What we learned; Wednesday 2 April
Many thanks for joining us on the blog for another whirlwind day on the campaign trail. Here were the key takeaways from day six:
Both Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton began day six of the campaign in Victoria.
Shifting his election campaign focus from health to wages, the prime minister said he would urge the fair work umpire to deliver an “economically sustainable” real wage increase for low-paid workers.
Dutton pledged $6.2m to a Headspace centre in Melton.
The opposition leader continued his argument that Australians shouldn’t be “beating ourselves up about our history”, amid rhetoric from the Coalition children are being “indoctrinated” in schools.
Dutton also said he wouldn’t rule out cuts to the ABC, saying where there is waste or ineffective spending, “we don’t support that”.
Albanese did not rule out taking the US to the World Trade Organization if it decides to slap further tariffs on Australia, with a decision due around 7am tomorrow morning. The Coalition backed this action.
The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, gave his budget reply at the National Press Club, where he praised Elon Musk.
Taylor said costings for the Coalition’s plan to cut 41,000 jobs from the federal public service will be released before the election.
The Albanese campaign visited Tasmania for a few hours in the afternoon, pledging $8m for a new healthcare hub, then travelled back to Melbourne.
The Liberal party has printed official campaign posters saying, “Monique, please DO NOT take this sign!” to go alongside candidate Amelia Hamer posters, after Monique Ryan’s husband was filmed removing one of her signs last month.
And David Pocock said Peter Dutton should stop “punching down” on Canberra by attacking the public service.
Krishani Dhanji will be back with you bright and early tomorrow morning, for day seven of the campaign. In the meantime, take care.
Updated
Queensland parliament to expand police search powers to all public places
Controversial Queensland laws permitting police to stop and search people at random are set to be expanded.
Under an amendment bill introduced into parliament today, “Jack’s Law” would potentially apply in all public places in the state.
Under the 2023 laws, police do not need reasonable suspicion that a person committed an offence to detain them for the purpose of using a metal detecting “wand” to search them for a knife.
The state police minister, Dan Purdie, said under his legislation a senior police officer would have to have “intelligence” that people might have knives in a particular area. It would also only apply in an area with a concentration of licensed premises or many pedestrians.
The fact that over 100,000 people have been wanded, over 1,000 weapons have been taken off the street, and only two complaints have been made about police during that time shows ... that we can trust our police with these powers. We can trust our police to do the right thing by them and use them to drive down crime and break the culture we know now of young people carrying knives.
The bill would also make Jack’s law permanent, repealing a sunset clause. Human rights advocates have criticised the laws for enabling racial profiling by police and having no proven effect on reducing crime.
The premier, David Cisafulli, said:
It’s important that we do expand this to public places across the board, because in the end, there is no excuse for someone to be going out with a machete.
Updated
Pocock critical of Dutton’s ‘tough guy’ act towards Canberra
David Pocock jokingly suggested Peter Dutton is a “tough guy” for targeting Canberra-based public servants who can’t legally defend themselves.
In a Sky News interview this afternoon, the independent ACT senator was referring to rules around neutrality that apply to the more than 200,000 federal public servants around the country. Those rules say it is “not appropriate” for bureaucrats to make public comments, even in an unofficial capacity, that could be seen as impartial or “harsh or extreme” against a particular political party or politician.
Pocock told Sky News:
Public servants are real people, and what a tough guy to pick on a group of people who are actually legally obliged not to say anything ... so you’re punching down on people and saying 41,000 Canberra public servants, that’s 60% of the public service in Canberra – so either he’s going to put the ACT straight into recession, or he’s cutting public servants from Geelong, Toowoomba, Townsville, all the places where public servants are actually serving their community.
The senator also said Dutton should stop “punching down” on Canberra by attacking the public service, which makes up between a quarter and a third of the working population.
We have a whole bunch of Fifo [fly-in, fly-out – but Pocock is referring to federal politicians here] workers that fly in every now and then, make decisions, get back to the electorates and blame Canberra for things.
Updated
Queensland premier rejects UN criticism over human rights
Queensland’s premier, David Crisafulli, has condemned the United Nations over its criticism of his government’s human rights record. He pointed to “commentary overnight from the United Nations” about its youth justice legislation, and said:
I say to the United Nations, with the greatest of respect, this place will govern its laws. This place will determine how we keep Queenslanders safe, and this place will be accountable to Queenslanders, not United Nations boffins.
