Peter Dutton dropped a truth bomb on Thursday morning when he returned to his home turf in Brisbane and sought to remind Australians that the election is all about the pressure on households from the cost of living. “This election, really, is a referendum not about the election campaign but about the last three years of government,” he said. “Are you better off today than you were three years ago?” Peter Dutton sings the national anthem with members of the Salvation Army at Club Pine Rivers in his electorate of Dickson on Thursday.

Credit: James Brickwood This is correct, of course. And also revealing. It is obvious that Dutton does not want the election result to be about the campaign – because his campaign has been so poor.

How poor? “Atrocious,” says one Liberal. But it is also true that many Australians will look past the daily campaign when they cast their ballots – and some will blame Labor for their genuine financial pain.

Anthony Albanese conveys more confidence by the day, but he had to hedge this week on a central question at the National Press Club: are Australians better off now than they were before he was elected? The prime minister had an answer – mostly about his arguments with Dutton – but it lacked a simple word: yes. Albanese cannot claim voters are better off because that would be the biggest lie of the campaign.