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Anthony Albanese’s campaign began with ruthless efficiency.

Barely an hour before Peter Dutton rose to speak in parliament on Thursday night, the PM’s office quietly let it be known that he’d be off to Yarralumla first thing the next morning to ask the Governor General to call the election. Subtly, imperceptibly, but quite definitely, the spotlight immediately moved away from the Opposition leader, who was craving the attention on his budget reply.

Action always beats talk in the news business and Albanese was already looking decisive. Dutton had been outmaneuvered.

First blood to Labor. Labor’s tight-knit team was swinging into action.

By Friday afternoon both leaders were in Brisbane. Albanese continued to disorient the opposition by beginning his campaign in Dutton’s own seat of Dickson.

Labor’s candidate there, Ali France is well-known, having stood for the seat twice before.

She polled extraordinarily well in 2016 (winning 48.4% of the vote in 2016). Even though her share dropped to 45.3% in 2019, France is exactly the sort of person Albanese needs around him if he wants to look like a winner. She’s personable and committed. She posesses a strong back-story and is also someone who performs brilliantly on television.

Oh, and by-the-way, she’s also a person with disability.

France is a remarkable person with a well-known back-story, which we’ll be covering in more detail later. It’s difficult to imagine anybody who could have burnished Albanese’s credentials more solidly.

The point here is that by charging in on day one to make a surprise assault on Dutton’s home territory, Albanese took the initative. This is not going to be a conventional campaign. He’s trying to play with Dutton’s mind.

And indeed the Opposition leader had been surprised even appearing slightly disorientated. Labor’s profiled his personality and know Dutton isn’t quick on his feet: he likes to be in control. He’d been caught off-guard.

By Sunday, however, he was back: on the road, visiting factories, promising cheaper petrol and lower gas prices, his message targeted directly (male) voters in the outer suburbs of the capital cities.

He didn’t even bother with a handout for electric car drivers: perhaps he’s already written them off as teal voters.

Perhaps they do, but ignoring early adopters isn’t the normal way of forging an alliance of people from across the spectrum of politics that’s normally necessary to form government. It’s a tin-eared way to begin a campaign.

Dutton’s other emerging problem is although his policies may be popular in some of the electorates he needs to win, they’re causing grief in other sections of his own party. He abruptly floated the idea of holding referenda then dismissed it. This sort of thing smacks of unrestrained populism rather than carefully thought out policy. And his gas plan hasn’t been endorsed by industry and he hasn’t presented the modeling he claims it’s based on. This is surprising, particularly for a policy centrepiece.

It hints at further disorganisation within the campaign team.

It’s tempting to say it’s been a glitchy start for Dutton, certainly not the sort of one he would have hoped for. But, as noted above, there are still five weeks to go - and that is a very long time.

Every day abilityNEWS will bring you insights into the progress of the election campaign.