That’s what will happen in this place. And when I talk of human rights, I talk about the rights of someone to put their child to bed at night and know they’re safe. When I talk about human rights, I talk about the right of someone to go in the morning and get in a car and go and earn a living. And when I talk of human rights, I talk about the ability for young offenders to turn their life around.
They are the human rights we’re focused on on this side of the house. We stand up for Queenslanders, not unelected officials a long way from this place.
It’s not entirely clear what commentary from the UN the premier was referring to, but many human rights groups – including the state’s human rights commissioner – have criticised various youth justice policies of his government.
Crisafulli introduced a second round of so-called “adult crime, adult time” laws yesterday which are contrary to the state human rights act.
Updated
Victorian premier hails hate law revamp as toughest in the nation
Without the Coalition’s backing, Victoria’s Labor government has struck a deal with the Greens to amend and pass its anti-vilification and social cohesion bill through the upper house.
As AAP reports, under the changes a requirement has been retained for police to obtain the director of public prosecutions’ consent to charge people. Decision-makers must consider the social, historical and cultural context of parties in criminal cases.
An expanded religious exception was also narrowed to protect LGBTQI and other marginalised groups, the Greens said.
The amended bill passed the lower house this afternoon, with the Liberals and Nationals voting against it.
It extends vilification protections for race and religion to the characteristics of disability, gender identity, sex and sexual orientation, and creates new criminal offences making it easier to prove serious vilification in public, private or online.
Premier Jacinta Allan said the laws mean every person in the state would be “free from hate” regardless of who they were, prayed to or loved.
This is the strongest framework of any jurisdiction in this nation.
Reaction to Labor pledge to save Victorian childcare centre
Sam Vale, the director of the centre, welcomed the commitment:
This announcement is so important because WCCC is one of the last remaining community-run, not-for-profit services in a suburb dominated by for-profit providers. Its survival means keeping public land for education, protecting high quality early learning and a place that families rely on for care, connection and support.
Parent Romi Goldschlager said it gave her hope her child will continue to attend the centre:
A home away from home, where we feel safe leaving her each day so we can go to work, knowing she’s deeply cared for, supported, and thriving.
Federal Labor intervention to save Victorian childcare centre
Josh Burns, the federal MP for the inner Melbourne seat of Macnamara, has promised if Labor is re-elected to provide $4.3m to help save a local childcare centre from being sold off.
Burns was joined by the minister for social services, Amanda Rishworth, to announce the funding commitment to ensure the future of Windsor community children’s centre.
Under the plan, the federal government would provide a grant to the City of Stonnington which would also put in $4m to attempt to buy the land from its owners, Swinburne University.
As we reported earlier this year, the centre was given notice by Swinburne University to vacate the Union Street site it has occupied since 1997 by the end of 2025.
Swinburne said it was obliged to sell the land because it is no longer operating in the area, having closed its Prahran campus, and had offered it to the state, federal and local governments. It had been given the land by the state government in 2013.
Burns denied the federal government was bailing out the state government by stumping up the cash for the centre. He said:
There’s been an extraordinary amount of work. I’ve personally spoken to Swinburne on a number of occasions and they understand the importance of this community. They understand the importance of having really high quality early education centres. I hope those negotiations can happen in good faith, and I feel confident that they will. So we’ll let that play out, and we’ll see what happens in the election.
Updated
Chalmers says Coalition ‘lying’ by saying it won’t cut frontline services
Moving topics, Jim Chalmers was asked about the Coalition’s plan to cut 41,000 public sector jobs and accused them of “lying about not touching frontline services”:
You can’t cut 41,000 jobs without touching frontline services.
He took aim at the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, for not “coming clean” on where the cuts would be during his National Press Club speech today.
He was either unable or unwilling to do that … After an hour on his feet at the National Press Club the only thing that is clear is Labor is going to the election with an agenda for higher wages and lower taxes, the Coalition is going with an agenda for lower wages and higher taxes.
Updated
Chalmers says he doesn’t want to pre-empt government’s response to tariffs
Jim Chalmers was also asked whether Australia should take the US to the World Trade Organization if they do impose more tariffs tomorrow, and gave a similar response to that of the PM earlier.
The treasurer said:
We have said on earlier occasions that we believe in calling for resilience rather than retaliation, but I don’t want to pre-empt the government’s response beyond that …
Updated
How would Australia respond if further tariffs are imposed by the US?
