Federal Coalition changes campaign targeting Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

By Latika Bourke

Photo: The return of Kevin Rudd has seen a surge in support for the Government in opinion polls. (AAP: Dave Hunt)

Related Story: Newspoll shows Labor and Coalition neck and neck

The Coalition has changed its attack on Kevin Rudd in a major paid advertising campaign, focusing on his record as Prime Minister instead of rehashing the personal attacks made by his Labor Party enemies.

The Opposition will roll out paid television and newspaper ads from today to try and counter Mr Rudd's resurgence.

The campaign comes two-and-a-half weeks after Labor changed its leader, prompting a surge in support for the Government in the opinion polls.

Privately, Liberal MPs and party insiders have been worrying the Coalition had not responded appropriately to Mr Rudd's political resurrection, and in particular his ability to dominate the media cycle.

Several Liberals have told the ABC the Coalition should have been running paid ads from last weekend and not waiting until the official election campaign because Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has been practically invisible since Mr Rudd's reinstatement.

Liberal Party federal director Brian Loughnane defended his tactics in a statement, saying the Coalition had been advertising its Real Solutions plan throughout the year and that "millions of copies have been delivered to Australian households and businesses".

The Opposition's fresh campaign is two-pronged, with one 30-second advertisement featuring Mr Abbott discussing his plans for government and urging viewers to download the Coalition's policy document.

The other runs 60 seconds, does not feature any Liberal, and focuses entirely on the Government, listing what it says are Mr Rudd's policy failures from his first term in office.

In a major shift from previous tactics, the ad only briefly mentions Labor's internal divisions and does not include any of the savage criticisms Mr Rudd's colleagues made about his prime ministership during previous leadership spills and bouts of instability.

On the night of last month's leadership change, the Opposition released through social media a prepared video aimed at reminding the public of what Mr Rudd's colleagues had said about him.

More recently, the party refreshed an old YouTube ad of newly promoted Cabinet minister Julie Collins stumbling through a media conference three years ago, which was criticised by the Government for being nasty and personal rather than focused on issues.

Despite dominating the news virtually every day since June 26, when the Labor Party dumped Julia Gillard for Mr Rudd, Labor quickly released a paid advertisement in which Mr Rudd talks about wanting to raise political standards and focus on policy rather than personality-based attacks.

Neither party would reveal how much they were spending on their campaigns despite the election not having been called yet, but both sides said their spends were "significant".

Federal Coalition changes tack in advertising campaign targeting Prime Minister Kevin Rudd - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)