<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>336474</docID> <postdate>2025-01-14 10:02:04</postdate> <headline>Political rulebook tossed out as leaders eye election</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-336393" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/20250110122172973545-original-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1707" /></p> <caption>Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton are seeking to score early points with voters during a quasi-election campaign playing to party strengths. (A)manda Parkinson/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Andrew Brown</strong> in Canberra</span></p> <p><strong>While Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have spent decades in the political spotlight, both are using the start of a new year as a bid to change their standing among voters before a federal election.</strong></p> <p>An election date has not yet been set, but both major party leaders have wasted little time at the beginning of 2025 to start a quasi-campaign, complete with rallies and funding announcements.</p> <p>With the election due to be held by May 17 at the latest and a hung parliament looking likely, the major parties have thrown the political rule book out the window, Â RedBridge Group director and former Victorian Liberal deputy state director Tony Barry says.</p> <p>"The political orthodoxy is that there's no politics until Australia Day as everyone's on holidays and relaxing and getting ready for back to school," Â he told AAP.</p> <p>"But with (just weeks) to go until polls open, they don't have that luxury."</p> <p>The start of the unofficial campaign has seen the prime minister roll out announcements on infrastructure spending and promising to "build Australia's future".</p> <p>The opposition leader has been attempting to win back ground for the coalition in Victoria and leaning into a message of law and order and get Australia "back on track".</p> <p>Mr Barry said both leaders had been attempting to play to their party's strengths early on.</p> <p>"(Mr Albanese) can't run on his own record, otherwise he's dead meat ... Labor's message is clearly research based about building a better Australia and they have to build hope and optimism," he said.</p> <p>"They have to convince Australians the plan is working and to let them finish it."</p> <p>The RedBridge director said a growing pessimism among the voting public, fuelled by cost-of-living issues, had entrenched the opposition leader's strategy going into an election year.</p> <p>"Dutton is wisely playing to his strength rather than try and reinvent himself. Too often politicians try to neutralise the situation by pretending to be someone they're not," he said.</p> <p>"He's used his differentiated leadership attribute of strength versus weakness and Anthony Albanese is seen to be a weak leader ... the perception of Dutton being strong is what voters are looking for right now."</p> <p>Political historian at the Australian National University Joshua Black said it was not too late in the term for the major parties to shift the dial before the election.</p> <p>"The data shows us that lifelong voters for a particular party are a increasingly a thing of the past and they're increasingly willing to change each election,"" Dr Black told AAP.</p> <p>"Both parties are investing money into programs they perceive to be historic strengths for them.</p> <p>"(Early election campaigns) are increasingly a feature of the last political generation or two."</p> </body>