Victorian Liberals' 'Jess Express' bus crash becomes symbol of a rough campaign week

On Friday, the first outing of the Victorian Liberals' new campaign bus, the "Jess Express", ended with it reversing into a shop awning on Centre Road in Bentleigh. It was a small mishap, but it capped a week in which Liberal leader Jess Wilson, who has barely put a foot wrong since taking the job a little under a year ago, had spent much of her time dealing with the press.

The bus was launched a few days earlier than planned, in what looked like an attempt to reset Wilson's relationship with the Spring Street press pack. The day before, journalists had waited an hour for her to announce $100m for medical research at the Burnet Institute, where she was received warmly by researchers. When it came to questions, she stayed four minutes and 39 seconds, taking one question from each of the nine journalists present before ending the event.

The reporters had wanted to ask about Labor's claim that the Coalition's policies would cost $6.35bn more than it had disclosed. Treasurer Colin Brooks had earlier spent 20 minutes walking journalists through a glossy booklet titled "Jess Wilson's Dodgy Costings". Labor says it identifies 30 Coalition promises that were not costed and dozens more that were underquoted. Brooks said the Liberals did not want the scrutiny of journalists asking questions during the day, and accused them of thinking they would coast home, which he called treating Victorians with contempt.

Labor's own position is far from clean, with net debt forecast to reach $199bn within four years. But others are also asking how the Coalition would deliver a surplus by 2032 while making $8bn in election promises, offering tax cuts and pledging not to cut frontline services. The Liberals have made their case as better economic managers, and Wilson, as shadow treasurer, would be expected to defend her own numbers.

It was not the first stumble. The week before, her team cancelled a press conference amid confusion over the Coalition's plan to pause and review the multibillion-dollar Suburban Rail Loop.

Then there is the debate dispute. News24 and Nine both asked for a debate involving Wilson, Labor premier Ben Carroll and One Nation leader Warren Pickering, whose party commands about 20% of the primary vote in most polls. Wilson refused, insisting on a one-on-one with Labor because only the two major parties could form government. Carroll wants Pickering included, seemingly to keep alive the idea of a Liberal-One Nation coalition, even though polling suggests the Liberal-National Coalition could win in its own right. News24 appeared to settle its version by also inviting Greens leader Ellen Sandell. Nine's remains unresolved. On Thursday Wilson said she had agreed to debate Carroll next week, but Labor refused, saying Nine had offered Pickering a separate 10-minute segment in the same broadcast.

The bus was the reset. Wilson was joined by her team and Canberra recruits, including close friend and federal Liberal senator James Paterson and Kane Silom, who has taken leave as communications director for federal leader Angus Taylor to work on the campaign. She chatted with journalists aboard, then made coffees and served brunch at a Bentleigh cafe before a press conference that ran more than 20 minutes.

Pressed on costings, she said voters would have to wait: the Liberals cannot release them until the government issues its pre-election budget update, which falls after early voting begins. She also fielded questions about a pledge to sell $1.3bn of government-owned land, which Labor calls more dodgy costings because it includes land earmarked for first home buyers and a site where radioactive cow carcasses were buried, which would cost millions to clean up. Wilson said those costs were factored into independent costings by the Parliamentary Budget Office.

Then came the bus and the awning. The shop's owner was not much bothered, provided it is repaired, and said he was still undecided on how to vote. Momentum for the Coalition will take more than that to stall. The next things to watch are whether the costings appear and whether the Nine debate happens.