Hello readers, and welcome to today’s election edition of Afternoon Update.
Anthony Albanese has a new tagline for Peter Dutton, accusing him repeatedly of “dialling everything up to 11”.
He’s among senior Labor ministers, including Penny Wong, who have come out swinging against the opposition leader for “reckless” comments he made about possible Russian military encroachment in the region before the facts were clear.
The respected defence publication Janes reported on Tuesday that Russia had filed an official request with Jakarta to base Russian aerospace forces aircraft on Manuhua air force base in Biak island, in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region – about 1,400km from Darwin.
Albanese has accused Dutton of “verballing” Indonesia’s president and condemned him for “extraordinary overreach” before the facts were clear. The shadow finance minister, Jane Hume, has said Wong was “blindsided” by the reports.
Albanese and Dutton are gearing up for tonight’s ABC debate. The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has proposed a drinking game where you “stay sober as a judge” (not really the point of drinking games) and have a shot any time negative gearing or taxing big corporations is mentioned. Sounds … fun.
Today’s big stories
Housing has continued to dominate political debate this week, with both party leaders visiting construction sites and developments to tout their new policies.
The housing minister, Clare O’Neil, and her counterpart, Michael Sukkar, went head to head at the National Press Club over their pitches, but both backed “sustainable growth” in house prices to avoid a generation going into “negative equity”.
Meanwhile, Owen Fitzgerald, the 19-year-old Greens candidate for Franklin has withdrawn from the federal election due to his dual New Zealand citizenship. The Tasmanian Greens has accepted responsibility for an administrative error in its vetting process.
And do the major parties need to go further on healthcare reform than offering more bulk billing?
What they said
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“I am offering the chance for them to get a home.”
The opposition leader had a somewhat odd reply when asked at a press conference what his party was doing for women. The Coalition has itself acknowledged it has a women problem (see also: a Liberal candidate dumped for saying women shouldn’t serve in ADF combat roles).
But Dutton breezily replied that he was offering women a chance at home ownership with his policy platform. Expanding on that nugget, he said he specifically wanted to provide “stability” for women who had a “messy relationship breakup, who … have no roof over the head with their kids”.
He also pointed to the 25% fuel excise reduction as helping women “driving kids around”. What the?
How social media saw it
The prime minister has been confronted by two men associated with the fringe rightwing “freedom” movement.
In video shared on social media, the men managed to intercept Albanese as he was walking through his hotel in Melbourne’s CBD. Both were stopped by security and staff, but got close enough to question the prime minister about the “rise in immigration”, asking: “When are you going to put Australians first?”
Albanese said he wouldn’t be deterred about interacting with the public despite a string of protesters reaching his campaign events.
“Nothing stops me,” he said.
The big picture
There haven’t been nearly enough campaign dogs/pets on this election trail, but there have been plenty of children. Dutton met little Leo at a new housing development east of Melbourne on Wednesday – the third one he has visited this week.
Leo appeared a little distracted by something in the distance during the photo op, but, unlike politicians, you can’t force a child to act.
Watch
We’ve passed the halfway mark and the two major parties have officially launched their election campaigns, pitching duelling housing policies to voters as we race to the finish line.
Feeling overwhelmed by it all? Try out the latest video from Guardian Australia’s series TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read). This week, Krishani Dhanji walks you through the key moments to date, including a diss track uploaded to the Coalition’s SoundCloud and why the opposition leader’s son has been in the headlines.
And in other news …
Man charged with murder after body found in burnt-down Queensland home
Hong Kong halts postal service for US-bound goods over Trump’s ‘bullying’ tariffs
Tuvalu marks ‘momentous occasion’ with unveiling of its first ATMs
Sydney author loses bid to conceal identity amid charges erotica novel contains child abuse material
Celebrities criticise all-female rocket launch: ‘This is beyond parody’
Rugby Australia posts $36.8m deficit amid wait for financial windfall to arrive
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: WIND. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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