| The PM cuts his campaigning short and Shorten faces more questions about a hung parliament | Good afternoon, it's been another interesting day on the election trail.
Today, the PM cut his campaigning short in western Sydney, while the Opposition Leader continued to push his education platform in regional Queensland
Here's what you need to know:
1. LIBERAL LEADERSHIP TENSIONS WERE A HOT TOPIC
Malcolm Turnbull cancelled a series of events in western Sydney today, after tensions from last year's leadership coup appeared to overshadow his campaign.
The PM was with Lindsay MP Fiona Scott, who was famously lauded by former prime minister Tony Abbott for her "sex appeal".
Ms Scott has faced accusations she betrayed Mr Abbott by backing Mr Turnbull in the leadership spill. When questioned, Ms Scott refused to reveal how she had voted.
"I take my role as a parliamentarian very, very seriously," she said. "I don't leak from the partyroom ... I don't intend to start leaking from the partyroom."
Mr Turnbull defended Ms Scott, saying she had spoken "courageously". "Frankly, those partyroom ballots are secret ballots and they're secret for a reason," he said.
The PM then cancelled the rest of the day's events. He was due to attend another event with Ms Scott before visiting a Penrith shopping centre.
2. THE GOVERNMENT WAS GRILLED OVER SUPER
The Government's proposed superannuation changes, outlined in last week's budget, have come under fire from think tank the Institute of Public Affairs.
IPA boss John Roskam has argued the laws would be retrospective, saying they "change the nature of contributions that were made back to nine years ago".
Treasurer Scott Morrison, who was in Tasmania today, was quick to dismiss the charge.
"We are not changing any tax on anything that people have earnt in the past," he said. "All we're doing is changing how much tax people will pay in the future on earnings they make in the future."
SPEAKING OF SUPER ...
Are you still confused about the Government's proposed superannuation plan? ABC political reporter Jane Norman has broken it down for you.
The measures propose to: - Increase the tax on superannuation contributions for those earning over $250,000 per year from 15 per cent to 30 per cent from July 1, 2017
- Place a $1.6 million limit on the amount of tax-free super savings a person can hold in retirement. If a person holds more than that, they need to transfer the balance into another account where earnings will be taxed at 15 per cent
- Impose a $500,000 lifetime cap on after-tax contributions. This measure takes into account all contributions from 2007. Anyone who's reached that cap will not be penalised but they won't be able to contribute any more
Still want to know more? ABC business reporter Andrew Robertson has put together this explainer on what the superannuation changes will mean to you. His verdict? Not a whole lot.
3. SHORTEN FACED MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT A HUNG PARLIAMENT
Bill Shorten fielded more questions today about what Labor would do if the election returned a hung parliament. After rejecting the idea of a coalition with the Greens yesterday, Mr Shorten today said he wouldn't rule out going to the polls.
"I'm not going to pre-judge what the Australian people will do. The only way you can have a second election is if there's a not a clear outcome in the first election," he said.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale, who was in Perth, said he was "disappointed".
"The Greens can say categorically that we don't want to send Australia back to the polls if there is a close election result," he said.
For a blow-by-blow account of what happened on the campaign trail today, you can look back at our politics blog.
4. ALBANESE CLASHED WITH HIS GREENS RIVAL
Greens candidate Jim Casey, who is challenging Labor heavyweight Anthony Albanese in his Sydney seat of Grayndler, has defended comments he made on film in 2014.
In the video, which was uploaded to YouTube by his party, Mr Casey said he would prefer to see a conservative government returned to power if it meant a thriving protest movement would flourish.
Mr Albanese was scathing of the comments. He said: "The views of Jim Casey are pretty orthodox Trotskyist views, saying that the more people are oppressed, the more they'll rise up."
Mr Casey said he had used a "figure of speech". "I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think power simply resides in Canberra," he said. You can read the full story here.
5. MALCOLM, BILL AND ... WALEED?
Sure, newly minted Gold Logie-winner Waleed Aly isn't on the election hustings, but he's certainly winning in the Google Trends stakes.
On Sunday (May 8), The Project host won Australia's top telly gong and the federal election was called.
Australians appeared much more interested in finding about Aly (represented by the gold line below) than they did about either the PM (blue) or the Opposition Leader (red). Sorry, guys.
FROM THE DRUM: TERRY BARNES
Both major parties are grappling with cracks in their unity as old wounds continue to fester, public policy consultant Terry Barnes writes.
The side whose cracks open the widest before July 2 will lose this election.
COMING UP NEXT: - Tune into Radio National's Drive program to hear from Labor MP Ed Husic at 6:06pm AEST, followed by former Victorian Liberal Party powerbroker Michael Kroger at 6:15pm AEST. You can listen live here
- Greens leader Richard Di Natale will be interviewed on Lateline
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