And on Friday, he was all about the regions. Regional Australia, life in the regions, jobs and opportunities in the regions, and his commitment to - that's right, the regions.

Campaigning in the marginal seat of Chisholm in Melbourne, Scott Morrison responded to a question about boosting overseas migration with a spiel about his commitment to helping the country absorb incoming populations.

"You know why people will go, when they come to this country, to live in the regions?" he said.

"Not because you make them, but because there's a job there, there are services there, because there's a life and there are opportunities there. And there is, in Australia, in our regions. That's why I've invested $21 billion in our regions."

Regions, regions, regions. Here's a thought: if the Prime Minister cares so much about regional Australia, why doesn't he take the time to speak to the country's biggest regional publisher?

The publisher, that is, of this and around 140 regional publications across every state and territory. The publisher that, at any given moment, has journalists on the ground reporting on this election, and what the latest announcements mean for their readers.

This election has had a certain breakneck, polished and choreographed quality to it - more so than in previous years.

It's been marked by leaders dropping into electorates they think they need to win or hold, flying high-profile metropolitan journalists around the country and doling out interviews to sympathetic publications and news stations.

Meanwhile, in each and every one of these communities has been a local publication, ready to canvass local issues and hold the government to a different kind of account.

Back in February, as Australia waited with prolonged baited breath for the election to be called, ACM conducted a national readers' survey of more than 7200 readers.

Climate action, political integrity and leadership were resoundingly returned as the defining issues of the upcoming federal election. These were well ahead of bread-and-butter issues such as jobs, wages and the cost of living.

This survey should have been a wake-up call for our major parties to sit up and listen.

It's clear that regional Australians need to hear directly from both leaders, whether they're rusted on or undecided when it comes to polling day.

And yet, despite many invitations to both party leaders to speak to ACM publications ahead of the campaign, and despite reports of local reporters scrawling "LOCAL MEDIA" on their notepads in a futile attempt to get the Prime Minister's attention at press conferences while he repeatedly bypasses them in favour of television crews, we have been repeatedly rebuffed or ignored.

Morrison spoke on Friday about the need to do things differently, and has admitted there is always room for improvement when it comes to his own approach.

There are still five days to go on this campaign, and if there's one thing we can be sure of, it's that an awful lot can change in that time.

There's still time for both leaders to reach out to those regions they claim to be so passionate about, and show that they are willing and able to face our questions directly.