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O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done, and so goes on the poem by Walt Whitman.
At times I'm sure that both leaders wish this increasingly fearful election was done. My mind drifted to those words when I heard Anthony Albanese declare to a prickly press pack "I'm captain of a team" as he defended his reliance on his shadow ministers at his daily press conferences on Thursday.
The daily press conference conducted by each leader is a chance for the travelling press pack to grill them on issues of the day and beyond. But since Albanese's day one blunder, in failing to name the unemployment rate, it has increasingly become a competition to test the Opposition Leader's command over the details. On Thursday it got a bit, well, shouty.
And so my mind travelled back to that Whitman poem as the brouhaha over Albanese's penchant for bringing in his frontbench to provide the detail on the policy transpired on live TV.
The Labor leader was asked if he is relying on shadow cabinet members to step in with policy details to help avoid making further mistakes. Albanese turned this around as a criticism of Morrison's frontbench, claiming its members were "in witness protection" and naming the stood-aside education minister Alan Tudge as an example.
Albanese also referred to "bizarre" media reports "that suggest it is inappropriate" for shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers to comment on Treasury and economic issues, or housing spokesman Jason Clare to talk about his portfolio.
"I'm captain of a team," he said.
"I'm very proud of the team that we have. What we have yesterday, for example, was the education shadow, Tanya Plibersek, with me … answering questions on education as well as myself."
But the volume was turned up to 11 when he was grilled over his party's policies for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Albanese was asked by a reporter to list the points in Labor's six-point plan for the NDIS. He avoided listing the six points and then his frontbencher Chris Bowen was asked another question on a different issue. That's when Albanese was handed over a document from an advisor and he briefly looked at it.
One guess that it had the six points on it.
He answered: "Our policy on the NDIS is to defend and fix the NDIS, lifting [the] National Disability Insurance Agency staffing cap, doubling existing funding for advocacy, fixing rental access and stopping waste." The six points! Revealed! Exclusive!
A reporter shouted: "You did not know your own policy, Mr Albanese."
Albanese replied: "No, we did. It is to put people at the centre of the NDIS."
Albanese was certainly not able to recall the six points and tried to dodge the question to detail them, but should leaders have an encyclopedic memory of every policy? Is it acceptable for leaders to refer to said notes?
Briefing-note-gate continues.
Minister's time warp
Acting education Minister Stuart Robert made things a bit more confusing after he said he did not know where the education minister Alan Tudge was, and curiously claimed to have been doing Tudge's job for "almost 12 months".
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The acting education minister's comments more than double his actual time in the job — five months — an error the Coalition attempted to cover up with a transcript claiming Robert had said "a number of months".
Robert's comments on ABC News Breakfast further confused everyone on exactly what the status of Alan Tudge is. The PM says he will be back.
Defence and foreign policy in the spotlight
Scott Morrison was under scrutiny once again over regional foreign policy management after Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare suggested Australia and its allies were deliberately trying to undermine his government, criticising the Western response to Russia's invasion and praising China's treatment of Christians.
He also seemed to suggest that an invasion of Solomon Islands was being considered by Australia, a prospect no federal government figure has actually publicly raised.
Morrison says the government will take a "calm and composed" approach to Solomon Islands if re-elected.
Labor's shadow foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said she was surprised Morrison had not spoken to the leader of Solomon Islands since he signed the controversial security deal with China.
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The PM said a call hadn't been made because it wasn't the advice he had been given.
He denied the prospect of an invasion, saying Australia had sent police officers during last year's unrest at the request of Sogavare.
"Of course, we haven't threatened [to invade]," he said. "We are their primary security partner. We are their first call when they face these sorts of challenges."
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It came as Peter Dutton and Brendan O'Connor faced off at the National Press Club on the same issues — with O'Connor accusing Peter Dutton of perpetuating a conspiracy theory that China wants to see a Labor government elected, a charge Labor has rejected (and one the ASIO boss has said is "not helpful").
Dutton doubled down saying there was no doubt in his mind that the Chinese Communist Party would like to see a change of government at the May 21 election. "No question at all."
Dutton also took a swipe at Labor foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong, saying Wong believes that she can go to Beijing on a charm offensive and she could change the direction of China under President Xi.
Not sure if Wong has ever claimed she can charm the pants off the Chinese president, but I digress.
Another debate
In the most 2022 moment of the campaign, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg spent the afternoon debating his competitor in Kooyong, independent Monique Ryan. Otherwise known as the woman he calls a fake independent.
It's pretty unusual for a treasurer in a blue-ribbon seat to be debating an independent, but unusual is where we are at folks.
I think Noel, a resident from Kew, spoke for everyone when he held up campaign material from both sides both claiming things on climate change and asked, "who should I believe?".
Frydenberg stressed the Coalition was "absolutely committed to practical strong action on climate change" while Ryan said the government was not being aggressive enough in tackling emissions.
And it got quite personal, with Josh Frydenberg repeating his story that Monique Ryan's mother-in-law told him she would vote for him. Ouch.
Good day
A nice surprise for lovers of both political journalism and the arts, with a portrait of the ABC's Laura Tingle among the finalists of the Archibald prize
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Bad day
A defensive Peter Dutton took a swipe at the Guardian newspaper, when its foreign affairs journalist Daniel Hurst asked him a question at the debate.
Dutton said the investigation of war crimes will follow "proper processes" rather than going on "leaks to … your publication or any trashy publication like it".
Any publicity is good publicity so perhaps a better day for the Guardian receiving a ministerial sledge.
What to watch out for tomorrow
Scott Morrison is heading west as he seeks to sandbag seats Labor is keen to pick up in Western Australia.
Anthony Albanese will be on the opposite side of the country, staying in Sydney overnight. There have been growing concerns in Labor that it needs to do more to shore up support in the suburban seats it holds.
Catch up on today's stories