Three things the federal election will hinge on

A long-time Liberal Party strategist has outlined the key issues in the upcoming federal election.

‘What will decide it, ultimately, is three things: the economy, notions of fairness, and personality,’ Toby Ralph told Neil Mitchell.

‘The economy’s the big one.’

Mr Ralph said he hopes the campaign gets personal. 

‘Otherwise, it’s just not fun; otherwise, it’s 56 days of boredom.’

Click play to hear Toby Ralph

Labor strategist Bruce Hawker told Neil whoever articulates their case best will win.

‘It’s going to come down to Turnbull and his argument about economic management, versus Shorten about pressure and pain being felt by Australian families,’ Mr Hawker said.

However, Mr Hawker also had concerns that the long campaign could get boring.

‘There’ll be an initial flurry of interest before people go back to watching the sport,’ he said.

Click play to hear Bruce Hawker