Jim Chalmers was asked about the prospect of further tariffs from the US tomorrow morning, and how Australia would respond – maybe “an angry phone call to Donald Trump?”
The treasurer said if Australia is impacted, the nation would “not be uniquely impacted” – as was the same with the steel and aluminium tariffs.
It is something that has been applied and imposed on the rest of the world, we think in self-defeating ways. Our job is to make sure that in the face of these escalating trade tensions and all of this global economic uncertainty, that we make our economy even more resilient …
He said standing up for Medicare, the PBS and strong biosecurity arrangements would be the government’s priorities “whatever the decision announced out of DC in the next 12 to 24 hours looks like.”
Asked why Australia doesn’t know yet whether it will be impacted, Chalmers said all countries were in the same boat:
I think every country in the world is hanging on [for] the decision that will be announced out of DC before long. I think everybody recognises that at the end of the day, it is a decision for President Trump to make.
Updated
Chalmers continues to criticise Dutton for ‘taking cues from the US’ and being ‘very Doge’
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is also up on ABC Afternoon Briefing this afternoon – where he stood by his comments that Peter Dutton was being “very Doge”.
(He is referencing Elon Musk’s so-called department of government efficiency).
Chalmers said it was “self evident” that Dutton “takes his cues and instructions and policies from the United States”:
It is very Doge, what he’s been saying about cuts to health and education, cracking down on work from home, all of these policies are more or less straight from the Doge playbook so I think we are well within our rights to point [that] out. b
Because every time Peter Dutton proposes a policy which is straight from the US, it is a policy that would make Australians worse off.
Chalmers said he doesn’t want to see the “Americanisation” of Australia’s healthcare system or the “strengths” of the PBS “traded away”.
These are all of the non-negotiable … I think it has become really clear – not just in recent days, but in recent months, if not years – that a lot of what [Dutton’s] talking about is about importing American policies to Australia and that would make Australians worse off as a consequence.
Updated
UK high commissioner to Australia ‘confident’ US, UK and Australia’s shared principles will sustain through Trump administration
The UK’s high commissioner to Australia, Vicki Treadell, was also on ABC Afternoon Briefing this afternoon, where the issue of the Aukus alliance was raised.
Asked if Australia and the UK “need to go back to the drawing board” or if the long-term abiding principles between the US, UK and Australia will be sustained through the Donald Trump administration, she answered:
We have absolute confidence in will be sustained … The strategic importance, what we do share, on balance matters far more than where we may have momentary differences.
Any relationship needs to adapt and evolve and have currency and relevance. It is incumbent on all of us to rehearse and refresh that contemporary relevance. Where you started from and what appears to be a more contested world where there are increasing challenges, this relationship, these relationships, matter all the more.
Updated
Scams and card fraud on the rise
The number of Australians who have fallen victim to card fraud is on the rise, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
It found more than two million Australians experienced card fraud and 675,000 responded to a scam in 2023-24.
William Milne, the ABS’s head of crime statistics, said 9.9% of Australians aged over 15 were victims of card fraud in this time – up from 8.7% in the previous year.
We found 72% of card fraud victims were fully reimbursed by their card issuer. Collectively, the net loss to all victims after any reimbursements were paid out was $477m.
Buying or selling scams – including things like false billing and online shopping scams – were the most common.
Updated
Labor campaign back in Melbourne
The press plane following Anthony Albanese has touched down back in Melbourne.
That should be it for today, but we’ll be up bright and early tomorrow awaiting what Trump’s “liberation day” tariff strike will mean for Australian exporters.
Sporting Integrity head backs AFL decision to develop own system to detect suspicious gambling patterns
The new head of Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) has backed the AFL’s decision to develop its own system to detect suspicious gambling patterns as the government’s near real-time monitoring scheme remains unfunded.
The Guardian revealed last month, the AFL believes its ability to protect the integrity of the game from betting is deficient and was looking to raise more revenue from wagering companies in order to pay for a new database that would help spot previously hidden suspicious bets more quickly.
SIA’s chief executive, Sarah Benson, said the AFL’s decision to go its own way was not a concern and was instead a “positive step”:
Any aspects any individual sports do to strengthen their own integrity environments strengthens the integrity environment for their sport, but ultimately [strengthen] other sports as well, because other sports will learn from the AFL.
