We’ve passed the halfway point of the campaign and, gee, hasn’t it just flown by. Julia Gillard was up north in the tropics yesterday, where she announced a fast-tracking of the baby bonus. Tony Abbott was in Kallangur, also in Queensland, where he had a roll on a bowling green before kicking in some employment sweeteners for workers over 50. Meanwhile, Abbott also weighed into the burqa debate, saying he found the piece of clothing to be a “confronting form of attire”.

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So, with half of the campaign finished, Gillard’s Baby Battalion has chalked up a sprightly 20,994km, while Tony Abbott’s Grey Army has notched up an oak-matured 27,618km. Together that’s a mind-blowing total of 48,612km — the equivalent of more than 1.3 million bowling greens.

Gillard:

  • Julia Gillard was in Cairns yesterday, where she promised to give families with young children earlier access to the baby bonus. Gillard said families will be allowed to bring forward $500 of the benefit to help pay for unexpected expenses. Gillard said the initiative would cost $54 million over four years. “Families know what it’s like to come up against an unexpected problem,” said Gillard.

Abbott:

  • Tony Abbott was chasing the grey vote in Kallangur yesterday, where he pledged payments of up to $3250 for businesses that employ workers aged over 50. Abbott said the senior employment incentive payment, along with other initiatives, would cost $32.5 million. “It’s not enough to back the employment of seniors with mere words and good wishes, it must be backed with hard benefit,” he said.

Rudd:

  • In his first major interview since being dumped as PM, Kevin Rudd denied he was the source of damaging leaks against Labor. “The source ain’t from me,” he told broadcaster Phillip Adams on Radio National. Rudd also appeared concerned the campaign was beginning to get away from Julia Gillard. “The bottom line is I can’t just stand idly by at the prospect of Mr Abbott sliding into office by default,” he said.

Baby Watch:

  • Julia Gillard is setting Don Bradman numbers when it comes to baby-kissing. Here she is with yet another bubba in Cairns:

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Nanna Watch:

  • Forget Baby Watch, Tony Abbott was charming the nannas at the Kallangur Memorial Bowls Club yesterday…

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Boot Gate:

  • …but surely his popularity with the crackerjack crowd won’t last long if he pulls stunts like this. The opposition leader appears to be wearing a pair of RM Williams (with a mean cuban heel) on a grass bowling green. Crikey called the Kallangur Memorial Bowls Club to confirm the faux pas. “Technically he shouldn’t have had those shoes on,” said Linda from the club. Shame, shame, shame.

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  • And just to make sure, here is a close up of the offending boots:

    • abbotts_shoes

Quotable:

  • “Generally speaking, as a matter of principle, I believe people should be able to wear what they choose, so long as that does not in any way disadvantage the rights and privlieges of other Australians.” — Leader of the National Party Warren Truss disagrees with his leader on the right of women in Australia to wear the burqa.

Where are they today?

  • Tony Abbott will release his $3.1 billion health and hospitals policy in Sydney today. The policy will mean 2800 extra hospital beds, as well as extra funding for GPs and incentives for local doctors to stay open after hours.
  • Julia Gillard is in Townsville, doing local radio and an appearance on ABC’s AM this morning. She’s talking high-speed rail, following on from a speech Transport Minister Anthony Albanese will give on an east coast study into an inter-capital network, while maintaining Labor’s line on economic management.
  • Bob Brown will also be gloating about high-speed rail, which has been a long-time Greens policy. He’s spending the day in Canberra.

What is the tracker?

Crikey tracks each leader’s amazing race across the country via our Election Tracker. Each day we’ll plot the leaders’ movements, feeding in the key policy announcements and spending commitments, the best media coverage and social media chat, plus the campaign stunts and bloopers. You can also use the tracker as a hub for the best Crikey coverage.

Click on the tabs across the top to watch how many kilometres Gillard and Abbott have clocked up, the movements of other key players and finally our bloopers and stunts bonanza on the right. You can click on each stop to see what they’re up to, with links to extended coverage and detailed electorate information.