By Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he expects the Aston byelection result to be close.
He is currently campaigning in the Victorian seat alongside Liberal candidate Roshena Campbell.
“In a byelection, people know that they’re not going to change the government – so there is a greater focus on the local candidate,” Dutton told ABC radio this morning.
“The government’s in its first year, so it’s still in its honeymoon as well.
“It’ll be a verdict on the leaders, no question about that, and it’ll be a verdict on the campaign that both the Liberal Party and the Labor Party run on the ground,” he said.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton campaigning with the Liberals’ Aston candidate Roshena Campbell.Credit:Joe Armao
The Liberal leader said he was happy for the byelection to be a verdict on those issues and said voters would see through Labor’s attacks on him as leader.
“I think we’ve been a constructive opposition,” he said.
“The Labor Party will continue to throw mud at me and that’s fine, but I think people can see through that and I’ll let people make their own judgements.
“But, ultimately, I think, the bigger focus in a byelection is on the local candidate and the local campaign, and I think we’ve got the better candidate, I think we’ve got the better campaign.”
The seat is being vacated by retiring former Liberal minister Alan Tudge.
AAP
