What we learned, Tuesday 15 April
Many thanks for joining us for another mammoth day on the federal election campaign trail. Here were all the key takeaways from today:
Labor has pulled further ahead of the Coalition as the campaign continues, opening up a larger lead in the latest Essential poll after two weeks of policy confusion and backdowns from Peter Dutton’s Liberals.
A Resolve Strategic poll also showed Labor is now within reach of forming a majority government.
Anthony Albanese began today in Tasmania focusing on health and Labor’s Medicare urgent care clinics. He also faced questions about the costings of his government’s commitments.
The PM indicated he would seek a third term as leader if elected, following a “revolving door” of leadership for both parties.
Albanese also said Tanya Plibersek would remain a senior cabinet minister, after their awkward interaction at Labor’s campaign launch on the weekend.
Peter Dutton, meanwhile, began the day in Melbourne. The opposition leader said he didn’t “want house prices to plummet” under the Coalition’s housing policy, and that he would help his children with a home deposit “at some stage”.
Dutton batted away questions about costings on nuclear and defence. He also said his party wouldn’t “shy away” from nuclear – after the Victorian Liberal party moved to distance itself from the federal policy.
The defence minister, Richard Marles, received an assurance from his Indonesian counterpart that Russia will not be allowed to station planes in Indonesia, after reports emerged in the afternoon.
The PM continued to tout Labor’s fee-free Tafe policy, as a video emerged of Liberal frontbencher Sarah Henderson saying the policy “isn’t working”.
The WA Greens rescheduled an Anzac day fundraising party, which had garnered criticism from both major party leaders.
The Greens also launched a new policy to provide free lunches for public school students.
Krishani Dhanji will be back with you first thing tomorrow morning, and I’ll be with you in the evening for the next leaders’ debate. Until then, take care.
Updated
Indonesia says reports of Russian aircraft operating from Indonesia ‘simply not true’
Richard Marles has now shared a statement after speaking to the Indonesian minister about reports of Russia wanting to station planes north of Australia.
In a statement shared by his office, Marles said:
I have spoken to my counterpart, HE Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin the Minister for Defence, and he has said to me in the clearest possible terms, reports of the prospect of Russian aircraft operating from Indonesia are simply not true.
Marles receives assurance from Jakarta that Russia will not station planes in Indonesia
The defence minister, Richard Marles, has spoken to his Indonesian counterpart and it’s understood he received an assurance that Russia will not be allowed to station planes in Indonesia.
Guardian Australia understands the two men communicated a short time ago after reports in a defence journal that Russia wanted to put planes in Indonesia.
We’re awaiting a statement from Marles but we understand he’s been told there won’t be Russian planes there. More to come.
Updated
Littleproud says poll leads for Labor don’t reflect Coalition’s ‘hyper-local’ campaigns
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, was up on Sky News earlier this afternoon, asked about the polls moving in Labor’s favour.
He argued that the polls weren’t reflective of the “hyper-local” campaigns being run by the Coalition:
I don’t think the national polls are reflective of the hyper-local campaigns that are taking place there. And I think to your point, it’s exactly about cost of living … particularly as you get out of the inner suburbs, where there is not necessarily a bigger cost-of-living crisis as these you get out further out – they’re not feeling it as much.
What’s important is that while we’re not walking away from the national polls and what they reflect, but what we’re seeing [from our] internal polling is that as you get out where Australians are struggling, and we’re saying to them, we’re going to give you a tax cut of $1,200 an individual, $2,400 a family, who are struggling to pay their mortgage, struggling to fill the car up, struggling to put food on the table, we’re going to give them a tax cut.
Updated
No Russian planes will be based in Indonesia, ABC reports
Host Patricia Karvelas said the ABC understands Richard Marles has spoken to his Indonesian counterpart and confirmed there would be no Russian planes based in Indonesia.
Sarah Hanson-Young responded to the news and said:
I think it’s good news to hear that Russia won’t be on our doorstep. We shouldn’t have Donald Trump and his increased military presence, and we certainly should not have the Russians.
Updated
Greens senator ‘surprised’ to learn of now-cancelled fundraising party scheduled for Anzac Day
Sarah Hanson-Young said she was “surprised” to learn a WA Greens fundraising party was scheduled for Anzac Day – which has since been cancelled. She told the program:
I think the organisers have seen better for it and it will be on a different day which I think is appropriate … I’ll be heading to the dawn service here [in Adelaide] on that Friday and looking forward to thinking and remembering and really understanding those what sacrifices of our men and women who take these brave positions really means for the rest of the country, and our community.
Updated
Hanson-Young weighs in on reports Russia seeking to base military aircraft in Indonesia
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young is also up on ABC Afternoon Briefing this evening, weighing in on reports Russia is seeking to base military aircraft in Indonesia’s remote Papua region.
She said she has “some sympathy with the idea of ‘let’s not react without all the facts’,” but that it is right to ask questions.
It puts into perspective, though, just how sensitive and how volatile things are right now across the globe and the person who has supercharged that like nobody else of course is Donald Trump.
Updated
Labor MP argues Coalition ‘adores the Maga movement’
James Stevens was also asked whether Australia “needs to be made great again”, following comments from Jacinta Price, and said:
We are a fantastic country that is let down by a bad government. We need a new government. [It] doesn’t mean we don’t have a fantastic country as it is, but our government is letting us down and we need a new government to get Australia back on track.
Josh Burns also weighed in and argued the Liberal party “adores the Maga movement”.
It’s why we have Liberal party senior members chanting Maga slogans and wearing Maga hats and trying to emulate the policies of the Maga movement.
Peter Dutton has outlined policy like the Doge policy of Elon Musk and Jacinta Price is standing in front of him chanting Maga slogans. That is not what Australians want and when you look at the tariffs put on Australia that have had a huge impact on the stock market, Australians are literally holding their phones, looking at their superannuation being affected by tariffs of the Maga movement, and thinking ‘what on earth is this about?’
Yet you have the Liberal party standing in front of cameras chanting Maga slogans. It is completely mad and not in Australia’s interest. We will do things the Australian way and look after the Australian people and hopefully protect them from the tariffs that apparently the Liberal party is cheerleading from the sidelines on.
Updated
Stevens defends Coalition housing policy and says ‘private sector is building homes’
James Stevens was asked why the Coalition was prepared to build nuclear reactors but not houses, and, like Peter Dutton just earlier, responded:
We have a private sector building houses.
He said there had been a “failure of government policy, not a failure of the home builders, and I would not trust the Albanese government to build a home.”
I think we stick to the people who know what they’re doing when building homes, but we make the policy adjustments that will address challenges …
Updated
Burns says Dutton has ‘instinct to throw spears first and ask questions later’
Labor MP Josh Burns is now up on ABC Afternoon Briefing, who said it was important to act “calmly and rationally and not overinflate the situation” in regards to Russia’s request to base military aircraft in Indonesia’s remote Papua region.
On Peter Dutton’s characterisation of the situation as a “catastrophe”, Burns said:
Peter Dutton’s instinct is to throw the spears first and ask questions later.
The government has sought advice from Indonesia. There’s media reports around here. But let’s get to the bottom of this, find out what the situation is, and then we can respond accordingly and make sure we’re acting in our national interest.
One of the things we did coming into government was to ensure that we are stabilising relationships in our region, to ensure that the countries that the previous Coalition government decided to scream and shout at were treated like adults.
James Stevens, Liberal MP for Sturt and also on the program, said he was “not worried about being calm, I’m worried about knowing what’s going on.”
Updated
Dutton says Coalition ‘not supportive’ of fee-free Tafe
Peter Dutton was also asked whether he would cut fee-free Tafe if elected. He said the Liberal party has said it is “not supportive of the government’s policy in relation to Tafe”.
This comes as a video emerged of Liberal frontbencher Sarah Henderson saying the policy just “isn’t working.”
The free Tafe policy – I am sorry, it’s just not working. I am trying to be polite. But the free Tafe policy has cost this country $1.5bn.
Speaking on the ABC just now, Dutton said:
We want to put $12,000 as a wage subsidy into particularly the construction sector, to try and get those young tradies skilled up as quickly as possible. The completion rates in Tafe are at 13%, which is, you know, not a good spend of taxpayers’ money. And I want to make sure we have the best system possible so we’ve got trainees coming through, and apprentices coming through. We want to lift that number up to 400,000.
Updated
Dutton emphasises influence of John Howard over Donald Trump
What does Peter Dutton say to people who says he’s just like Donald Trump?