SIA’s own near real-time monitoring scheme, as part of the Australian sports wagering scheme which had been due for completion in 2023, remains at the planning stage.
It’s a concept that we’ve still got drafted and ready to go, and if there’s interest and there’s a need, then we’ll be ready to go with it.
Updated
McKenzie questioned on how schools are ‘indoctrinating’ kids
Yesterday, the opposition leader Peter Dutton suggested students were being “indoctrinated” at school – a move Labor has described as being pulled “from the Doge playbook”.
Asked how kids being “indoctrinated” in schools, Bridget McKenzie answered that “increasingly, what we have been seeing in the classroom is that certain ideas and perspectives are privileged over other ideas or contradictory ideas.”
Like what? She provided a personal example and said:
I can go to a personal example of my own family, where students were actually not encouraged to bring certain political commentary into the classroom for discussion in English class because it was deemed as anti-climate change or anti-environment … If you are only privileging certain types of information, certain perspectives, then you are narrowing the critical thinking skills and development of our young people and that is what is happening in our classrooms …
I was also a lecturer at Monash University and again, there is a particular political bent within those classes that privileges certain ways of thinking, certain ways of teaching, over others.
Coalition would support government in going to WTO over potential tariffs – McKenzie
Bridget McKenzie was also asked whether Australia should take the US to the World Trade Organization if it is hit with further tariffs? She answered:
It was the National Party’s John McEwan who got anti-dumping provisions written into the World Trade framework back in the Kennedy rounds of negotiations in the 60s … Those provisions that the National party, or the Country party before it got written in, was very good for us as a country, and we have had to use them recently when we were in government with grain.
Q: Do you think it is worth using them if it were to come to that?
I think we should use every method we have available to us to protect our national interests and obviously the Coalition would support the government in doing that.
Updated
McKenzie ‘underwhelmed’ by PM’s efforts to speak directly with Trump about potential tariffs
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie is speaking with ABC Afternoon Briefing, about the prospect of further tariffs from the US tomorrow morning.
Asked if she would blame Donald Trump or Anthony Albanese for any tariffs, she answered:
You wouldn’t want Anthony Albanese in a bar fight, would you? He would be the guy hiding out in the toilets at the back before it is all over.
She said that Australia was “not in the position that we want to be in.”
We are obviously standing with the government wanting to see one (an exemption) but these things don’t just miraculously happen and at the moment, I am underwhelmed by the prime minister’s inability to have a direct conversation with the president of the United States about this issue.
Albanese says he is ‘standing up’ for Australia’s free trade agreement with US
Just for some further context on those comments from Anthony Albanese, where he didn’t rule out taking the US to the World Trade Organization if it imposes further tariffs on Australia:
Asked if he would pick a fight with Donald Trump over this, the PM answered:
Well, we’re not picking a fight with anyone. What we’re doing is supporting our US free trade agreement that says that goods and services between our two nations should be tariff free.
That’s what we’re doing, supporting our agreement, holding to our word, standing up for Australia’s national interest, and calling for the United States not only to stand up for that agreement, but to stand up to their own interests as well.
PM doesn’t rule out taking US to World Trade Organization
Asked if he would take the US to the World Trade Organization, Albanese did not rule it out – but said he didn’t want to preempt the US’s decision on tariffs:
We’ve seen some level of unpredictability in the decision making process in the United States. We’ll await that decision, and then we’ll have a calm, considered calibrated response, which is in Australia’s national interest.
Updated
Albanese says government working on range of measures to ‘prepare’ ahead of potential tariffs from US
Anthony Albanese was also asked about the prospect of further tariffs from the US, which may be announced around 7am tomorrow (Australian eastern standard time).
He said the government had been “working hard on a range of measures to prepare if there is a negative result”:
We’ll wait and see if President [Donald] Trump pursues his position, which is to punish, essentially, the imports that the United States has from all over the world, like he did with steel and our aluminium.
That hasn’t resulted in any change of the purchases of our steel or our aluminium, because you can’t change the production rates in the United States instantly. All it means is that our goods are more expensive, like other goods right around the world, and that is punishing you as consumers.
Updated
Albanese speaking with ABC Sydney radio
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking with Chris Bath on ABC Radio Sydney.
Asked how he is planning to maintain safe Labor seats at the election amid the cost-of-living crisis, Albanese said he would be “campaigning very hard in Western Sydney, and indeed right throughout Sydney”.
