The political week began in Queensland for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his new deputy, Barnaby Joyce.
Mr Turnbull kicked off a campaign in the north, giving Australians a taste of Election 2016.
"Barnaby and I are here on our road trip. It's not Thelma and Louise, it's Barnaby and Malcolm, but we're on a road trip."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten quickly likened that comparison to what he said was the government's lack of action on tax reform.
"Malcolm Turnbull waffling around Australia on his self-described 'Thelma and Louise' trip ... at least Thelma and Louise had a plan."
The Government has been talking dismissively of the Opposition's promise to tackle negative gearing should it win office this year.
It triggered this response from Opposition Treasurer Chris Bowen:
"We want to keep negative gearing, but we want to put it to work by ensuring that 2017 negative gearing is used to grow the number of houses and apartments in Australia."
Labor would limit negative gearing to new homes only, but that has opened it up to attacks by Treasurer Scott Morrison.
"It is one of the few opportunities that people on modest incomes have to try to get ahead. They have taken advantage of that, and I say to them, 'Good luck, and good on you. I don't think you're the problem.'"
Mr Morrison used a speech at the National Press Club to give his assessment of the state of the Australian economy.
The 45-minute speech was heavy on charts and graphs outlining Australia's economic strengths and weaknesses.
But anyone hoping for a major announcement would have left disappointed, as he acknowledged.
Mr Morrison's speech also included an admission that the Abbott Government's $80 billion worth of savings have been eroded by more than $70 billion in new spending.
"Which means that, after these last couple of years, we are basically in the same position that we were two years ago."
In his view, Australia has a spending problem, not a revenue issue.
And that means preparing for less spending.
"It just doesn't apply to the Commonwealth, it applies to the states as well. Asking for buckets of money doesn't solve your expenditure problem."
As the country braces itself for an election, both parties are experiencing a number of sitting MPs heading for the exit.
Labor has just three MPs in Western Australia, and Gary Gray has now become the third to announce he is retiring.
In doing so, he gave a bleak assessment of the Opposition's election chances.
"The historic averages are against us, and that's why I say it's not likely that we'll win the next election."
Bill Shorten responded with some caution.
"It is a hard battle for a first-term opposition. The electoral records indicate that, and I don't think Gary's telling you something you couldn't google, in terms of electoral history."
A reshuffle was forced on Malcolm Turnbull after losing six ministers in five months.
The new line-up was sworn in this week.
There are 17 changes in all.
The big winners into Cabinet are Steve Ciobo in Trade, Fiona Nash into Regional Development and Darren Chester taking on Infrastructure.
It is a team the Prime Minister is hoping to keep for the rest of the year.
