Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is seizing on stifled aspiration and choked housing supply in outer suburbs to spruik his cornerstone policies.
Speaking at a future of western Sydney forum at Blacktown, Mr Dutton's one-word answers during a word association exercise summed up his electoral strategy.
Housing was unaffordable, aspiration was dashed and western Sydney was a powerhouse.
Mr Dutton used a keynote address to make his pitch for western Sydney, where there are several key seats the Liberals need to win and where cost-of-living pressures are biting hardest in the outer suburbs.
He has vowed to give motorists a 25 cents a litre cut to the price of petrol by halving the tax on fuel for 12 months if the coalition prevails at the May 3 poll.
It has set up a head-to-head with Labor which has legislated modest tax cuts, phased in from mid-2026 and set to save taxpayers some $530 a year.
The Liberals have vowed to repeal them to pay for the fuel cut, saying relief was needed sooner and there was no room in the budget for both.
Mr Dutton told the forum there was an appetite to lower taxes but "I also want to make sure that we manage the budget effectively".
Cutting power bills with more gas and slashing permanent migration by 25 per cent to take pressure off housing and services round out his offering.
Mr Dutton tried to hedge his bets when asked for a one-word association with migration, answering "balanced and great for our country" after he mentioned immigrant success stories in his speech.
Western Sydney includes many multicultural communities the coalition needs to win back.
On the attack in the Labor-held seat of Parramatta, Mr Dutton filled up at a local petrol station and toured the adjacent mechanic workshop.
An attendant remained unenthused by the media circus, later saying he was only 18 and didn't care much for the electoral theatrics.
"It is what it is," he said.Â
Blacktown delivery driver Luong Ngo was more receptive to the fuel cut, saying he drove 200km a day and filled up twice a week, meaning he would save more under the Liberal policy.
But Mr Dutton has refused to release modelling showing how his plan to pump more gas into the energy grid to lower prices will result in cheaper power bills, saying it would come soon.
Mr Dutton used his speech to claim gas prices would be 15 per cent lower if his plan to divert more into the domestic market was in place in February.
He has ruled out providing a dollar figure on how much people will save.
Mr Dutton pledged $230 million for arterial roads in western Sydney and business cases for further upgrades to ease congestion as Labor and the coalition blame each other for dilapidated infrastructure.