The dog whistle is out of the drawer.

The opposition’s announcement that it rejects the idea of a ”big Australia” of 36 million people is the first clear signal that Tony Abbott intends to press the population button as an issue — maybe the issue — of the upcoming election.

Yesterday’s announcement is likely to be the start. Expect the issue to ramp up as it resonates within the electorate and in public polling. Expect the rhetoric to become shriller, including the strategic use of code words such as yesterday’s line from Liberal immigration spokesman Scott Morrison that the coalition would erect ”guard rails on growth” and Abbott’s reference to population growing “in an out-of-control and unsustainable way”.

Expect the optics of the debate to be built on the proposition that the opposition will listen to “community attitudes on where to go from here on future population growth”, as Abbott said yesterday. Expect growing support in the tabloid and shock-jock media. Expect the opposition agenda to highlight the role of asylum seekers and the state of environment.

In other words, prepare for the one kind of election that could propel Abbott ahead of the government … an us-and-them campaign.

We’ll be back on Sunday — yes, Sunday — for the two most important events on the political and social calendar: (in no particular order) the long-awaited release of Ken Henry’s tax review, and the TV Week Logie Awards. Crikey hard-heads Bernard Keane and Alan Kohler lead our lock-up team for a special email edition mid-to-late afternoon with all the political and economic analysis you need. And what better warm-up for TV’s “night of nights” — we’re live blogging the glitz, the glamour and all the wardrobe malfunctions from 7:30pm AEST. Ken and Bert … do Sundays get more exciting?