"Yes, we need a new way but to get a new way we have to choose a new government: a new government with a positive plan to restore the hope, reward and opportunity that should be your birth right." Liberals leader Tony Abbott at the Liberals campaign launch. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Mr Abbott made three new commitments. In a pitch to to young voters, he promised a scheme to provide $20,000 interest-free loans to help apprentices in areas of skill shortage buy tools and equipment. In a bid for the vote of older Australians, Mr Abbott promised to index eligibility thresholds for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card so that more self-funded retirees could access cheaper medicines, as well as promising a Coalition government would provide $200 million for dementia research.

Mr Abbott said on day one of a Coalition government, he would instruct the public service to prepare legislation to repeal the carbon tax, and give the directions to start Operation Sovereign Borders, the Coalition’s military-led plan to combat people smuggling. Former PM John Howard arrives to a standing ovation at the Liberals campaign launch. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen By the end of a Coalition government's first term, Mr Abbott said the budget would be ‘‘on-track to a believable surplus’’. ‘‘Within a decade, the budget surplus will be 1 per cent of GDP, defence spending will be 2 per cent of GDP, the private health insurance rebate will be fully restored, and each year, government will be a smaller percentage of our economy,’’ Mr Abbott said. Queensland Premier Campbell Newman at the Liberals campaign launch in Brisbane. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Mr Abbott promised a ‘‘no surprises, no excuses’’ government. ‘‘This election is all about trust,’’ he said. ‘‘Who do you trust to reduce power prices and gas prices? Trust the party that will abolish the carbon tax, not the one that inflicted it on you.’’ ‘‘Who do you trust to stop the boats? Trust the party that solved the problem, not the one that started it up again.’’ Mr Abbott said Prime Minister Kevin Rudd never spoke about his record because he knew his government had failed and was running ‘‘the most dishonest election campaign in our history’’.

‘‘He knows that the carbon tax has been a disaster – that’s why he’s faked abolishing it.’’ ‘‘He knows that the Labor Party has become a national embarrassment – that’s why he’s faked reforming it.’’ ‘‘He says that a Coalition government would sack nurses and teachers even though we don’t employ any ... and sell schools and hospitals ... even though we don’t own any.’’ Mr Abbott closed with a pitch to voters who did not normally vote for the Coalition. ‘‘To Labor voters wondering why your party has sold its soul to the Greens; to Green voters wondering why your party has embraced socialism over environmentalism; to independent voters wondering why your MP has sided with a bad government, to everyone who has been let down and embarrassed by the circus in Canberra, I say: give my team a chance.’’

‘‘We have the plan, we have the team and we are ready.’’ ‘‘For your family’s sake, for our country, join us.’’ Mr Abbott was introduced by his daughters Frances and Bridget, who said he was a ‘‘netball dad’’ who would watch his daughters play for Forest Netball Club and yell from the sidelines: ‘‘Run Forest, run.’’ ‘‘My dad looks out for everyone, and I know that he will look out for you,’’ Frances said. Bridget said her father said ‘‘Politics isn’t about the politician, it’s about the people you help.’’

‘‘You have to get out there and have a go, just as he’s always done, and that is why we’re so proud of him,’’ she said. Queensland Premier Campbell Newman kicked off the launch with a rallying cry to ‘‘elect a grown up government,’’ with ‘‘a real plan for the nation’s future’’ which would give the nation a ‘‘fresh start’’. The Liberals deputy leader, Julie Bishop, took the opportunity to refer to the resignations of ministers that followed Kevin Rudd's return to the Labor leadership, saying even Mr Rudd's colleagues said he was not fit for the job of prime minister. ‘‘If his own party don’t believe in Kevin Rudd, and they’ve sacked him once, why should the Australian people ever trust him with the top job again?‘‘ Ms Bishop said. Ms Bishop said "the trouble with Kevin is he’s a fake - all these multiple personalities’’.

In contrast, she said Mr Abbott was ‘‘the real deal,’’ who spent his own time volunteering in remote indigenous communities and as a volunteer firefighter because he wanted to improve the nation. ‘‘You can believe him when he says he wants to build a better and fairer Australia as prime minister.’’ She said unlike Labor, the Coalition was united behind its leader. ‘‘Tony Abbott’s team want to work with him,’’ she said. In his address, Nationals leader Warren Truss said Labor had ignored regional Australia.

‘‘Julia’s idea of an expedition into the country is to spend a few days in western Sydney,’’ he said. ‘‘As for Kevin, he prefers to see the country from 30,000 feet while he’s on his way to another country.’’ The Coalition is in a commanding position as it enters the final two weeks of the campaign, with the latest Fairfax/Nielsen poll showing the Coalition leading Labor 53-47 on a two-party-preferred basis. Labor campaign spokesman Mark Dreyfus responded to the Liberal Party's launch, saying Mr Abbott had failed to detail how he would pay for his promises.



‘‘Mr Abbott will condemn Australians to a generation of cuts if he is elected to office,’’ Mr Dreyfus told reporters in Melbourne.



‘‘Tony Abbott failed to come clean on where the cuts that he is planning are going to fall." When interviewed on Channel Ten on Sunday before the launch, Mr Abbott said he was taking nothing for granted.

"Yes, there’s a sense in which this election should rest on the last six years, more than the next fortnight, but as they say, a week is a hell of a long time in politics. A fortnight is an eternity." Loading Kevin Rudd will officially launch Labor's campaign next Sunday, also in Brisbane. Labor need to seize several Coalition-held seats in Queensland in order to form government. With AAP