Way out in front, voters in the Tasmanian marginal seat of Bass are the most spoilt in the country, with each voter promised the equivalent of almost $6,000 in spending commitments in the opening stages of the election campaign.

In Port Macquarie's federal electorate of Cowper, the spend is a miserly $2.00 per voter.

In the first week of the six-week campaign, almost $500m has been pledged by both major party leaders as they crisscross the country. The focus is on a handful of marginal seats that will decide the election.

At the same time, the deputy leader Barnaby Joyce has been on a regional cash splash tour, announcing more than $100m in new funding for projects targeting Lingiari in the Northern Territory, the seat of Hunter in New South Wales, and shoring up seats in north Queensland.

Guardian Australia’s breakdown of 'Pork barrelling' commitments made since the start of the year shows that people in the northern Tasmanian seat of Bass have been promised a total of at least $5,493 per voter from the major parties – the highest amount on a per capita basis. 

The data shows the Coalition has promised $416m in spending for the seat since the beginning of the year, including a large infrastructure package announced in the budget.

The figure includes the total of spending promises made by Labor and the Coalition that specifically target the electorate, such as a $15m aquatic centre promised by Labor. It also includes discretionary government spending, such as $336m to upgrade the east and west Tamar highways.

The government is desperately fighting to keep Bass, held by Liberal MP Bridget Archer on a 0.4% margin, with Morrison visiting the division three times this year, including twice in the past fortnight. 

Albanese has made five visits since January, starting his official campaign there on Monday, where he announced a $1.5m health commitment relating to child hearing.

Morrison visited Launceston on Thursday to make a $219m announcement for the forestry industry, including a $100m for an Australia-wide national institute for forest products innovation, with a central “hub” in Launceston, along with five others.

Outstanding achievement : Voters in the marginal NSW seat of Gilmore are also high up the list for the most pork barrelling, with a total of $3,700 per voter.

The Coalition has promised almost $400m in projects to the seat, including the $353m allocated by the government for the Milton Ulladulla bypass in the budget, while Labor’s election commitments so far total about $80m.

In a sign of the tense competition in the seat, the Labor candidate for Gilmore, Fiona Phillips, almost immediately matched a $40m road upgrade commitment made by the prime minister, Scott Morrison, and Liberal candidate Andrew Constance on the opening day of the campaign.

Phillips has also pledged $6.5m to upgrade mobile phone black spots around the region, and $7.5m for a new library at Sanctuary Point.

The marginal Labor-held seat of Dobell has also been a key focus of the Coalition campaign, with voters in the NSW seat promised $387m from the government as it seeks to flip it – the equivalent of a waking $3,200 per voter.

In the opening week, Morrison has made about $260m in new commitments, while Labor leader Anthony Albanese has announced $190m.

There are 33 seats that have missed out altogether, with no election promises or spending commitments made by either major party since January. Unsurprisingly, 24 are safe seats, or 73%. Just under half of these (45%) are in NSW, despite NSW having 31% of electorates nationally.

Disappointing Result For Cowper & Lyne:

As tends tp be the case in 'Safe' seats, not a lot of cash has been spalshed around Port Macquaire, with a pork spend of a miserly $2.00 p/voter, compaired with the Tasmainian marginal seat of Bass where the boundy is $5,493.000 p/voter (As oftodays date):

Top scorer:

Bass - TAS - LIB - Marginal - $5493 p/voter

Federal Electorates near Port Macquarie:

Cowper - NSW - NAT - Fairly Safe - $2 p/voter

Lyne - NSW - NAT - Safe - $34 p/voter

National Week #1 Pork Tally:

As the battle rages on in the opening week of the campaign, ScoMo has made about $260m in new commitments, while Labor leader Anthony Albanese is lagging behind having annonced only $190m worth of incentives..

Source | The Guardian - Follow the Pork-O-Meter by clicking the link below for daily updates