best against that, to be able to deal with them best, is to have a clear national economic plan."

Mr Shorten argued that Labor's medium-term plan for structural budget repair would leave Australia better placed.

"Whatever the outcome [of Brexit] I would encourage markets to stay calm," he said.

"What happens overseas highlights the importance of what Labor is talking about in this election. If we want to make sure Australia has the capacity to withstand events overseas, you do that by making long-term decisions. You do that by investing in education, you do that by investing in the National Broadband Network."