Dutton responded that this was a “campaigning slogan from a desperate government who wants to talk about anything but what they have done over the last three years”.
He instead pointed to John Howard as his political influence, and said:
If you have a look at my track record over the last 20 years, the biggest influence of my political life has been John Howard. He ran a stable government, cleaned up a Labor mess, implemented the gun law reforms. I want to keep our country safe, make sure the economy is well managed. That’s my political influence.
Updated
Dutton asked about Coalition’s spend on nuclear vs housing supply
Moving to housing, Peter Dutton was asked how the Coalition can be prepared to spend billions of dollars on building nuclear power stations, but not actual houses for young people?
Dutton responded that he wants “the lights to stay on in their house”. On supply concerns, he took aim at Labor’s housing policy and said:
I think the private market has demonstrated they’re much more efficient at building homes. That’s why we’ve got Metricon and Simmons homes and AVJennings – it’s not the Albanese government home building company. It doesn’t work.
Updated
Dutton suggests Indonesia knew about Aukus deal before Australian public
Host Patricia Karvelas asked why Indonesia should be giving Australia a heads up, and what their responsibility is to Australia as a sovereign nation? Peter Dutton replied:
Well, there would be engagement if that was the case, if it was being considered … I think the prime minister and the foreign minister, if they’re being honest, would say this came as a surprise to them, which by their own standard, would be a catastrophic failure.
So, did Australia give Indonesia a heads-up it was entering the Aukus agreement with the US and UK? Dutton suggested a conversation did occur:
I met with [president] Prabowo as the defence minister, when I was defence minister. We spoke to our counterparts in relation to the Aukus deal before arrangements were made. There were details we were able to provide, some we weren’t.
So Indonesia knew about Aukus before the Australian public? Dutton said a conversation occurred, “which I’m not going into”.
Patricia Karvelas asked whether it was a bit extreme for Dutton to use the word “catastrophic” to describe this situation. He defended the characterisation, pointing to previous comments made by Penny Wong about the Coalition and saying “she’s either prepared to live by her own standard or be accused of hypocrisy”.
Asked if Australia’s spy agencies had failed, Dutton said he hadn’t received a briefing from any agencies yet but had requested one.
Updated
Dutton says it is ‘catastrophic error’ if Australia didn’t know about Russian request to Indonesia
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is speaking with the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing about reports Russia is seeking to base military aircraft in Indonesia’s remote Papua region.
Dutton said it would be a “catastrophic error in the government’s systems” if “Dfat, under Penny Wong, didn’t know anything about” the request.
Obviously the government was very critical of the former government in relation to engagements in south-east Asia. So, by the government’s own test, by the government’s own standard, if the government knew nothing about this, then I would be very surprised, and I presume the prime minister will answer those questions.
Asked what he is actually criticising, given the government has already said it is seeking clarification, Dutton argued that if there was a “functioning relationship with Indonesia [there would have been] contact at a departmental or ministerial level”.
I think by her own standards Penny Wong has failed here. Of course we don’t want Russian planes or other military assets in our region …
Updated
TLDR: Labor and Liberal’s duelling housing policies, and a diss track
The two major parties have officially launched their campaigns, with a big focus on addressing Australia’s housing crisis.
Guardian Australia’s Krishani Dhanji walks you through the competing policies as well as other campaign moments of note in today’s TLDR: Election 2025.
Updated
Greens seek information about candidate’s potential dual citizenship
The Greens are seeking additional information to ensure its candidate in the Tasmanian seat of Franklin, Owen Fitzgerald, is not a New Zealand citizen by descent and therefore unable to sit in federal parliament.
Fitzgerald’s grandparents and father were born in Hamilton, New Zealand. According to disclosure forms, his grandparents are NZ citizens while his father is a dual Australian and NZ citizen. All three acquired NZ citizenship by birth.
Section 7 of the New Zealand Citizenship Act 1977 states:
Every person born outside New Zealand on or after 1 January 1978 is a New Zealand citizen by descent if, at the time of the person’s birth his or her mother or father was a New Zealand citizen.
In 2017, the high court ruled former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce was ineligible to sit in federal parliament due to his father being born in New Zealand.
New Zealand’s prime minister at the time, Bill English, confirmed that “unwittingly or not”, Joyce was a citizen due to his father being born there.
Fitzgerald’s disclosure form states he is not a citizen of any country other than Australia. But the form does not include any proof that he renounced his right to New Zealand citizenship or its automatic transfer to him.
While Fitzgerald’s disclosure form does contain confirmation he renounced British citizenship status, given his mother was born in the UK, there is no such document related to New Zealand.
The Greens have been contacted for comment.
Updated
Greens senator criticises lack of focus on family and domestic violence in major parties’ campaigns
Greens senator Larissa Waters says it is “outrageous” that neither major party has highlighted family, domestic or sexual violence during the federal election campaign.
In a post to X, she argued it had been “crickets on women’s safety, bar the Greens pledge”.
We heard big talk from [Anthony] Albanese who declared violence against women a national crisis less than a year ago, and [Peter] Dutton around the same time who called for a royal commission.
Prior to the campaign we saw Labor give piecemeal announcements and their budget flopped on FDSV without new significant funding or announcements. Meanwhile, the Liberal’s idea of supporting women was walking back their own attack on flexible work arrangements.
How dare they abandon women like this? If we made the 1 in 3 big corporations that pay no tax contribute their fair share we could fully fund frontline services and prevention efforts.
Updated
Calls for Australia to increase humanitarian aid to Sudan
Plan International says that Australia “can and must do more” to provide humanitarian assistance to Sudan, as the country’s civil war enters its third year.
Sudan is suffering from the largest humanitarian crisis globally and its civilians are continuing to pay the price for inaction by the international community, NGOs and the UN have said.
After a meeting of donor countries took place in Paris yesterday, in which Australia did not increase its support, Plan International Australia’s CEO, Susanne Legena, said:
Australia has so far committed $50m in humanitarian assistance to Sudan and neighbouring countries since the outbreak of the conflict in April 2023. These contributions are welcome but, given the scale and severity of this crisis, we can and must do more.
This is an opportunity for Australia to act on our values and utilise the country’s humanitarian assistance capacity to make a further commitment.
Amad Mohammed from the Sudanese Australian Advocacy Network shared similar concerns, saying:
The Sudanese-Australian community watches on with anguish as their homeland is torn apart. We urgently call on the international community to act decisively to end this war and prevent further loss. We also call on the Australian government to expand its humanitarian assistance and support those affected by this crisis, both in Sudan and among displaced Sudanese seeking refuge and safety.
Updated
Advocacy group urges Coalition to rethink opposition to fee-free Tafe
Early learning advocacy group The Parenthood is calling on the Coalition to rethink its opposition to fee-free Tafe. This comes as a video emerged of Liberal frontbencher Sarah Henderson saying the policy just “isn’t working.”
The free Tafe policy – I am sorry, it’s just not working. I am trying to be polite. But the free Tafe policy has cost this country $1.5bn.
The Parenthood’s campaign director, Maddy Butler, said that ending fee-free Tafe would make it harder to address the early educator skills shortage and jeopardise access to care for families:
Since the start of fee-free Tafe, 40,000 aspiring early childhood educators have enrolled – that’s enough to educate and care for around 400,000 children. Significant progress is being made, but we still need more early childhood educators to meet the demand for childcare across the country, particularly in regional Australia, where it’s difficult to recruit and retain staff.
Butler said that ending fee-free Tafe would “exacerbate Australia’s childcare deserts” – that is, areas where three or more children compete for a childcare place.
We cannot achieve a universally accessible high-quality early education and care system in Australia without early childhood educators. We urge the Coalition to retract this risky plan.
Updated
PM voices concern after report Russia requested access to Indonesia air force base
Here’s our full story on reports that Russia is seeking to base military aircraft in Indonesia’s remote Papua region, on Australia’s northern doorstep.
As we reported earlier, Anthony Albanese said that “we obviously do not want to see Russian influence in our region, very clearly”.
Kate Lamb has all the details below:
Updated
Good afternoon everyone! I’ll be with you on the blog for the next few hours.
Thank you all for joining me today on the blog.
I’ll leave you with the wonderful Emily Wind who will take you through the rest of the afternoon, and I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning!
Updated
Albanese deflects question over whether he would help his son buy a home
The PM batted off questions during his press conference earlier about whether he would help his son, Nathan, get into the property market.
You’ll most likely have followed the minor saga from the Dutton campaign trail that has become “will he or won’t he help his son Harry buy a home”, after Harry said he couldn’t see himself getting into property any time soon, despite “saving like mad”.
