Even the canine pollsters sniff Labor election victory
The dog days could soon be over for the prime minister as a different species of pollster moves in his favour.
The fate of Anthony Albanese’s campaign was placed in the snouts of predictive pooches during an FM radio blitz in Brisbane on Tuesday morning.
Suki, Snapper and Marlin, who belong to the crew of the Robin and Kip with Corey Oates radio show, were asked to choose between two treat plates: a red one for Labor and a blue one for the Liberals.
As the humans vacated the room, Suki and Snapper made a beeline for the Labor dish while Marlin took a moment to ponder before following suit.
The hosts also discussed Albanese’s own cavoodle as the prime minister brandished fresh socks emblazoned with his fur-baby’s face.
“I share custody of Toto with my ex-wife,” he told KIIS radio.
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With voters heading to the ballot box on Saturday, human pollsters also tip the election in Labor’s direction.
Albanese continued to make himself at home in Brisbane, spruiking new construction in the inner seat of Griffith where the Greens housing spokesman made his name.
Max Chandler-Mather has become a firebrand since pulling the electorate from Labor at the 2022 election, painting himself as a champion of renters in a parliament of property investors.
But Labor hopes to win the seat back by leaning on a perception the Greens have drifted too far from their environment-focused foundations.
“We know that the local MP here has personally held up investments like this,” Albanese told reporters of the residential project.
Labor’s attempts to pass policy that would build more homes and help young people into the market were interrupted by the minor party as they tried to ensure protections for renters in the final bill.
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The government’s Housing Australia Future Fund, which aims to build thousands more homes, eventually passed with Greens support after Labor reached a deal to spend an extra $3 billion to immediately deliver housing.
Albanese has not been greeted with totally open arms — a Rising Tide activist tried to heckle him on his way out of the press conference.
“The fossil fuel era is over,” she said. “When are you going to stop approving new oil and gas?”
It was the sixth time protesters have taken aim at the prime minister during the campaign and the third time Rising Tide have appeared.
Later on Tuesday morning, a man wearing a Conservative Political Action Conference cap yelled at the prime minister as he toured an early voting centre in the coalition electorate of Bonner.
“What’s a woman?” he said.
“What are you going to do about the price of housing?”
The prime minister said he would not let the incidents stop him from interacting with the public, having toured three Sydney pre-polling booths on Monday.
“I’m not frightened of getting out there and talking to people in environments that aren’t controlled,” he said.
– with pool reporters
