We're rounding the final bend, but the election campaign marathon is now becoming a sprint to the finish, with political parties of all stripes upping their campaign pace and ad spend.
Analysis of social media spending data and the movements of major party leaders suggests neither party vying for government wants to leave anything on the table in their bid to form government in less than a week.
And the data suggests that if you're sick of the campaign already, you might want to switch off social media for the next week, because the advertising is only ramping up.
Data from Facebook's ad library report shows that in the week ending Tuesday, more than $3 million was spent by advertisers in Australia on election, political and social issues.
That's up from about $2 million the week prior.
The figures include not-for-profit groups and other campaigners running ads on issues not explicitly linked to the federal election.
Spending is up everywhere, but when you account for the populations of each state and territory, we see that Tasmanians are getting far more attention than any other Australians.
That reflects the fact that a sizeable chunk of the island state's population lives in a crucial marginal seat, and the narrowing attention on key seats as targets for ads advertising.
The spend may well exceed the levels seen during the Tasmanian state election campaign last year, before the campaign winds up.
While everyone is upping the ante, one party has escalated quicker than the others.
The ABC has categorised each Facebook advertiser that has spent more than $100 in a single day on the platform at any point this year, according to whether they are political in nature, and which party or group they belong to.
Doing this gives a more comprehensive look at spending patterns across the parties than by looking at any individual candidate or party account.
The analysis shows that while the major parties had been in relative lock step through to mid-way through the campaign, Labor has since rapidly increased its spend on the platform.
Most of Labor's spend has been on the national party account, which has also dialed up its negative messaging since the first day of the campaign.
The ABC has looked at the messaging in all ads with at least $200 spent on them on the major party's main account, and classified them as primarily positive, or primarily negative.
Precise dollar figures for each ad are not disclosed by Facebook, but the ads represent, counting very conservatively, at least $1.3 million worth of spending.
The analysis does not consider any ad on any candidate or state party page.
Labor's account started the campaign purely positive, but that quickly shifted.
It swung the dial entirely negative in late April with a barrage of attack ads about Scott Morrison, but has since moderated to the point where roughly half of its ads are negative.
Meanwhile, every single ad the Liberal Party has spent more than $200 on since April 26 has been negative, attacking either Labor, Anthony Albanese, Labor candidates, or independents.
Those are the big ads at least, but both major parties are also running scores of ads with smaller spends, and the messages in those vary.
The Liberals launched a series of ads targeted at individual electorates this week.
The ads promoting "Our Plan"have been running in at least 23 key seats, featuring the party's candidates and MPs.
But the plan changes from seat to seat.
While everyone's being told the Liberals will deliver "More Jobs", "Lower Taxes", "Better Health"and "Better Roads", the fifth plank of the plan varies.
In 16 seats, including Corangamite, Pearce, and Braddon, "Stronger Defence"is being promised.
But in other seats, including those like Kooyong and Goldstein being challenged by teal independents, voters are being told about the plan for a "Cleaner Environment".
The other seats that the Liberals clearly feel like the environment is a key issue are Flinders, Curtin, Sturt, Chisholm and Boothby.
The party is also tailoring its message in other parts of the country, like in Canberra, where the local branch of the Liberal Party is chasing the vote of consultants.
"Do you work as a contractor or consultant to the APS," the ad asks.
"Under a Labor-Greens Alliance your job is at serious risk."
It's possibly the only part of the country where they make up a significant enough voting bloc to warrant direct targeting.
This week, Labor has again been running ads to older Australians, stoking fears about the cashless debit card.
One ad bought by Queensland Labor features a pensioner from Bribie Island, who says "I won't risk my pension on Scott Morrison".
Bribie Island is located in the key marginal seat of Longman, currently held by the LNP on a 3.3 per cent margin.
Victorian Labor is also running ads on the topic, promising to "scrap the cashless debit card".
While proving the effectiveness of any individual ad is an impossible task, Google Trends data does reveal a modest increase in search traffic for the term "cashless debit" in those two states in the most recent week.
The same lift has not occurred in other states for which data is available.
