Senior West Australian Liberal David Johnston has applauded the effectiveness of Labor's Medicare campaign, dismissing his own party's "jobs and growth" mantra as a bit trite.
Senator Johnston, who was bumped to sixth place on the Liberal upper house ticket and could lose his spot with counting continuing, said the opposition performed magnificently on the hustings even though bulk billing levels were higher than ever.
"It was a fabulous campaign from Labor," he told ABC radio on Monday.
"Malcolm played the honourable nice guy - 'we're above politics, we're good people'. Well, I'm sorry - people's attitudes regarding politicians are not that.
"The bottom line in this is, if you're not running a scare campaign, if you're not telling people how bad the other side is, you're grist in the mill and Labor did it magnificently.
"Privatisation with Medicare is a meaningless expression but it pushes people's buttons."
Senator Johnston said the Liberals' economic policy came across as lacking.
"I was tearing my hair out. Jobs and growth - it's a bit trite."
But he believed the party would have lost under former prime minister Tony Abbott.
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