He pointed to Labor’s submission to the Fair Work Commission’s latest annual wages review, which recommends “an economically sustainable” increase to real wages – in other words, a pay rise above inflation.
Real wages were going backwards five quarters in a row before we came to office. Now they’ve gone forwards five quarters in a row. And of course, those same people will get a tax cut, topping up the tax cut that we put in place in the current financial year …
We want people to earn more, but we also want people to keep more of what they earn. So it’s that combination of lower taxes, higher wages. Peter Dutton is calling for lower wages and higher taxes.
Updated
Master Builders says there is ‘long way to go’ to meet 1.2m homes target
Circling back to some earlier news that the number of dwelling approvals fell 0.3% in February, following a 6.9% increase in January:
Master Builders Australia’s chief economist, Shane Garrett, said the data shows points to recovery in the market:
Over the year to February 2025, new home building approvals are up 8.4%. Higher density home building approvals did most of the heavy lifting, which is great news for renters and first home buyers.
But there’s still a long way to go if we are going to meet the 1.2m new homes target under the housing accord.
He said that in the year to February, 177,400 new homes were approved, “well below the 240,000 annual target.”
Master Builders’s CEO, Denita Wawn, said more investment in housing supply was needed as well as action to reduce supply barriers.
Wawn welcomed the Coalition’s announcement today to reduce costs and red tape, with a specific working group focused on construction.
Both major parties are starting to send the right signals as the election campaign unfolds …
Updated
Rural children’s advocate backs Greens plan for early childhood education and care commission
The Greens today launched a plan to establish an independent early childhood education and care commission to enforce quality standards in the sector.
This follows an ABC Four Corners investigation last month that reported allegations of abuse and misconduct by childcare providers.
The Greens said the proposed commission would work with states and territories to ensure all children receive “safe, high-quality care.” It would also be tasked with “driving universal, free childcare” and prioritise funding for “high-quality public and not-for-profit providers.”
Royal Far West, a charity dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of country children, has backed the move. CEO Jacqui Emery said:
The Greens’ proposal … would ensure that there is centralised accountability to ensure that all children attending early learning settings are safe.
The federal government’s proposed reforms to withhold funding from providers breaching safety and quality standards are an important first step. However, they alone will not address the issues facing our early childhood sector.
A dedicated national commission would build on these positive reforms, creating a nationally consistent and comprehensive approach to quality assurance.
Updated
Humanitarian peak body welcomes further Australian support for Myanmar
The peak body for humanitarian agencies, the Australian Council for International Development (Acfid), has welcomed further support for the people of Myanmar from the Australian government.
This comes after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit last Friday, killing nearly 3000 people and leaving critical infrastructure destroyed.
The Australian government today announced $3.5m to Australian NGOs, a $500,000 contribution to the Emergency Action Alliance appeal, and $3m for emergency relief supplies – totalling $7m.
Acfid’s humanitarian lead, Naomi Brooks, said it was “welcoming” Australia’s reinforcement of commitments in a time where “humanitarian donors are retreating from the region”:
We are alarmed by credible reports of Myanmar’s military junta engaging in airstrikes in earthquake-impacted areas. The Australian humanitarian sector condemns these acts and urges the regime to allow full and unimpeded humanitarian access to these areas.
Updated
NTEU says ‘every Australian should fear’ Coalition’s proposed curriculum intervention
The National Tertiary Education Union says “every Australian should fear” the Coalition’s proposed intervention into the nation’s university and school curriculas.
The shadow education minister, Sarah Henderson, told the Australian a Peter Dutton government would task the university regulator with taking action against “indoctrination” in university courses and “political agendas”:
TEQSA, as the regulator, already has the authority to examine the quality and appropriateness of course content. The law also allows the minister to request that TEQSA advise and make recommendations regarding the quality of higher education providers.
The NTEU’s national president, Dr Alison Barnes, said “every Australian should fear the prospect of Peter Dutton deciding what does and does not get taught in schools and universities”:
Will climate scientists for example be able to lecture their students or will they be censored? This is a dangerous and unwanted ... This is one of the first glimpses of Peter Dutton’s plans for our halls of learning – and it’s evocative of the Trump administration’s politically motivated gutting of education and censorship in the USA.
Updated
Community independents running in one in four electorates this election
The Community Independents Project (CIP) says there are 38 Independent candidates contesting seats across the country at the upcoming federal election.