Dutton clarified today that he would chip in to help Harry put a deposit together “at some stage”.
Albanese wouldn’t bite at all when reporters put the same question to him a short time ago:
Families don’t have a place in these issues. I don’t comment about other people’s families and I don’t go into my own personal details.
Updated
Latest poll numbers give Albanese the chance to do some sandbagging
Albanese’s campaign looks to have wrapped for the day, after finishing up a visit to a social housing project in Cooper, in Melbourne’s north.
Both Albanese’s seat visits today, earlier in Lyons (Tasmania) and now in Melbourne, were in Labor-held seats. The Greens are mounting a strong challenge in Cooper, and the current member for Lyons, Brian Mitchell, is retiring.
The Guardian Essential poll today puts Labor at an election-winning 53-47 lead; similar numbers to Nine’s Resolve poll today.
It means Albanese can afford to do a bit of sandbagging of seats. Dutton started the campaign well behind on the parliamentary scoreboard, and seems to be falling further behind on the polls, so he needs to make some serious moves – and quick.
Whereas Albanese has the luxury of leading from the front.
The PM, though, is now in the territory of needing to not appear to be simply coasting or cruising, or to be taking his foot off the pedal. Hubris with half a campaign still left is not the ticket.
Updated
Putin ‘not welcome in our neighbourhood’, Dutton says
Peter Dutton is asked what his message to Vladimir Putin is:
My message to president Putin that he’s not welcome in our neighbourhood.
We don’t share any values with President Putin, and we do not want a presence, a military presence, from Russia in our region, which would be destabilising for south-east Asia.
Dutton says Australia has an “excellent relationship” with Indonesia, and he’s met with the president, Prabowo Subianto, when he was Indonesia’s defence minister, and as president-elect.
Dutton adds: “Prabowo is a good friend of Australia. He’s got many good friends here in the Australian defence force.”
Updated
Dutton: ‘catastrophic failure’ if Wong and Albanese didn’t know about reports of Russia’s request
Peter Dutton is standing up at the same time, and is also responding to reports of a request by Russia to base several long-range aircraft in Indonesia.
Dutton says Albanese and Penny Wong should have been warned about the request before it was made public.
This would be a catastrophic failure of diplomatic relations if Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese didn’t have forewarning about this before it was made public. This is a very, very troubling development.
The prime minister and the foreign affairs minister should have the depth of relationship with Indonesia to have had forewarning of this.
The opposition leader says he wants to see what efforts the government has taken in response, and attacks Labor for pulling funding out of defence. That claim has been disputed by Labor who say they are increasing funding by $50bn over the next decade.
Dutton says he’s sought a briefing from the government.
Updated
‘We do not want Russian influence’ in region: Albanese
Pressed further on the government’s position on the issue, Albanese says:
We are seeking further information, we obviously do not want to see Russian influence in our region, very clearly.
We have a position, which is we stand with Ukraine, we regard Vladimir Putin as an authoritarian leader who has broken international law, that is attacking the sovereignty of the nation of Ukraine.
He ends the press conference there.
Updated
Albanese says government seeking 'proper clarification' on Russia's reported Indonesia request
To questions, the first is to the PM on reports of Russia’s military request to Indonesia. Albanese says the government is “seeking further information” from Indonesia.
We are ascertaining, having a look at those reports, as the foreign minister and defence minister have said. We have a good relationship with our friends in Indonesia, and we’re seeking further clarification.
He’s asked a few times for more information on what the government knows, but he only replies: “I’ve answered the question. I can’t answer it any different way.”
But probed again, he says the government will respond in “an appropriate way”.
What we’re seeking is proper clarification. That’s the way you deal with international relations, making sure that you’re not flying from the hip. What we didn’t do when the United States made its decision on tariffs was question our defence relationship with the United States … We’ll respond in an appropriate way.
Updated
Clare O’Neil says Littleproud should apologise for ‘chihuahua’ comments about Labor MP
The housing minister, Clare O’Neil, has called on Nationals leader David Littleproud to apologise for his comments comparing Labor MP for Bendigo, Lisa Chesters, to a “chihuahua”.
Littleproud told reporters at a press conference Chesters had “as much pull as a chihuahua” in the Labor party.
O’Neil said the comment “tells us everything about the Liberals and the Nationals”.
The fact that we are in an environment where a leading male politician in our country thinks that it’s appropriate to compare a female MP to a dog, I just think that tells us everything about where the Liberals and the Nationals are trapped. I thought that we would move beyond this as a country. But this is a person vying to be deputy prime minister of our nation … They don’t respect women and they don’t preselect women.
Updated
Anthony Albanese speaking in Melbourne
In the spirit of keeping all political messages under the one roof for today (so to speak), Anthony Albanese is standing up again today at a housing estate.
He’s again backing in the government’s big-spending housing plan, promising 100,000 new homes for first home buyers, and allowing first home buyers to access the 5% deposit scheme.
He’s with the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and housing minister, Clare O’Neil.
Albanese’s pitch is “under Labor there will be more homes and smaller deposits”, and is spruiking the development behind him.
This was one home. It’s been converted into three one-bedroom dwellings with energy efficiency that will be as cheap to run as is possible.
He says that includes running on renewable energy, and installing in proper insulation.
Updated
Marles and Wong respond to reports Russia wants to base military planes in Indonesia
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, and foreign minister, Penny Wong, have responded to reports that Russia has requested to base several long-range aircraft in Indonesia.
UK military website Janes reported that Moscow lodged an official request with Indonesia to base its aircraft at the Manuhua air force base.
Marles said in a presser a little earlier that Indonesia has “not responded” to the request, and Australia is engaging with Indonesia.
I’d note at this point, Indonesia has not responded to this request. We will keep engaging with Indonesia in a way which befits a very close friend and a very close friendship between our two countries. We have been very focused on developing our bilateral relationship with Indonesia, including our bilateral defence relationship with Indonesia.
Wong, at a separate press conference, said she was “aware of the reports”, and the government is in the process of finding out more information.
We, as a government, have reached out to confirm those reports and to understand whether or not those reports are accurate and what the status of those requests from Russia are.
Updated
Anthony Albanese has touched down in Melbourne. The campaign is off to a housing estate north of the city, in the Labor-held electorate of Cooper.
There should be a few cabinet ministers here, for a tour and press conference. The group will visit several new homes built with funding from the government’s social housing accelerator. Albanese spruiked this policy in an earlier press conference in Hobart.
More soon.
Updated
Finally, the health minister, Ryan Park, said he and the treasurer have already briefed the Massa family, whose advocacy has sparked the government to investigate the hospital after their two-year-old son’s death.
Joe Massa suffered a cardiac arrest and died in September after waiting three hours in the emergency department operated by private hospital provider Healthscope in a public-private partnership.
Last month the government announced “Joe’s law” currently before parliament to ban future privatisation of public acute hospitals.
Park said:
We are attempting to right the wrong of privatisation in our public health system. We’re attempting to right a wrong of making sure that we’re putting profits before people’s care.
We are now in a situation where this team, high level, strategic team, will start that attempt to try and bring that hospital component back in to public hands.
… It won’t be done in any way, shape or form, to try and hand over millions of dollars in money to an organisation that really, to be blunt, and doesn’t need it and doesn’t deserve it.
Updated
Following from our last post…
Mookhey said there are two barriers in the process - the distressed financial position of Healthscope and any attempt by any of the private corporate players to see windfall gains out of the process.
It is no secret that Healthscope is in a distressed position, that Brookfield itself is trying to divest themselves of this company, and that there are a variety of banks and other interested parties that are participating in that process.
We note that this request that we received from the company last week coincides with the sale timetable, and what we are making very clear is we want to know who precisely will be in control of this hospital and this company when we are having to have complex conversations about reversing this privatisation disaster.
We are making it very clear that the pace around which these negotiations can take place will turn on the speed in which the corporate control of health scope is resolved.
The second barrier that we are anticipating is if there’s any attempt from Healthscope, Brookfield, or any other party to try to get the New South Wales Government to buy out the next 13 years of their operations at this hospital, that’s a no goer... any attempt to get the New South Wales taxpayers to hand over 13 years of fictional profits is a windfall gain, and that will not be acceptable to the New South Wales Government.
Taskforce to develop policy options for NSW government to buy back Northern Beaches hospital
Stepping off the election trail briefly …
Further to the earlier post about the announcement a NSW taskforce will begin the process of returning the Northern Beaches hospital back to public ownership, the NSW treasurer and health minister have now given a press conference with further details.
The treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, has outlined the work the taskforce will be doing, starting with interrogating Healthscope – and its private equity owner Brookfield’s – compliance with the contract the previous government signed back in 2014.
The taskforce will then provide advice “whether or not any actions undertaken by Brookfield through their ownership to divest itself of assets – either at the Northern Beaches hospital or in the wider health group – is contributing to the financial pressure that that company is currently facing,” Mookhey said.
The taskforce will then develop policy options for the government.
It has already sought to meet with Healthscope and its leadership next week, and made requests for financial information, which is within the government’s rights under the previous Liberal government’s contracts.
We are beginning the process of financial due diligence on the hospital itself, and we will use that information in combination with publicly known information to determine precisely how it is that we are dealing with a company in a precarious financial state.
Updated
Victorian Liberals rebuff Labor’s call to reject federal party’s nuclear plans
Victoria’s opposition leader, Brad Battin, has rebuffed calls from the deputy premier, Ben Carroll, to “get a spine” on nuclear power.
Carroll had urged Battin – who this morning distanced himself from the federal Coalition’s plans for a nuclear reactor in the Latrobe Valley – to come out and reject the plan altogether.
But at a press conference at parliament this afternoon, Battin returned to the lines he had previously used on the topic (and had approved by Peter Dutton):
Whatever happens after the federal election, we want to have a responsible and adult conversation about what happens with nuclear moving forward, but our priority is gas. So if we want to talk about growing a spine, we’ll ensure that we’ll have gas exploration available as soon as possible, because that’s when we need it.
Victorians can’t afford to continue to wait for a state government to implement the policies that should be there right now. If Ben Carroll wants to fix it – he’s the deputy premier, come out and get the exploration licences going.
Updated
Dutton fuels up again
Peter Dutton is back at it again, with a visit to petrol station number ten on the campaign trail.
He’s staying in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, where the Liberals are hoping to secure some strong swings, and pick up a few seats.
Gorton was held by former cabinet minister Brendan O’Connor, who has now retired, but was won by Labor in 2022 with a 10% margin.
Looks like there were also some bonus dog pats at this petrol station visit.
Updated
WA Greens reschedule Anzac day 'Greens Party Party'
The Greens have rescheduled their Anzac day party which garnered criticism from both major party leaders today.
The “Greens Party Party” in WA was promoted to fundraise for candidates Sophie Greer, running for the seat of Perth, and Senator Jordon Steele-John.
Greens WA co-convenor Chilla Bulbeck has released a statement:
The event originally scheduled for 25 April has been rescheduled. Sophie Greer will attend an Anzac Day service on that day, and she was always intending to do.
Albanese said in his press conference this morning in response to questions on the party, that “Anzac Day is a day of respect”, while Dutton called the event “completely inappropriate”.
Updated
Opinion: elections are no longer a binary contest for supremacy
Peter Lewis, an executive director of Essential, has penned analysis for Guardian Australia looking at the growing influence of the crossbench – saying the “complexity of our times does not lead itself to binary choices.”
Embracing diversity not as a performance but as a design principle will only make the future governments – whatever their flavour – more faithful custodians of the public will.
For those of us who are still drawn into the theatre of the leaders’ debates and the head-to-head battle for supremacy, it might be a case of enjoying it before the worm turns.
You can read his full piece below:
Petrol prices down in NSW over past month
Petrol prices have come down significantly over the past month – down by around 10 cents since Peter Dutton’s budget reply speech.
In NSW, today’s average price for E10/Unleaded 91 is 171.6 cents, according to Fuel Check NSW.
On 27 March, when Dutton gave his budget reply, it was 180 cents.
And on 19 March, nearly a month ago, it was 186 cents.
What does the data show about the Coalition claim that teals vote with the Greens?
In case you missed it this morning: our data and interactives editor Nick Evershed has investigated the Coalition attack on the teals that they vote with the Greens in parliament.
He conducted a comprehensive analysis of how the crossbench voted in the 47th parliament, showing the results in a range of heatmaps. You can have a look at the data below:
Entire board of the VCAA dismissed after last year’s Year 12 exam bungle
Moving away from the election campaign for a moment: The Victorian deputy premier and education minister, Ben Carroll, has dismissed the entire board of the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority (VCAA) after a bungle during last year’s Year 12 exams that saw the release of exam questions weeks before the tests were sat.
Fifty-six tests, including the compulsory English exam, contained questions either identical or very similar to those contained in the seemingly blank practice exam cover sheets.
The debacle led to the resignation of VCAA’s chief executive officer, Kylie White, who was replaced by Marcia Devlin during the exams.
Carroll announced Andrew Smith will commence as the permanent chief executive on 1 June. Smith is currently the head of Education Services Australia, having started his career as a teacher in Victorian state schools.
VCE is like the AFL Grand Final for students after 13 years of schooling, nearly 80,000 students. students every year, sit down for their VCE examinations. It’s a big thing, it’s an important thing to get right, and unfortunately, the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority has not got it right on more than one occasion.
Carroll said in 2022 there were errors in mathematics exams and in 2023, there were more in both mathematics and chemistry. Then, last year, the early “disclosure of examination content”.
Carroll said a review of the VCAA discovered that a software tool was used to use to create the actual exam cover letters that was “unauthorised and unmitigated”. Once the error was uncovered, 150 VCAA staff mobilised to rewrite exams but “some of the rewriting was not up to scratch,” he said.
However, I want to say to the staff, they have worked incredibly hard, and they have tried to do the right thing by students and parents.
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More than half of Australia’s young homeless people experiencing suicidal ideation
More than half of Australia’s young homeless persons are experiencing suicidal ideation, self-harming or attempting suicide, according to a client survey conducted by a leading Melbourne homelessness organisation.
Melbourne City Mission released a new report on the scale of mental health issues among young homeless Australians today. The report, co-authored by Orygen, found Inaccessible and fragmented mental health system are compromising support for young homeless Victorians.
MCM’s chief executive, Vicki Sutton, said young people faced the highest rates of homelessness and said about 11,301 young Victorians presented alone to specialist homelessness services last financial year.
A survey of MCM clients found more than half had reported self-harm, a suicide attempt, or suicidal ideation. Sutton said:
Young people are being failed by a system that does not recognise their unique circumstances – it’s hard enough accessing mental health services, but when you don’t have a stable home it’s often a case of ‘no home, no healthcare’.
An investigation by Guardian Australia last year revealed that suicide and overdose deaths – known as deaths of despair – were the primary drivers of homelessness deaths in Australia and contributed to a vastly premature average age of death.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
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Victorian Labor party has ruled out repealing state’s nuclear prohibition act
Ben Carroll said the Victorian Labor party had ruled out repealing the state’s nuclear prohibition act, which has been in place since 1983 and bans the construction and operation of nuclear facilities in the state.
There is no social license for nuclear in our state of Victoria, and that policy is not changing. We’re about renewable energy. We’re about making sure that our state remains a powerhouse, a jobs capital and renewable energy sector. And there is no place for nuclear.
He said the Coalition “didn’t get” Victoria and also pointed to Peter Dutton’s earlier comments about the education system.
Deputy premier tells Liberals told to ‘get a spine’ on nuclear power
Victoria’s deputy premier, Ben Carroll, was also asked about the state opposition leader, Brad Battin’s comments to Guardian Australia this morning, in which he distanced the state party from the federal Coalition’s campaign to build a nuclear reactor in the Latrobe Valley.
Battin said he had spoken to his federal counterpart, Peter Dutton, about how he would handle questions on the policy, which he emphasised was not his. He instead said the state should prioritise expanding onshore gas exploration.
But Carroll said Battin needed to “get a spine” and call out the federal Coalition’s plan for a nuclear reactor at the site of Loy Yang coal-fired power station in the Latrobe Valley.
Take a leaf out of David Crisafulli in Queensland’s book, Brad. At least he had the guts to come forward and say he doesn’t support nuclear. For Brad to say he’s deferring his decision until 4 May after the federal election, just goes to show Brad is more interested in keeping his party room together and the national party and Coalition together and he is letting Victorians know where he stands.
Carroll said he didn’t ask the federal Labor branch how to respond to questions on policy.
That’s not common practice that I’ve ever undertaken, but I think he’s still got his training wheels on as leader, and he’s trying to do the best he can holding that party together. As we can see, they’re already now making moves on Moira Deeming and despite all their leadership changes, it’s still the same divided policy, free zone, state Liberal party.
