THE Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, risks presiding over Australia's big day at the Shanghai World Expo all by herself after the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, told his ministers to cool their travel plans because of the federal election.
Ms Bryce is scheduled to launch ''Australia Day'' at the expo on July 6 but ministers have been told to stay at home.
The edict extends even to the Tourism and Resources Minister, Martin Ferguson, who has declined an invitation to visit the expo in conjunction with a Liquid National Gas forum in Shanghai in July.
The reasons are given in a letter from the Australia-China Natural Gas Technology Partnership Fund, through which the invitation was extended.
''The minister's office has advised that the minister is unlikely to be able to attend Shanghai Expo due to Australia's electoral cycle and, as a consequence, the Australian Prime Minister is limiting ministerial travel during this period.''
The Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith, and the Trade Minister, Simon Crean, have already visited the expo which runs from May 1 until October 31.
The Herald understands that Mr Crean is agitating for the travel ban to be lifted and ministers be allowed to attend the expo in June and July, especially those with trade-related portfolios.
''No one has been given a leave pass yet,'' a source said.
Mr Ferguson's priority is to stay at home and lead the behind-the-scenes negotiations on the government's controversial mining tax.
Mr Rudd's edict does not necessarily indicate a winter poll as it is not unusual for MPs' travel to be limited in the months before an election.
John Howard limited most ministers' travel 15 months before the November 2007 election, including his own.
Mr Rudd has been accused of excessive travel by the opposition.
This calendar year, the Prime Minister has not been overseas and his only scheduled trip is a quick visit to Canada in late June for the two-day Group of 20 leaders' meeting.
The government is pulling out all the stops to salvage its primary vote which is well below 40 per cent.
While a winter election could not be ruled out, a senior source said it would be madness to call it while the primary vote was so low.
A Morgan Poll released yesterday shows the government's fortunes remain flat with Labor just ahead on a two-party-preferred basis by 50.5 per cent to 49.5 per cent.
That is a swing of 2 percentage points against Labor since the last election, enough for it to lose office if an election were held now.
