As we inch closer to the last voting day on October 17, BELINDA STRAHORN reports from the election campaign’s front line…

LABOR’s voucher idea as a means of stimulating spending in the local economy, seems more like a sugar hit to me. 

Under the plan, announced this week, residents and tourists will be given vouchers to use at certain local businesses. Hard to identify where the tourists will be coming from and people aren’t readily opening their wallets these days are they? 

The cheap fix has raised a few eyebrows on Facebook, one critic chimed in with: “Considering Australians waste $70 million a year on unused gift cards, I can see exactly how this will go… also, anyone bought one of those Entertainment Books and actually use ALL of the vouchers?.” If Facebook recons it’s a dud idea, then it probably is.

IT seems both sides are engaging in a voucher war, with the Canberra Liberals offering vouchers for trees, vouchers for sport and now vouchers for before and after-school care, the latter was announced at the party’s launch on Sunday. Is this a gimmick? Surely parties should give voters more credit than trying to win their support by offering vouchers in place of solid funding commitments.

THE apple didn’t fall far from the tree in the Canberra Liberals leader’s household with Alistair Coe’s wife Yasmin Coe’s revelation at Sunday’s campaign launch that, thanks to her husband, her children can recite each verse of “We are Geelong, the greatest team of all” song. It seems the next generation of Geelong supporters in the Coe household has been secured.

YOU know the campaign’s in its last stretch when the nasty attacks begin to appear, as both sides go all out to destroy their opponents credibility. Nasty advertisements, defaced corflutes and cheap shots just to name a few. No smear goes unnoticed and is usually returned in spades. Most voters will be pleased when this grubby phase is behind them. 

NOT sure whether the Canberra Liberals are accusing Labor of making stale promises or whether it thinks everything stinks, but the party’s recent TV ad comparing Labor to mouldy bread, will make you gag. Perhaps that’s what they were getting at. Either way it’s a pretty drastic way of getting your message across.

MEANWHILE, a whopping 79,551 Canberrans have cast their vote at an early voting centres. This compares to 13,268 votes cast at the same stage of the 2016 ACT election, not far off the final 2016 figure of 83,743. Pre-poll closes on October 16.