(Image: Mitchell Squire/Private Media)

One week in and the 2022 election has been predictably scrappy and cringeworthy. Two parties with no much inspiring vision bickering over personal attacks, “who gaffed the hardest” contests and overheated scare campaigns. 

In the lead-up to tonight’s first leaders’ debate between Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Labor opponent Anthony Albanese, those scare campaigns have dominated coverage.

Yesterday Morrison called a Labor claim that his government would put pensioners on the cashless welfare card “a disgusting lie”. The scheme, which forces welfare recipients on to a card which stops them withdrawing cash, or accessing alcohol or gambling services, is being tried out in a handful of areas. 

The basis for that claim is a throwaway line Social Services Minister Anne Ruston made two years ago: “We’re seeking to put all income management on to the universal platform.”

And although the government has tried unsuccessfully to expand the scheme, Ruston and Morrison have repeatedly denied they would force pensioners on to the card. That hasn’t stopped Labor winking at it, and running a scare campaign that could be quite effective.

Labor has also jumped on to more comments from Ruston — nominated as Morrison’s health minister if the government is reelected — as evidence the Coalition would cut Medicare. She told the Senate in 2015: “Medicare in its current form is not sustainable into the future without some change being made.”

After Ruston appeared to equivocate on whether the government would cut Medicare, Morrison told reporters that no, there would be no cuts. But again, fears about Medicare cuts are politically potent for Labor. All Labor’s housing and campaign spokesman Jason Clare needed to do was point to Tony Abbott’s aborted promise not to cut Medicare.

It’s a sign we could be in for a rerun of the Mediscare campaign of 2016, where a highly effective, viral claim that the Coalition would privatise Medicare helped Bill Shorten.

But Labor is not alone in making spurious claims. Over the past few days there have been a few from the government. Yesterday a bit of Coalition “modelling”, laundered via the front pages of News Corp tabloids, claimed Labor’s energy policy would increase power bills by $560 a year. 

“A binfire of lies!” Labor’s Treasure spokesman Jim Chalmers shouted.

The government won’t release the mystery modelling, so there is nothing on which to base the claim beyond years of attacks from the Coalition on energy prices. 

The Coalition has also gone on the offensive over border protection. Morrison claimed Labor couldn’t be trusted to stop asylum seekers coming by boat. The basis for the latest attack was Albanese initially claiming Labor supported temporary protection visas, before explaining that it did not — the second time he had to clarify his party’s immigration stance in the past week.

Labor’s home affairs spokeswoman Kristina Keneally said Labor supports Operation Sovereign Borders — the government’s policy of boat turnbacks and offshore processing. She argued the government was “lying” when it claimed TPVs were a key deterrent, given they haven’t been necessary since the boat turnbacks started.

Of course, it’s little surprise scare campaigns have such currency. The Coalition is trying to revitalise one of the great hits of the 2019 campaign, with Liberal Party advertising calling on voters to “Stop Labor’s retiree tax”. It’s a reference to the opposition’s 2019 plan to reform franking credits, dumped last year. 

That policy led to widespread fears among retirees, contributing to Labor’s shock election loss. So too did a viral misinformation campaign about Labor introducing death taxes. Labor didn’t support one then and doesn’t now — but that hasn’t stopped senior government ministers from claiming it does.

So much of this election campaign — from Labor’s small target strategy, to the widespread belief that Morrison is an teflon-like presence on the campaign trail — reflects lessons learnt from 2019. And if that election showed us anything, it’s that scare campaigns can be brutally effective.