Posted14 May 202214 May 2022Sat 14 May 2022 at 7:07pm, updated19h ago19 hours agoSun 15 May 2022 at 7:17am
Here is the original post:
- Here is what the Liberal party could learn from the Conservatives under David Cameron - The Guardian - June 24th, 2022
- What liberal and woke Meghan Markle thinks of Supreme Courts ruling on abortion? - The News International - June 24th, 2022
- Ex-Liberal MP Raj Grewal invited lenders to private meet-and-greet with Trudeau - EverythingGP - June 24th, 2022
- The 6 weirdest Liberal Democrat election victory stunts - The Independent - June 24th, 2022
- Liberal Arts Professors Honored for Excellence in Teaching, Research - Ole Miss News - June 24th, 2022
- Can the Liberal Party really replace Justin Trudeau? - The Globe and Mail - June 24th, 2022
- How PM Modi riles liberal elites: The choice of Droupadi Murmu, the frustration of the cabal and the dangerous games they might play - OpIndia - June 24th, 2022
- Told to take a hike by UCP, former Alberta Liberal leader Raj Sherman says he'll run to lead Conservatives anyway - albertapolitics.ca - June 24th, 2022
- Liberal housing plan will not fix affordability crisis: CMHC - Conservative Party of Canada - June 24th, 2022
- The Liberal Party cant exist for itself: Constance on life after politics - Sydney Morning Herald - June 24th, 2022
- The Liberal party cannot rebuild until it rediscovers its reason to exist - The Guardian - June 5th, 2022
- Are the Movies Liberal? - The New York Times - June 5th, 2022
- Johnny Depp's Victory Is a Crack in the Moral Armor of Liberal Feminism | Opinion - Newsweek - June 5th, 2022
- Opinion | What America Needs Is a Liberalism That Builds - The New York Times - June 5th, 2022
- GOLDSTEIN: There's no Tory dynasty in Ontario and the Liberals aren't dead - Toronto Sun - June 5th, 2022
- Liberal-led Senate inquiry into ABC and SBS abandoned - The Guardian - June 5th, 2022
- Liberal government throws support behind bill aimed at tackling forced labour in supply chains - The Globe and Mail - June 5th, 2022
- The Liberal government continues to fail to act three years after the MMIWG Inquiry - New Democratic Party - June 5th, 2022
- NDP majority with Liberal opposition if students had their way - GuelphToday - June 5th, 2022
- Delaware shows the War on Drugs lives on in liberal enclaves - Brookings Institution - May 25th, 2022
- The Liberal Obsession With 'Disinformation' Is Not Helping - New York Magazine - May 25th, 2022
- It's not 'bias' liberal media are telling the truth, pointedly - The Boston Globe - May 25th, 2022
- Abandoning classical liberalism turns the heartland teal - The Australian Financial Review - May 25th, 2022
- Geoff Russ: The Liberal Canada loved by the boomers keeping Trudeau in power won't last - National Post - May 25th, 2022
- Labor says Peter Dutton taking reins of Liberal Party shows Coalition 'learned absolutely nothing' from federal election - ABC News - May 25th, 2022
- Liberals discussed dumping Morrison in Coalitions final months - Sydney Morning Herald - May 25th, 2022
- DAVID JOHNSON: Treason and the Liberal-NDP agreement - Saltwire - May 25th, 2022
- Regional Queensland voted for the Liberal National Party. What do they make of the Labor government and 'greenslide'? - ABC News - May 25th, 2022
- Conrad Black: Poilievre has a real chance to break the Liberal status quo and that has his enemies trembling - National Post - May 25th, 2022
- Angus Taylor says Liberal Party must focus on core values after federal election loss - ABC News - May 25th, 2022
- Liberals are too focused on themselves, says Constance, as Gilmore hangs in balance - Sydney Morning Herald - May 25th, 2022
- Where Have All the Liberals Gone? - The New York Times - May 15th, 2022
- Liberals Should Be Worried About the Conservative Comedy Scene - POLITICO - May 15th, 2022
- Bill Maher Laments About A Liberal World That Seems To Be Going Mad In Real Time Takes - Deadline - May 15th, 2022
- The Looming End to Abortion Rights Gives Liberal Democrats a Spark - The New York Times - May 15th, 2022
- Ontario Liberals accuse PCs of favouring own party in government appointments - Global News - May 15th, 2022
- GUNTER: Yet more Liberal falsehoods surrounding the convoy have been debunked - Toronto Sun - May 15th, 2022
- Danger for the Liberal Party coming from the right as well as the teals - Sydney Morning Herald - May 15th, 2022
- Lib Dems already campaigning for Tiverton and Honiton byelection - The Guardian - May 15th, 2022
- Is AARP too liberal? That's what its right-leaning rivals say - Newsday - May 15th, 2022