CIP is a not-for-profit organisation which labels itself the “foundation of the grassroots Community Independent movement across Australia,” following Cathy McGowan’s 2013 campaign in Indi and Zali Steggall’s win in Warringah in 2019.
Outgoing independent MP Kylea Tink, whose seat of North Sydney is being abolished, was recently appointed director of the CIP.
In a statement, she said one in four electorates are fielding a Community Independent candidate, and that at least one in three Australians are now voting for independents or minor parties:
This isn’t just a political moment – it’s a movement. It’s a collective call from communities across the country who are ready to have their say and shape their future.
As Sarah Basford Canales reports, polling trends show there is every chance no party will have an outright majority in the next parliament – giving independents and minor parties the opportunity to negotiate with a minority government for their support.
Updated
PM jets out of Tassie after just a few hours
After roughy two and a half hours in Tasmania, the press plane following Anthony Albanese is ready to take flight again.
The brief stop in the Apple Isle leaves the NT as the only state or territory that Albanese hasn’t visited during the first week of the campaign.
Updated
Good afternoon! Emily Wind here, ready to take you through the rest of today’s news.
Thanks for following along on the blog today, it’s been a big day so far!
I’ll leave you with the wonderful Emily Wind to take you through the rest of the afternoon, and you’ll catch me here first thing tomorrow morning.
Greens target Dutton over his education agenda
The Greens have a new nickname for the opposition leader after he left the door open to slashing the federal education department and making school funding conditional on not guiding an “agenda” of universities: “Dunce-cap Dutton”.
The party’s spokesperson on primary and secondary education, Senator Penny Allman-Payne, said withholding money from public education was “reading from Trump’s Project 2025 playbook”:
Kids in Australia deserve a world-class, free public education – not Peter Dutton standing at the whiteboard telling them what they can and can’t learn.
Dutton on Wednesday committed to match education funding announced by Labor but has floated cutting jobs in the department of education and said the Coalition’s curriculum would “reflect community standards”.
The Australian Education Union’s (AEU) president, Correna Haythorpe, said Dutton’s position on school funding “doesn’t stack up”.
We’ve seen this ideological attack on the curriculum before with Howard’s history wars. This fake claim of indoctrination is just a way to hold money back from public schools.
Updated
Matt Keogh says Dutton cuts will extend across newer agencies
The veterans’ affairs minister, Matt Keogh, has been brought out to respond (more) to Dutton’s proposed APS cuts.
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs has had about 1,000 staff added to it over the past three years, which the government says has help reduce long wait lists for past service men and women needing support.
The government has already warned putting those jobs on the chopping block could again blow out wait times for payments.
Keogh claimed workers in other newer agencies like the corruption watchdog and emergency management authority could also be at risk.
When Peter Dutton says that he wants to cut all 41,000 public servants, that’s not just the additional claims processing, processing staff in the Department of Veterans Affairs. It’s the additional staff that are supporting the payment and claims for pensions in Services Australia is the additional staff in the national emergency management authority. It’s the staff that do the work in the National Anti Corruption Commission.
Updated
Angus Taylor says ‘natural attrition’ would be focus for job cuts but does not rule out redundancies
Following on from our last post …
The alternative treasurer also said the focus on reducing jobs would be on “natural attrition” but would not rule out redundancies.
Taylor said:
The important point about this is the public service has got so big under Labor that the attrition numbers are high now. I mean, you naturally have higher attrition if you’ve got more people, because people leave to go and do other things. And it’s not a bad thing that a certain proportion of public servants each year go off to the private sector and do other things and then hopefully come back with some of the experience they’ve learned from the private sector ...
I think by having a capital city [Canberra] that’s detached from some of the commercial centres we have here in Australia, there’s probably less of that than I think would be healthy; it would be good to see more of it. And that’s why the head and deputy head of Investment Australia will be looking to bring in some private sector-expertise into that team from day one.
Updated
Angus Taylor, on Coalition's job cuts savings, says 'you'll see the costings in good time'
Returning back to Angus Taylor’s speech at the press club earlier, the shadow treasurer said costings for the Coalition’s plan to cut 41,000 jobs from the federal public service will be released before the election.
In his budget reply speech last Thursday, Peter Dutton said the move would save the budget $7bn when those jobs are reversed but did not provide any details about where the jobs would be taken from, and when that would happen.