Carroll is referring to reports in the Herald Sun that the Liberal branch in the west may try to challenge Deeming’s number one spot on the party’s upper house ticket ahead of the 2026 election.
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Independent candidate steps up social media campaign in tight battle with Liberal frontbencher
The independent candidate for Wannon, Alex Dyson, has stepped up his social media advertising in the midst of a tight battle with the Liberal frontbencher, Dan Tehan.
Among the dozens of paid ads is one drawing attention to comments allegedly made by the former prime minister Tony Abbott at Tehan’s campaign launch.
Dyson said that during the launch, Abbott told Liberal party members that Tehan had delivered for Wannon, citing a $60m commitment to duplicate a road from Geelong to Colac. But during the time of the road’s construction, it was in the marginal seat of Corangamite, not Wannon.
The best he could do is say that the member has delivered more for a project that is in someone else’s seat. It’s only since 2019, when the road was finished, that the electorate was redrawn to make it within Wannon now … It’s quite remarkable how misleading that all is.
While these Facebook ads are relatively inexpensive, costs can add up. Dyson has run for this seat previously but this time, he has a much larger war chest.
As of 24 March, Dyson had received about $300,000 in funding from Climate 200. Dyson has received $50,000 from Eve Kantor and Mark Wootton, regenerative farmers from near Hamilton. He has also received $20,000 from the Regional Voices Fund.
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Circling back to Anthony Albanese’s press conference earlier this morning
That was a … well … wide-ranging press conference from the prime minister. Two days on from the major parties both making monster housing announcements, Anthony Albanese only got a couple questions on the policies. He again backed in his government’s thinking over the concerns of leading economists, saying their policies addressed both supply and demand:
I’m not sure they [critics] have looked at all the detail, frankly.
The PM also went off on a long glowing review of his local Marrickville golf club, via a birthday party for a dog, and said he’d be watching Star Wars on 4 May – the day after the election.
He also touched on Vegemite, Anzac Day, and the process of how he runs his press conferences (he takes questions from “boy, girl, boy, girl”, in case you’re wondering – even though he doesn’t always).
The campaign is now rolling out of Hobart and heading to Melbourne, for a housing estate.
For a bit of a behind the scenes look at how these campaigns work, the media bus got into some strife on our way out of the Medicare clinic, with the vehicle struggling to make it down the driveway without leaving massive scrapes on the bitumen.
The driver got us all to get off the bus, to lessen the weight, and then navigate over the bump. A great cheer went up as he managed to get down the drive without gouging out any more concrete. Off we go to the airport and then to Victoria.
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Australian shares continue slow climb upwards
Australian shares continued their slow climb upwards this morning, as investors kept up their cautious optimism and businesses adjusted to US tariffs.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose to 7,790 points, half a percentage point above Monday afternoon, which was the highest close since tariffs were announced on Thursday, 3 April, local time.
Investors have had to contend with wild swings in share prices triggered by changes to the US trade policies, as businesses account for highers costs and China retaliates with its own tariff hikes.
All the major banks rose, while critical minerals producers Iluka Resources and Lynas Rare Earths picked up ground, rising 2.6% and nearly 3.5% respectively.
Mining giant BHP picked up 0.63%, though fellow miner Mineral Resources lost some of its Monday gains, falling almost 3.3%.
Gold miners saw the biggest falls on Tuesday morning, with Ora Banda down 5.1%, Regis 2% and Genesis Minerals nearly 1.5%, losing ground from their rises last week on the back of high gold prices.
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Dutton asked if he stands by comments Trump a ‘big thinker’ and ‘deal maker’
There’s a few questions which have gone unanswered today, including one to Dutton on whether he stands by his comments calling Donald Trump a “big thinker” and a “deal maker”.
Dutton says the election is “a contest between Anthony Albanese and myself” and goes straight to his housing and cost of living policies.
There’s no mention of Trump in the response (and journo Ben Westcott protests that he didn’t answer the question).
Dutton then gets another on whether he’s happy with the trajectory of the Coalition’s campaign.
He says he’s the “underdog”, something he’s been saying pretty consistently, and points out that no opposition has won against a first term government since 1931.
I believe we can win the next election but we are the underdogs, no question. The prime minister is running a scare campaign because he’s ashamed of his records.
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Dutton asked how he will pay for promises
Both leaders have been littered with questions over the last 48 hours on how they’re going to pay for their promises. Particularly when the budget is forecasting a decade of deficits, and the Coalition has spent a lot of time accusing Labor of over spending and not having any budget restraint.
Dutton again won’t really answer the question on how the promises will be paid for, immediately attacking Labor for their tax cuts being “built in” to the budget.
[Labor] have built in a cost in the budget, we do not do that in relation to the tax policy, we do not do it in relation to our fuel tax cuts.
It’s exactly the principle we applied with jobseeker and jobkeeper over Covid, where we provided short term, interim, targeted assistance to people, and that’s what we’re doing now. So that is economically sustainable, it’s responsible.
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Dutton says he will help his children with home deposit 'at some stage'
Yesterday Dutton wouldn’t say whether he’d help his son Harry (who he’s wheeled out to this press conference today) get into a home.
Harry had said it was looking nearly impossible to get a deposit in the near future, despite “saving like mad”.
The prime minister and I might be able to help our kids but it’s not about us, it’s about how we can help millions of Australians across generations realise the dream of home ownership like we did, like our parents and grandparents did …
Older Australians parents and grandparents are staying in the workforce longer to try and provide their kids with some money. And I think our households no different to many households where we want our kids to work hard to save and we’ll help them with the deposit at some stage.
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Dutton: ‘We want to see wages increase’
Dutton says he wants to see wages increase to help Australians get into the housing market, but won’t say whether they should increase faster than house prices.
He repeats the line he said this morning that he doesn’t want to house prices drop, saying “that would be a disaster”.
A generation ago prices were not as high as they are now and the disposable income required to service the loan to pay for the mortgage repayments is nowhere near where it is today. We have to accept the modern reality …
We have an independent umpire with wages and many a vibrant economy to make the wages growth.
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Dutton bats away costings questions on nuclear and defence
On nuclear, Dutton is also asked about how much decommissioning coal fired power stations – where the Coalition has promised to replace them with nuclear plans – will cost. Dutton won’t put a figure on it, and doesn’t seem to directly answer the question:
Look at the work of Frontier Economics. Our plan is 44% cheaper than the renewables-only plan so any assets [that] have an end-of-life issue to deal with, the same for coal-fired power stations that are extended by the Labor government at the moment because they know they cannot keep the lights on without them.
Dutton is also asked about defence spending, which he’s promised to increase. He’s asked whether an increase in defence spending will have to be delayed or slowed because of the spending commitments that have been announced.
What we’ve said all along is that we’re committed to additional funding in defence, and you can’t live in the world that we live in at the moment and pretend that you can’t invest into defence.
Again he won’t directly answer the question, but says announcements will be made in due course. He’s pushed again whether defence spending will increase on a slower trajectory, but Dutton bats it away, saying “next one”.
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Dutton: Coalition won’t ‘shy away’ from nuclear
The first question to Dutton is on this story by Benita Kolovos, that Victorian Liberal leader Brad Battin won’t support nuclear.
The reporter also points out that Dutton hasn’t visited a potential nuclear site… so what’s going on?
We need to have the latest technology in the system, we need to have gas as an interim… nuclear is a key part of the policy. We do not shy away from it. The government is out there talking about the cost, the cost of our plan is $263bn less than the Labor party plan.
He doesn’t actually address the comments from Battin.
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Liberal’s Sukkar claims Labor ‘happy for you to be a lifelong renter’
Peter Dutton is now standing up with his shadow housing minister, Michael Sukkar, in Bacchus Marsh, on the outskirts of Melbourne.
It’s in the seat of Hawke, which is an area the Coalition has been hoping to gain significant ground in.
Sukkar starts, accusing Labor of being “very happy for you to be a lifelong renter”
So far we haven’t heard anything new this morning from either party – both have been trying to sell their policies from the weekend (and justify them against significant criticisms from economists). Dutton says:
We will give $1,200 of your money back to you. We are going to make sure home ownership is a reality again by cutting migration, by giving tax deductibility to first home buyers, allowing people access the super to get their deposit together
Updated
Albanese and Gallagher again avoid costings questions
Albanese and Gallagher are asked again how exactly they’ll be paying for their commitments.
Albanese says not every new commitment that’s been made is “new money” – meaning some of it has been provisioned in the budget or the mid-year economic update (MYEFO) that was released at the end of last year.