- Can Doug Fords nephew topple the NDP incumbent in a Liberal riding? - Toronto Star - May 15th, 2022
- Utting Research Perth seat polls and Liberal Party briefing wars The Poll Bludger - The Poll Bludger - May 15th, 2022
- Liberal Party unveils one weird political ad to rule them all - Mumbrella - May 15th, 2022
- Scottish Water condemned by Liberal Democrats for bonuses as sewage is released into rivers - STV News - May 15th, 2022
- Liberal Party 'warms up' with final countdown underway - The Transcontinental - May 15th, 2022
- Abortion leak: Is the Supreme Court conservative or liberal? | Opinion - Deseret News - May 15th, 2022
- Will Orban Be Remembered as a Liberal? - The American Conservative - May 11th, 2022
- Francis Fukuyama Predicted the End of History. Its Back (Again). - The New York Times - May 11th, 2022
- Better med care, more say over immigration among Liberal promises to northern Ontario - Sudbury.com - May 11th, 2022
- Abortion laws in Colombia are now among the most liberal in the Americas : Goats and Soda - NPR - May 11th, 2022
- Former Australian of the Year says Liberal MP Fiona Martin selectively quoted him in political endorsement without his knowledge - ABC News - May 11th, 2022
- College Students Shouldnt Have To Choose Between Career Skills And Liberal Arts - Chief Executive - May 11th, 2022
- Globe editorial: The Liberals are eager to talk about regulating speech online but wisely reluctant to actually do it - The Globe and Mail - May 11th, 2022
- GUNTER: The Liberals have sneakily brought back the gun registry - Toronto Sun - May 11th, 2022
- Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke Liberals announce Oliver Jacob as their 2022 provincial candidate - Pembroke Observer - May 11th, 2022
- Frydenberg: if he loses, the Liberal Party would be changed dramatically - Crikey - May 11th, 2022
- Jesse Watters: Liberal protests at homes of Supreme Court justices are just a warning shot - Fox News - May 11th, 2022
- Federal Labor and Liberal parties pledge additional funding for CIT accommodation, Canberra's Home of Football - ABC News - May 11th, 2022
- The White Card review the liberal art worlds blindness to privilege - The Guardian - May 11th, 2022
- Liberal MP doubles down on comments that raped women should be denied abortions - The Age - May 11th, 2022
- UPES School of Liberal Studies Wants Students To Be Critical Thinkers - The Quint - May 11th, 2022
- CU Denver - College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - May 3rd, 2022
- Roe v. Wade and an End to the Liberal Romance With Courts - New York Magazine - May 3rd, 2022
- Liberal dark money group with Biden admin ties capitalizes on SCOTUS leak to push court-packing agenda - Fox News - May 3rd, 2022
- I was deputy leader of the Liberals. The party I served has lost its way - Sydney Morning Herald - May 3rd, 2022
- Red stock, blue stock --- MAGA Republicans and liberal Democrats are taking their politics to Wall Street - MarketWatch - May 3rd, 2022
- There are pros and cons to the Liberal plan for $1 transit fares, experts say - CBC.ca - May 3rd, 2022
- Liberal and Elkhart Baseball Split on Wind Blown Day - KSCB News.net - May 3rd, 2022
- Why teal independents are seeking Liberal voters and spooking Liberal MPs - The Conversation - May 3rd, 2022
- N.S. Liberal Party recovered $195K related to internal theft - CBC.ca - May 3rd, 2022
- Kevin Falcon eyes Liberal party renewal with his seat in the house secured - Vancouver Sun - May 3rd, 2022
- Council elections in Scotland: What are the Liberal Democrats for? Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP - Edinburgh News - May 3rd, 2022
- FIRST READING: Liberal voices starting to warn Pierre Poilievre could be their undoing - National Post - May 3rd, 2022
- Will the standard Liberal tactics of accusing Conservatives of being pro-gun and anti-abortion work on Pierre Poilievre? - The Globe and Mail - May 3rd, 2022
- FIRST READING: Another Liberal gun policy that neatly ignores where the guns come from - National Post - May 3rd, 2022
- Liberal Protestants and the Polarization of the US - Religion & Politics - April 20th, 2022
- Preregistration is the Enemy of Liberal Education | Opinion - Harvard Crimson - April 20th, 2022
- Rachel Williams named dean of the Division of Liberal Arts at UNCSA - UNCSA - UNCSA - April 20th, 2022
- The Liberal Party wants us to 'look at the facts'. But just whose facts? - Crikey - April 20th, 2022
- Ari Fleischer writes new book on why the liberal media keeps getting the news wrong - Fox News - April 20th, 2022