Whatever benefit the government is hoping to gain from holding off on formally calling the election for another week, presumably so it can spend up big on tax-payer funded puff ads masquerading as public service announcements, must surely be offset by the public reaction to what has been widely called out as a breathtaking exercise in cynicism.
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While the Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, on Sunday brushed questions about the Prime Minister's decision not to visit Government House over the weekend, his only real defence of the fact more than $600,000 a day of taxpayers' money is being spent on ads promoting new roads, infrastructure investment and changes to health services was that Labor did it too.
"We will continue to spend on government advertising, just like the Labor Party," he said.
"Money is being spent in accordance with approved processes, and that's all transparent."
That is not entirely the truth; the only thing that is truly transparent is the sheer desperation the government is exhibiting in its quest to retain power at almost any cost.
That desperation can only be expected to become even more acute given the latest Newspoll and Ipsos polls indicating the Coalition has not received the budget bounce it would have been hoping for after Frydenberg's inaugural effort last week.
According to Ipsos, Labor is still ahead on a two-party preferred basis by 53 per cent to 47 per cent. This means the Coalition has gone backwards given the same poll had Labor ahead by only 51 per cent to 49 per cent a month ago.
The only real positive was that 38 per cent of respondents believed they would be personally better off as a result of the budget compared to 24 per cent who thought they would be worse off.
The only thing that is truly transparent is the sheer desperation the government is exhibiting in its quest to retain power.
While it also did well on the fairness test, with 41 per cent saying the budget was fair compared to 29 per cent who said it wasn't, the Treasurer's cash splash just hasn't been enough to persuade people to swing their votes behind the government in any substantial numbers.
One reason for that could be that midway during the period the poll was being conducted Opposition leader Bill Shorten delivered his budget reply speech. Newspoll, also released on Monday, showed much the same story but with the important difference of having the Coalition closing the gap.
It put the two-party preferred vote at 52 per cent for Labor to 48 per cent for the Coalition. This time last month Newspoll had Labor on 54 per cent compared to the LNP's 46.
It has been an open secret for weeks that the election would be held on May 18, with one senator tweeting earlier this month she had seen leaked Liberal party campaign advertising that finished on May 15.
Accordingly, the Coalition's disingenuous manipulation of when it might be going to the polls is unlikely to play well with voters.
Many are already sick and tired of what they regard as cynical and self-interested politicians who have become experts at using the system for both personal and political advantage.
The fact of the matter is Australia has been on an election footing since Christmas.
Last week's budget and the Opposition's response to it were the de facto campaign launches.
By acting as it has, the Government is treating voters as if they are too stupid to know what it is doing. History shows this can be a dangerous course to follow.
