One of the biggest advantages of being the party running the government is that they get to determine the election date to a time which is most to their advantage, within certain constraints.
Generally this is a jealously guarded secret, allowing the party to get a head start on fundraising and planning compared with their slow-off-the-mark political opponents.
And then there are those time where the leader of the party in power just blurts it out in parliament while complaining about something else.
“And another thing!”
The 2019 parliamentary calendar was released on Wednesday to much derision and protest, with the opposition and minor parties protesting the paltry 69 sitting days and the fact that parliament only sit for a total of seven days before the Budget is released in April.
This forced amendments in the Senate today, and PM Scott Morrison thought it was all a big lot of fuss about nothing.
Why, he declared in the House of Representives, “the number of sitting days that will take place that are scheduled between the start of the year next year and 18 May is exactly the same as it is this year.”
…sorry, what?
To be fair, everyone – including your best pals here at GOAT – had already surmised that May 18 was the election date since a) there’s not much non-Easter time available after the Budget and b) that’s the last possible date the government can call a normal election and the government need all the time they can get to turn things around.
(Technically they could call a half-senate election for then and then hold the House of Representatives any time before November 2, but such a move would be deseperate-bordering-on-insane.)
Sadly, even with the amended calendar there aren’t that many parliamentary sitting days left to reveal other key strategic details. Still, here’s hoping!