We put a lot into MYEFO, and we did a lot of work in the lead-up to the budget. So, a range of things that have been seen as ‘new’ investments are not. Are things that we’ve already accounted for.
But he doesn’t specify there which commitments were already provisioned in that budget update.
Gallagher says the same and adds there’ll be more details on costings and how the new promises will be paid for, which will be released “in the normal course of events”.
Our responsible decisions and commitments have been and will be accounted for, and it’s in stark contrast to the opposition, who are out spending doing these massive one-off sugar hits and not accounting for a $600bn nuclear plan
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PM stands with Canadian cafe owner on Vegemite dispute and calls Marmite ‘rubbish’
Anthony Albanese says he ‘stands’ with an Australian cafe owner in Canada whose Vegemite was reportedly banned due to not not meeting Canadian standards. (Original story here.)
Albanese says it’s “odd” Canada is letting Marmite in (the spread’s British rival) which he calls “rubbish”.
I stand with the Aussie cafe owner ... ! I can confirm here today that I am pro-Vegemite. And, indeed, I actually put a lot of Vegemite on my toast when I ate bread.
I did hear the report on that. It’s rather odd that they’re letting Marmite in – which is rubbish, frankly. Let’s be clear here. Pro-Vegemite, anti-Marmite. That’s my position.
His response garnered a fair few laughs from the press pack.
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Albanese agrees supply-side measures only way to deal with housing without increasing prices
Our own Josh Butler, who’s with the PM, asks why he’s not listening to the advice of economic experts who have been critical of Labor’s housing plan. Albanese says he doesn’t reckon the experts have looked at all the detail of what Labor has promised.
I’m not sure that I’ve they’ve looked at all of the detail, frankly. Because some of the things that they’ve spoken about don’t match what we’re actually doing ...
But the key difference between the two approaches is supply. We have a supply-side answer on public housing through the housing Australia future fund. On private rentals through the build-to-rent scheme.
Albanese says he “agrees” that if there are only demand side-measures then you will have upward pressure on housing prices.
He’s then pushed on what Treasury has told them about the impact Labor’s policy will have. The government has said the modelling shows there won’t be “significant” increase in prices, but Albanese won’t say what “significant” actually means in dollar terms.
He argues that the government won’t release cabinet documents, despite being pushed a few times:
We don’t release Cabinet papers … I’m not saying that house prices will rise … We don’t release Treasury documentation. You have the figure. The idea that they put a precise dollar [figure] on something is not right.
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Albanese promises he ‘won’t ripping into essential services’ to pay for Labor’s housing policies
Neither party has been able to say exactly how they’ll pay for their expensive commitments made over the weekend. The PM is asked: won’t he have to cut if re-elected – or will he rule out that sort of budget repair? Albanese replies:
I rule out doing what they did, which is ripping $50bn out of health, $30bn out of education, ripping money out of the ABC … We won’t be ripping into essential services.
We’ve provided $95bn already of savings. We’ve improved the budget bottom line by $207bn.
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Albanese: ‘Plibersek will be a senior cabinet minister’
Speaking of speculation, the guessing game doesn’t just go to the leadership but also to the makeup of the crossbench – and the cabinet.
While Penny Wong, Jim Chalmers, Katy Gallagher and Richard Marles have all been guaranteed their portfolios, the PM wouldn’t say yesterday whether Tanya Plibersek would stay in hers.
Again Albanese won’t commit to her staying in the environment portfolio if Labor wins on 3 May.
The four leaders get the opportunity to have a direct say in what their portfolios are.
I gave the same answer yesterday that I’ll give today, which is - I expect Tanya Plibersek will be a senior cabinet minister. She’s an important member of my team.
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Albanese says he will go for a third election if he wins this one after ‘revolving door’ leadership for both parties
Leadership speculation is a favourite game of many, and Albanese has been asked about whether his team might get a little antsy and want to swap him over in the near future.
Earlier today the PM said he’d contest a “third election” if he won this one (ie there’ll be no leadership changes if Labor wins on 3 May).
Albanese in this presser describes the last two decades of leadership in both parties as “a revolving door”:
I’m not looking over my back. I’m looking forward. And we have an incredibly united caucus.
Asked whether he was getting a bit too ahead of himself, Albanese says again he’ll serve a “full term”:
I don’t take anything for granted on May 3. And I don’t know what I’ll be doing on May 4. As I’ve said … I have a bit of a tradition of watching a Star Wars movie on May the 4th.
But I’m trying to climb the mountain here. I’m trying to be the first prime minister since John Howard in 2004 – it’s been 21 years, we’ve had a revolving door.
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Albanese says he continues to support Aukus
Albanese is asked whether he would establish a parliamentary inquiry into Aukus, as some have been calling for, including within Labor’s ranks.
Albanese has said consistently he supports Aukus, and has also said he doesn’t see the agreement being compromised under the Trump administration. Albanese says:
I support Aukus. There’s been a lot of scrutiny on Aukus, that will continue to be so there’s these little things called Senate estimates that Katy [Gallagher] sits at for day after day after night after night. There’s a lot of scrutiny there.
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Albanese says voters will make their own conclusions on Coalition and Trump comparisons
On to questions, and Albanese is asked whether the Coalition would operate like the Trump administration, considering the number of comparisons between the two. The PM says it’s up to voters to consider:
People will make their own conclusion, but people will see that Peter Dutton chose to appoint Senator [Jacinta Nampijinpa] Price as the shadow minister for Doge [government efficiency] just a few days after Elon Musk was appointed and the Coalition do have substantial cuts in order to pay for their $600bn nuclear plan.
It’s a line the Labor frontbench has been using a lot, accusing the Coalition of having “secret cuts” that they’d reveal after the election to pay for policies like their nuclear plan.
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Labor attacks Liberal candidate’s earlier slip-up on urgent care clinics
Albanese and the Labor candidate for Lyons, Rebecca White, have taken a stab at the Liberals’ candidate in the seat, Susie Bower, over her apparent slip-up in an interview last week.
Bower was asked whether urgent care clinics would continue to be bulk billed and she said:
So that’s something that we will need to be working out.
It appears she wasn’t properly primed on her policies, because the shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, corrected the record to say they would be bulk billed. Albanese said:
Now, to be fair to the Liberal candidate for Lyons, she probably heard Sussan Ley stand up in the parliament and say that if something is free, then people don’t value it, that that’s the Liberal party philosophy. Well, Medicare is free, that’s the whole idea.
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Albanese pushes health as Tasmanian tour commences
Anthony Albanese is up, and no surprises – as Josh foreshadowed, he’s in front of those bright green Medicare banners again. And for good measure he whips out “this little bit of green, gold plastic here”, otherwise known as his Medicare card prop.
There are five urgent care clinics in Tasmania of more than 80 nationally, which Albanese calls an “enormous success”:
This is one of the big contrasts at this election campaign: Labor [is] committed to building Australia’s future, strengthening Medicare, making sure that people are looked after with cost-of-living measures, including being able to see a doctor for free, the reduction in the costs of PBS medicines [to] just $25.
The Coalition has matched Labor almost dollar-for-dollar on their health commitments to bulk billing and the PBS.
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Albanese deploys to Hobart with focus back on health
Anthony Albanese is back to visiting health care centres and is about to arrive at a Medicare urgent care clinic outside Hobart. He’ll tour the facility and then hold a press conference.
Albanese is back in the Labor-held electorate of Lyons, with his candidate, Rebecca White. Labor wants to hold this seat in the face of incumbent MP Brian Mitchell’s retirement, and is also hoping to take the Liberal-held electorates of Braddon and Bass in this election.
We’re also expecting to hear from the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, who has been travelling with the PM.
Labor has set up five urgent care clinics in Tasmania, and has promised another three in Burnie, Sorell and Kingston.
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NSW to investigate how to buy back Northern Beaches hospital from private health company
Leaving the campaign trail for a moment…
A NSW taskforce will begin investigating buying back the Northern Beaches hospital from owner Healthscope.
The NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, ordered the taskforce to begin an immediate investigation into the continuing operation of the public private partnership, which was signed in 2014 and was supposed to run until 2038.
The Minns government said it was notified by Healthscope late last week that it wished to hand back the hospital to the NSW public system.
Mookhey says the exit proposal will not be a windfall gain for the private equity owners of the hospital at the expense of NSW taxpayers.
