Scott Morrison will make a major job-creation pledge as he tries to capitalise on Labor leader Anthony Albanese's economic gaffes at the start of the federal election campaign.
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The Prime Minister will use a campaign stop in Sydney to commit a re-elected Coalition government to creating 1.3 million jobs over the next five years.
The government will lean on measures announced in last month's budget, including $3.7 billion to support 800,000 new training positions and its $120 billion infrastructure pipeline, to meet a target which builds on the near 1.9 million jobs created since the Coalition came to power.
The announcement will be double as an attack on Labor, coming after Mr Albanese was on Monday morning caught out being unable to name the unemployment rate.
Mr Albanese fessed up to the mistake hours later, but not before the Coalition seized upon the opening day gaffe to attack the Labor leader's economic credentials.
Mr Morrison is pointing to the unemployment rate of 4 per cent, which has been achieved despite the pandemic, natural disasters, economic coercion from China and war in Ukraine, as evidence of the Coalition's strong record on economic management.
The Prime Minister wants to contrast the Coalition's record on job creation in the pandemic with Labor's performance through the global financial crisis.
"We've got the runs on the board and proven plans to deliver these 1.3 million new jobs," Mr Morrison said.
"My government has created 50 per cent more jobs than what we saw when Labor faced the GFC, despite an economic crisis with the pandemic that was 30 times bigger.
"Boosting jobs creation to the levels we saw even before the pandemic is key to our plan for a stronger economy."
After campaigning with star candidate Andrew Constance in the NSW South Coast seat of Gilmore on Monday, Mr Morrison's attention will shift to the swag of battleground seats in his home city of Sydney.
Mr Morrison's attempt to win over voters in the nation's largest city follows months of infighting within the NSW branch over preselections.
The status of 12 NSW Liberal candidates - including two ministers - was under a cloud until late on Friday afternoon, when the High Court dismissed a case challenging the validity of Mr Morrison's intervention into the local division.
Mr Morrison's campaign was on Tuesday expected to swing through the electorates of Reid, North Sydney and Wentworth.
Trent Zimmerman's seat of North Sydney and Dave Sharma's electorate of Wentworth are being targeted by high-profile independent candidates, while Labor are hopeful of pinching Reid from Fiona Martin.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
