Prime Minister Scott Morrison has dismissed reports that some within his party see merit in holding two separate elections in 2019 for the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The speculation was triggered by a Fairfax Media report, citing Coalition sources, that said some MPs were open to holding a Senate election early in 2019 and a separate election for the Reps several months later, to give Scott Morrison more time to reverse his disadvantage in the opinion polls.
But the move would be a radical departure from more than four decades of Australian political convention.
"We've got not plans for that," Mr Morrison said, speaking with reporters at a pie shop on his ongoing tour of Queensland.
"I mean that's just more Canberra bubble chatter," he said. "We've got no plans to do it."
Nearly always, Australians elect half the Senate and the full House of Representatives.
But the Constitution does allow for the two houses of parliament to be elected in separate polls.
Governments from both sides of politics have chosen to keep the houses in sync since the early 1970s, with conventional political wisdom saying voters dislike being asked to vote too often.
Trade minister Simon Birmingham hosed down the reports on Tuesday morning.
"I don't think Australians like early elections, Australians like governments to run their full term," Senator Birmingham told ABC News.
“I fully expect that a normal election will be held in the normal course of events, in the normal time, which is May next year."
The conventional option
A general election in May remains the most likely scenario.
The next federal election has to be between 4 August 2018 and 18 May 2019 for a variety of constitutional reasons.
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison, pictured on a Queensland farm this week, already appears to be on the campaign trail. Source: AAP
The last election was an unusual double dissolution where the whole Senate and House of Representatives were contested. This time, Australia will get back into the usual pattern of electing the full House of Representatives and only half of the Senate.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is spending the week touring marginal LNP seats on Queensland, in what is widely considered a soft-launch of his federal election campaign.
The prime minister's first major policy announcement from the road was a move to attract more foreign labourers to Australian farms by substantially loosening restrictions on two visas: the working backpacker visa and the Pacific islander scheme.
Federal Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten has slammed Mr Foley. Source: AAP
Asked on Monday whether his four-day bus tour amounted to a quasi campaign, Mr Morrison replied: "This is me doing what I do. I'm out, I'm listening, I'm hearing and I'm doing. That's what I'm doing as a prime minister."
The prime minister will visit the Sunshine Coast on Tuesday, while Opposition Leader Bill Shorten attends the Melbourne Cup carnival at Flemington.
