Highlights of federal election campaign

Australia's political leaders had some hits and misses on week one of the federal election campaign, with candidates also suffering some embarrassing blunders.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN WEEK 1

* Prime Minister Scott Morrison campaigned in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania

* Opposition Leader Bill Shorten campaigned in Victoria, NSW, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory

* Cabinet minister Matt Canavan channelled his inner Tony Abbott by eating a raw onion in Brisbane

* Scott Morrison refused to eat a carrot pulled straight from the ground at a farm in Tasmania

* Bill Shorten misinterpreted a question on taxing superannuation, forcing him to mop up his mistake the next day

* Mr Shorten clashed with a cranky reporter asking about the economic impacts of his climate change policies

* The Labor leader had a thumb war during a radio interview in Darwin

* Mr Morrison said "ni hao" to an Asian voter in Sydney only to find out she was Korean

* A Liberal Party candidate in Adelaide sent out 10,000 flyers inviting constituents to a "listening post" at a cafe but didn't ask the owner

* Three Victorian Liberal candidates were forced to pull out of the race over constitutional concerns

* A Labor candidate bowed out after making controversial remarks about Israel and Palestine

* Tony Abbott said he would be willing to resume the Liberal leadership if his parliamentary colleagues draft him for a return to the job

* Conservative activists Advance Australia were forced to take down a video of a mascot gyrating against a billboard of a female independent candidate

* Clive Palmer announced he would run for the Senate, while independent Tim Storer decided not to re-contest his South Australian upper house seat


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2 min read
Published 18 April 2019 1:30pm
Source: AAP


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