Albanese stakes out Coalition seats in Queensland as Morrison zeroes in on NSW ahead of election

The federal Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, has spent more than a fortnight in Queensland since parliament rose in early December as he stakes out northern seats as a key part of his plan to form government.

Albanese said he believed Queenslanders were ready for a change in government but after the swing towards the Coalition in 2019, the ALP faces large margins in seats previously held in order to form government.

Albanese has prioritised Queensland over summer but he has also visited the seats of Adelaide and Boothby in South Australia and Bass in Tasmania.

The prime minister, by contrast, has mainly visited NSW electorates where the Coalition believes it stands the strongest chance of winning seats off Labor.

The Coalition, which now holds 76 seats in the 151-seat House of Representatives, needs to retain that number but must offset expected losses in Western Australia where the federal government is deeply unpopular.

In Queensland, Morrison has visited the Labor-held marginals of Lilley, held on a 0.6% margin, and Moreton, held on a 1.9% margin.

Sitting MPs including Alex Hawke, Trent Zimmerman and Sussan Ley are all under threat if plebiscite ballots go ahead, leading to factional leaders attempting to negotiate a peace settlement ahead of the election.