Taylor said:
The costings will come out before ... the election. I’m not going to go through the sausage-making process that is the reality of doing these things, other than say that the team’s been working hard for a long time, and you’ll see the costings in good time, and you’ll be able to assess them and evaluate them.”
That answer is particularly interesting because last night the Victorian senator Bridget McKenzie said outlining where those jobs will be slashed from is “inappropriate at this time” because the opposition didn’t have the ability to “get under the bonnet” and “comb through the detail of departments and [see] what the Labor party has done on their watch”.
Of course, those costings might not actually reveal which jobs would be lost but they would ideally contain more clues.
However, McKenzie suggested those questions could only be answered only if the Coalition is successful in being elected.
Updated
Coalition confirms it will end penalties under new vehicle emissions standards
The Coalition has confirmed it will end penalties under the new vehicle emissions standards scheme, but won’t drop the new standards altogether.
The NVES enforces an emissions maximum for each car manufacturer, with a penalty for every gram of emissions over the target.
The Coalition says it will “repeal the car and ute tax” – ie that it will end that penalty.
It claims abolishing the tax will result in an average saving of $2,375 per vehicle by 2029.
A 2024 study from the University of Technology Sydney found Australian passenger vehicles are emitting 50% more carbon dioxide than the average in major markets, including the US, EU, China and Japan.
Updated
What’s the gender split on candidates for the House of Representatives?
Just to provide a bit more context to an earlier post on the split of male and female candidates in the Coalition – here are the numbers on how many of each are running for the House of Representatives.
This includes incumbents and candidates running for election.
Coalition:
Female 48
Male 94
Labor:
Female 69
Male 56
This doesn’t include whether those seats are winnable or not – but to the question to Angus Taylor earlier on whether the party reflects Australia, the numbers do show only a third of their House of Representatives candidates are women.
Updated
Albanese: there will be cuts to health, education, ABC under Coalition
The other big story of the week is the Coalition’s plan to cut 41,000 public servants (and the possibility of cutting funding to the ABC, which Dutton spoke on this morning).
Tony Abbott before 2013 there said there would be no cuts to education and the ABC. At least this bloke has told people in a roundabout way there will be cuts to health, education [and] the ABC if the Coalition are elected.
Dutton has promised none of the APS jobs cut will be to frontline staff, and has said that the funding for health in this current budget is funding that the Coalition will match. But the Coalition has refused to detail where exactly those APS cuts will come from.
Updated
Albanese: Trade with the US is only 5% of exports
We’re off to questions, and the first is on Trump and whether the government would consider taking the US to the World Trade Organisation (like the government did with China over their tariffs on wine and barley).
Albanese says he won’t preempt the decision that the US will make, but says “we are prepared for all possibilities going forward”.
The United States represent under 5% of our exports, goods exports, around the world. But, importantly, as well, we will continue to diversify our trade relationships. We do that, we have done that over the last few years.
But Albanese says one of the concerns Labor does have is how the tariffs could diminish global growth and economic activity.
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Renters organisation calls for urgent action to strengthen renter’s rights
The National Association of Renters’ Organisations (Naro) is calling for urgent, decisive action to give renters a fair go across all states and territories.
Eighteen months since the national cabinet announced the better deal for renters with the goal of strengthening renters’ rights across the country, there is still significant work required, the Naro said.
While all jurisdictions have successfully banned solicited rent bidding and extended protections for tenants experiencing domestic violence, progress on the remaining seven principles is far from uniform.
Penny Carr, the convenor of the Naro and the CEO of Tenants Queensland, said:
Every Australian renter deserves the right to live in a safe and affordable home, free from the fear of arbitrary eviction. It is unacceptable that the extent of this protection varies significantly depending on the jurisdiction. Australian renters deserve better.
While progress has been made, key issues remain unaddressed for Queensland renters, who are lagging behind those in the other major states and some smaller jurisdictions. Queensland renters remain vulnerable to unreasonable rent increases and most face the constant threat of eviction without cause.
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PM holds press conference in Tasmania
The PM is doing a second press conference of the day, this time in Burnie, Tasmania.
So far he’s plugging the healthcare hub he’s pledging money to, as well as the Labor candidate, Anne Urquhart, who has jumped over from the Senate to try her hand in the seat (it’ll be a tough one, the Liberals held it with an 8% margin at the last election, but the seat has been switched back and forth between the two major parties over the last 50 years).
