Liberals counting on Bass, Braddon BY one count, Tony Abbott has been to the northern Tasmanian seat of Bass 11 times since the endorsement of Liberal candidate Andrew Nikolic. He was there again on Thursday, and its neighbouring electorate Braddon, together considered the federal election's Tasmanian battleground. Bass, based around the northern can-do city of Launceston, has changed hands at five of the last six elections. Braddon, which takes in the state's northwestern cities of Burnie and Devonport, has been the ALP's for all but three of the past 15 years. "They're the ones that the Liberals certainly expect to pick up," University of Tasmania political scientist Dr Richard Herr tells AAP. They believe that the polling has shown that these two should move into the Liberal column. Bass has been held by Geoff Lyons since 2010 and his current margin is 6.7 per cent. He is being challenged by Iraq war veteran Nikolic. In Braddon, Sid Sidebottom has been the member since since 2007 - after previously holding the seat from 1998-2004 - and the margin is 7.5 per cent. His challenger is well-known former state politician Brett Whiteley. Neither is, technically, a marginal seat but are often referred to as "vulnerable" for the ALP. The issue in Tasmania's north is rising unemployment. The northwest has the highest jobless rate in a state that again recorded a nation-high 8.4 per cent for July. A day before Mr Abbott's arrival to announce a plan to pay businesses $250 a fortnight to hire unemployed Tasmanians, a jobs summit in Launceston addressed the "crisis." Hundreds have been thrown out of work by manufacturing closures in recent weeks while employment in the state's former mainstay, forestry, has halved in recent years. According to Dr Herr, voters will need to decide between Labor's claim to be transitioning the economy and the Liberals' determination to revive traditional industries. "Basically one in 12 people are unemployed, that's a substantial number of people and it will be a major issue," he says. The question is who do people trust with regards to the answer. With Labor governing the state since 1998, currently with the Greens, Mr Abbott is likely to return again with the message that he has the answers. "The coalition has clearly drawn a parallel between a dependence on Greens support in the commonwealth parliament and the Greens' support for Labor in the Tasmanian state parliament," Dr Herr says.