In a joint statement with the health minister, Ryan Park, the two ministers say there will be no impact on health services at Northern Beaches hospital while the taskforce does its work. Mookhey said:
I’m not prepared to sit and wait on this. I want to know the options now, so we are prepared for any negotiations. That’s why I’ve directed the taskforce to begin work immediately. ...The Liberals’ privatisation deal at Northern Beaches hospital will be remembered in history as an epic failure.
Park said:
We never would have entered this arrangement and it’s clear the community isn’t satisfied with this model. I understand the community’s impatience, and I recognise the community deserves certainty. It’s important we get this right and this taskforce is a critical first step in untangling a complex transaction left by the previous Liberal government.
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While both parties this morning have said they’re tackling construction workforce issues, experts have said there are simply not enough tradies.
The construction industry is facing a shortfall of 80,000 workers, as Labor promises to boost numbers through fee free Tafe places, and the Coalition promises to increase the number of skilled migrants in the construction sector (while decreasing migration overall), and providing more incentives for businesses to train apprentices.
You can read more about that shortfall and the impact it’ll have here:
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Dutton on if he will help son Harry on to the property ladder: ‘it’s not about our family’
Peter Dutton brought his son Harry on the campaign trail yesterday, to tell reporters how hard it is for young people to save up for a home.
But when asked whether the bank of mum and dad in the Dutton household would help Harry, Dutton completely ignored the question.
Karl Stefanovic gave it crack again this morning on the Today show, and Dutton gave no more clarity on whether he’ll help his son.
Karl, I have, like every other family, conversations with our kids over a long period of time. They’ve got a good work ethic. They’re all working hard. They’re saving toward their deposit. And in families where you can provide some support, well, you’ll have that conversation with your own kids, but it’s not about our family.
Dutton’s vast property and share portfolio was caught in the spotlight earlier this year, which Dutton said he’d started building on at the age of 19. (Harry is 20).
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Coalition leaves the door ajar to extending its tax offset
Following Gallagher on RN Breakfast, the shadow housing minister, Michael Sukkar, comes in to defend his party’s housing policy.
He points out that their policy – to allow mortgage payments to be deducted from income tax for first home owners – can only be done for new properties.
But further on in the interview, Sally Sara asks him about the Coalition’s one-off $1,200 payment for tax payers earning between $48,000 and $104,000, and whether it will end after one year as the Coalition has said:
In the end, you’re always informed, Sally, by the economic circumstances of the day.
We’re under no illusions that if we’re to win the election, we will be inheriting a really tough situation for Australians and for the budget. But at present, we have announced a one-off, and that is our expectation.
Back in 2019 the former Coalition government put in a similar budget sweetener called the low and middle income tax offset (LMITO). It was also due to be temporary, but was extended during Covid and eventually ended in 2022.
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Gallagher weighs into Albanese and Plibersek’s relationship
RN Breakfast host Sally Sara asks Gallagher – what is going on between the PM and his environment minister Tanya Plibersek.
It started out with this awkward moment between the two at the Labor launch on Sunday, and on Monday, Albanese wouldn’t say whether Plibersek would keep her portfolio if Labor won again.
Asked if the relationship between Albanese and Plibersek is a bit off, Gallagher says they have a “professional” relationship:
Well, I just don’t accept that. I mean, I work closely with both of them, and that is not my view of their relationship at all. And, you know, I think we we see it up close as professional working relationship. I think Tanya and the PM both responded to questions on that yesterday.
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Labor cagey on impact of housing policy on house prices
Labor says its 5% deposit program won’t “significantly” increase housing prices, but won’t say exactly how much of an impact it will have.
Finance minister Katy Gallagher was on RN Breakfast a little earlier, and said the Treasury department has done that modelling.
It won’t have significant impact on prices. That’s the advice we’ve got. That’s based on the information we’ve already had from this program operating for some time, we’ve expanded it to 50,000, [and] the estimates are that by opening it up to everyone, it would move to 80,000. But it is, a relatively more small, well, not small, but a relatively modest component of the overall housing market.
But Gallagher said Treasury didn’t provide an exact number.
She also took a stab at the Coalition policy, saying their policy didn’t allow first home buyers to “ransack” their super or borrow more money.
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Greens attack both major party’s housing policies as ‘house fire’
While the two major parties have been battling it out (on policy, not in rap form) over housing, the Greens have been really critical of the announcements.
The Greens housing spokesperson, Max Chandler-Mather, joined ABC News Breakfast earlier and said house prices should stop “increasing completely” and “stay the same” to give wages the chance to catch up.
Both leaders have said their policies won’t drive up prices, but Dutton also has said he didn’t want to see prices drop – he said he wanted to see “sustainable growth”.
Chandler-Mather cited economists who have said the policies will drive prices higher.
One economist described those two policies from the major parties as a “dumpster fire that will drive up house prices”. Maybe even worse than a dumpster fire, it’s a house fire, and it’s burning the dreams of a lot of renters and first-home buyers. Economists this morning said that both policies will drive up house prices this year alone.
Chandler-Mather and the Greens have been calling for changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, as well as capping rents.
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Ley claims ‘you can always trust the Coalition on defence spending’ but refuses to reveal numbers right now
As we get closer to the middle of week three of a five week campaign, Ley is asked on Sky News how much money will be left for defence spending.
The opposition leader has flagged on multiple occasions that his party will be putting up “significant” funding for defence if it wins government. Ley won’t reveal just how much money is left for it in their budget.
You can always trust the Coalition on defence spending. When you compare our record to Labor’s, we will always spend more on defence.
Pushed further on when that spending will be announced, Ley says, “you’ll see the defence policy when it’s released, Pete, and all of our costings will be released”.
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Coalition won’t say how many young Australians will take up their housing policy despite costings
The Liberal’s deputy leader, Sussan Ley, tells Sky News the Coalition’s policy to allow first home buyers to deduct mortgage payments from their tax – up to the first $650,000 of their mortgage on a new home over five years – will be taken up by “as many as can take advantage of it”.
But when pushed further for an exact number, Ley bats away the question and says:
The costings are correct. And I think it’s interesting that you’re focusing on the costings, because young Australians are focusing on access to this, and no one is going to be prevented from using this policy to get themselves on that ladder of home ownership.
The Coalition has said it’ll cost around $1.25bn over the forward estimates according to the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).
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Albanese: Coalition channelling Drake not a ‘very wise’ move
We couldn’t leave you without the PM being asked about that diss track by the Liberal party.
Albanese is asked on the Today show whether he should have a rap battle with Dutton to “settle the score’”.
Albanese takes a dig at what side the Coalition seems to have taken in their homage to the viral rap battle between Kendrick Lamar and Drake:
I tell you what, the Liberal party, channelling Drake in his front cover, I’m not sure they’re aware of Drake and … and his whole background, but I don’t think that’s a very wise thing to do.
Though the album cover is pretty similar to an old Drake cover from his album “Certified Lover Boy”, the Liberal party also described the track yesterday as, “Kendrick meeting Question Time”.
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Albanese says ‘we’ve got a mountain to climb’ despite encouraging polls
Good morning from chilly Hobart, where Anthony Albanese begins his day on the campaign trail. We’re expecting a media event and press conference in about 90 minutes time; the PM has already said on morning TV interviews that we’ll then be heading to Victoria to check out some housing projects in that state.
Albanese spent yesterday morning at a housing estate in Adelaide, spruiking Labor’s new housing pledges, so that theme seems set to continue.
This morning’s latest Guardian Essential poll puts Labor further ahead of the Coalition, with our “two party plus” model seeing 50% of voters backing Albanese and only 45% behind Dutton, with the rest still undecided – which shakes out to about a 53-47 result to Labor on the traditional 2PP model. The same result was seen in today’s Resolve poll in the Nine papers, too.
Asked about the polls on ABC TV earlier, Albanese said:
We’re not getting ahead of ourselves. We’ve got a mountain to climb and we’re nowhere near halfway yet.
Tomorrow is the second leaders’ debate, to be held in the ABC’s studios in western Sydney. In the chaos and movement of the election campaign, where the media get almost zero notice of where we’ll be visiting or travelling on any given day, it’s sort of nice to know vaguely which city you’ll be in tomorrow night.
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Albanese says fee-free Tafe places will help tradie workforce shortages
What about workforce? The other central element to the housing crisis is the lack of construction workers about to build the homes needed. Albanese tell the Today show, Labor’s fixing that through an increase in fee free Tafe places.
We’ve got 600,000 people have enrolled in free Tafe, around about [40,000] to 45,000 of those are in construction … In addition to that, what we’ve got is $10,000 incentives. Whether you’re doing electrical or carpentry or anything in construction as well, that incentive to make sure that essentially you can have your tools and everything else paid for.
Meanwhile, Dutton has said that he’ll add tradies to the top of the skilled migration list (though that migration program will be cut by around 25%). The Coalition has also promised a $12,000 wage subsidy for businesses to provide support to apprentices. Dutton:
At the top of that list goes those trade ies and their skills. We want those people to come here in the migration program because we want to increase the number of people who are involved in construction … another part of our plan is to put support into young apprentices and trainees going into the building and construction sector.
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Battle of housing supply: who’s building more?
Both parties have said they’re the ones doing more on housing supply, while experts and economists have said neither is doing enough to address the supply versus demand issue.
Albanese told News Breakfast earlier (as he’s been saying this week) that Labor is tackling supply through their existing programs as well as their new $10bn commitment to build 100,000 new homes for first home buyers:
What we’re doing is dealing with supply as well as demand. The Coalition’s plan will push up prices. Our plan will ensure that more homes are built. And what we’ve seen under my government is 28,000 of those social housing through the housing Australia Future Fund are either under construction or under planning.
Meanwhile, Dutton told the program they’re addressing supply through their fund to fix sewerage lines and roads to “release” new land.
We have $5bn, which works with councils to release 500,000 blocks of land. We cut migration by 25%…
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Dutton says he doesn’t want house prices to 'plummet' under his housing plan
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is also across the TV networks this morning and joined ABC News Breakfast after the PM.
Dutton yesterday said he wanted to see “sustainable” growth in house prices across the market, which is a sticky issue between young people who are struggling to get into the market and older Australians who have a home and don’t want prices to drop.
Dutton is asked whether he wants to see housing prices “brought down” to help more first home buyers into a home. He says he doesn’t want to see prices drop, particularly for those who have just bought a home:
If you’ve got a house that you’ve just bought and you’ve got a $500,000 mortgage and your house goes down by $100,000 under Labor, and your mortgage is worth more than the house itself, then that’s not a good situation for you. So, no, we don’t want house prices to plummet.
We want sustainable growth. If you’re buying a house today, if you can find one – and if you can afford one under this government – you don’t want to wake up in two years’ time and find that the value of that house has gone down.
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Albanese says bank lending conditions will remain the same despite 5% deposit policy for first home buyers
Anthony Albanese started on ABC News Breakfast this morning, again defending the housing policy announced over the weekend.
Labor’s policy widens eligibility for all first home buyers to access their 5% deposit scheme.
Albanese batted off concerns over whether widening it also increases the risk of people getting into the scheme who can’t afford it, and could default on their repayments.
There are 150,000 Australians have got into home ownership through this scheme already. There have been three defaults. Why? Because all of the conditions of banks lending remain exactly the same.
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Good morning from Krishani
Hello, Krishani Dhanji with you for another day in glorious election campaign paradise. Yesterday it was diss tracks – what more will we get today?
Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton are both doing the media rounds this morning. They’re still trying to sell their housing policies and cost of living plans, despite economists expressing serious concerns they could drive housing prices upwards.
The PM is starting out in Tassie this morning, while Dutton is in Melbourne – both areas holding crucial seats for each party.
It’s going to be a busy day!
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Greens push for free lunches for public school students
Australia’s 2.6 million public school students will get free lunches under a Greens election pitch that the progressive party claims will improve kids’ health, lift their grades, and even keep them on the straight and narrow.
This morning at 10am, the Greens’ leader, Adam Bandt, alongside Senator Penny Allman-Payne and MP Max Chandler-Mather, will be “flipping waffles” and selling the scheme in Chandler-Mather’s inner-Brisbane seat of Griffith.
In a press release ahead of the event, Allman-Payne, a former teacher, said “a universal program of school lunches in every public school will ease the cost-of-living burden on families, improve the health and well-being of our kids, and help level the playing field for our most disadvantaged students”.
Of course, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and the cost to the budget would be $11.6bn over the four-year forward estimates period, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office – about $4.6bn a year once the scheme is up and running.
Chandler-Mather won the seat from Labor at the previous election with a margin of more than 10%. Since then the 33-year-old says he has spent $32,000 a year from his own salary to pay for weekly free breakfasts in public schools in his electorate.
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Victorian Liberals distance themselves from federal party’s nuclear policy
Peter Dutton’s poll woes today comes as Victoria’s opposition leader, Brad Battin, distanced the state party from the opposition’s controversial nuclear policy, saying he will concentrate on gas and that the federal leader has his “own campaign” to run.
Dutton is less popular in Victoria than in other states and Batti’s remarks suggest an attempt to create clear blue water between himself and the federal party.
In a wide-ranging interview with our state correspondent Benita Kolovos, Battin explains how he would fix the justice system, why he “grew up differently” to fellow former cop Dutton and that he’s counting the days to the state’s next election (599 to go).
Read Benita’s stories here:
Resolve poll say Labor within reach of majority government as Trump ties damage Dutton
The Nine newspapers has a poll today saying that Labor has edged further ahead on a two-party preferred basis with 53.5% compared with 46.5% for the Coalition, whose support has dropped from 50% a month ago.
In further evidence that Donald Trump’s chaotic policy-making in the White House has damaged Peter Dutton, the survey by Resolve Strategic shows that 35% of undecided voters “are less likely to back Dutton because of changes wrought by Trump”. Only 24% say the same of Anthony Albanese.
The poll suggests that Labor is now within reach of forming a majority government after the 3 May federal election.
Taylor and Chalmers spar over nuclear costings and uncertain times
Angus Taylor was also asked on 7.30 whether the Coalition has private companies ready to invest in nuclear power in Australia. He said there is a moratorium on nuclear in Australia at the moment, and that would need to be lifted first.
The two argued over the Coalition’s costing of nuclear of over $300bn, versus the costing Labor argues, based on Smart Energy Council modelling.
Chalmers said one reactor is being built in the UK for $87bn but the Coalition was claiming it could build one for less than $20bn. He said the Coalition’s gas policy was developed to “distract from their dodgy nuclear plan. They hardly ever talk about it” and he said there would be cuts to pay for it.
Both politicians finished by pointing out we are living in uncertain times and Taylor pointed to his 25 years of business experience and passion for growing the economy and getting the country back on track.
Chalmers said a Coalition government would be “cuts and chaos to make Australians worse off and take Australians backwards.” He said Taylor and Dutton “see the policies and politics of the United States” and want to replicate them.
Angus Taylor quizzed on Dutton's 'no tax cuts' U-turn
The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, has been questioned on why the opposition leader Peter Dutton, indicated before the election there would be no tax cuts before announcing a one-off $1,200 refund for 10 million Australians in the Coalition’s campaign launch on Sunday.
In a debate on ABC’s 7.30 program on Monday night, Taylor was played a clip of Dutton on 7.30 previously where he said “we won’t be able to provide tax cuts during this campaign”.
Taylor said it was a “short-term cost of living reprieve for Australians, meaningful, rebuilding the household buffers” rather than tax reform.
Chalmers said the Coalition are offering no ongoing help with the cost of living, pointing to the tax cuts passed just before the election as addressing bracket creep.
In the wide-ranging debate, the two politicians also sparred over housing policy and energy.
Taylor said the policy of allowing tax deductions for first home buyers of new homes will not just provide affordability but a pipeline of new housing. Chalmers said the Coalition would abolish the Housing Australia Future Fund, which would result in fewer homes being built.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.
Last night the treasurer and shadow treasurer turned up for a debate on the ABC’s 730 show – in case you missed the action, we’ve got the main points coming up.
One of our top stories this morning is an exclusive interview with the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, who has vowed to continue slashing the number of consultants employed by the federal government and to begin rebuilding departments within the public service if re-elected, while accusing the Coalition of importing a Doge-style agenda from the US.
Labor has pulled further ahead of the Coalition as the election campaign continues, opening up a larger lead in the latest Essential poll after two weeks of policy confusion and backdowns from Peter Dutton’s Liberals. A new poll in the Nine newspapers also shows Labor edging further ahead. More coming up.
After yesterday’s splurge of promises by the major parties to try to fix the housing crisis, experts have warned that Australia does not have enough construction workers and other trades to meet election pitches to boost housing supply.
Also today, the Greens will launch a new policy to provide free lunches for public school students. More on this soon.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank will release the minutes of its last monetary policy meeting at 11.30, shedding more light on why it did not cut interest rates earlier this month to relieve pressure on homeowners.