It is no accident we are here today on the day we have also announced our submission to lift the wages of low income earners, to make that submission to lift wages, as well as a tax cut because we want people to earn more and keep more of what they earn, but we also understand it is about quality of life and healthcare matters.
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Albanese matches Coalition pledge on $8m Tasmanian healthcare hub
Anthony Albanese is in Burnie in north-west Tasmania to pledge $8m for a new healthcare hub – a commitment the Coalition also made on Wednesday afternoon.
The hub will include a range of health services, including a general practice, pharmacy, women’s health, imaging, pathology, and legal services.
Albanese is touring the existing centre with his Braddon candidate, Anne Urquhart, and senior ministers Penny Wong and Mark Butler, who have been fixtures in the first week of the campaign.
We can expect a press conference – held in front of the now-familiar green and gold “Strengthening Medicare” banner – shortly.
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Tasmanian social services council calls for ‘brave’ cost-of-living measures
The Tasmanian Council of Social Service (TasCOSS) has called on candidates in this year’s election to raise the rate of income support, create more affordable housing, and close the digital divide.
TasCOSS’s CEO, Adrienne Picone, said all Tasmanians should be able to live a good life but the reality for most is affording basics, buying or renting a secure and healthy home and fully participating in the digital economy are now further out of reach:
The cost of living is the number one issue in the country and this election should focus on addressing these pressures in the long-term
Family budgets are as tight as they’ve ever been. Crippling financial pressure is causing immense anxiety and mere survival has become the norm.
We need a government willing to be brave, to put forward a clear policy agenda which demonstrates a commitment to meaningful structural reform. Glib promises and wafer-thin slogans won’t cut it.
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NSW rail union calls for immediate halt to metro operations after open door incident
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union is calling on the Sydney Metro system to stop operations immediately after a door stayed open on a driverless metro train travelling between Chatswood and Crows Nest at peak hour this morning.
“The Sydney Metro system needs to stop operations immediately until interim safety measures are put in place to ensure a situation that saw doors on a fast moving Metro train remain open this morning doesn’t happen again,” the union said in a statement.
Videos circulating online of the doors of the metro train open while passengers stood nearby are “harrowing,” the RTBU secretary, Toby Warnes, said:
It’s a miracle that no one was hurt, or worse, on the Metro this morning.
The Metro services need to stop service immediately until an interim safety plan, at a minimum, is put in place to ensure this won’t happen again.
Imagine if there was a small child standing near that door. This is a huge safety risk that needs to be rectified immediately.
Warnes called on the state government to “step in immediately” to “ensure we have a safe railway service”. He says the metro system “doesn’t have a mature enough safety protocol system in place”.
Passengers and workers need to know what went wrong so we can confirm it won’t happen again. Passengers should never have been put in such a dangerous position.
The union are addressing press shortly. More to come.
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Taylor questioned over gas policy
More questions for Taylor. The Coalition’s centrepiece gas policy promises a reduction in gas prices from $14 a gigajoule to $10 … but at which point is that $4 drop?
Peter Dutton said, when announcing the policy, that would be the drop in wholesale cost. But the shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, said on the weekend that cost would be at the household level. Taylor is asked to clarify:
Taylor: On gas, currently the price of gas moves every day. It’s around 14 bucks, [or a] little higher. And sneak preview on the modelling, you’ll see that we can get it down to below $10.
Andrew Probyn: Household or wholesale?
Taylor: Everyone pays that. Industry, households, that’s all built into everybody’s prices, Andrew, wherever you are.
Taylor is also asked whether the gas reservation plan impacts current gas projects or just new ones. He confirms the focus would be getting more supply from current production.
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Taylor rejects question on Coalition gender representation
During his speech, Taylor said the Coalition team “reflects the people they seek to represent”, but Katina Curtis points out that less than a third of their candidates at this election are women, and just a quarter of them in WA are women.
Taylor rejects the question, and says if you look at both houses of parliament, the number is closer to 47% (but it’s much lower for candidates running for the lower house).
Curtis puts that WA figure back to him, and he replies:
I can’t speak to every state but I’d say across Australia, and, you know, they are an amazing group of candidates.
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Taylor, asked about Coalition job cuts, praises Elon Musk
Taylor is asked next about the 41,000 staff the Coalition has promised to cut from the public service and exactly which programs would be cut.
Taylor starts by praising Starlink, the satellite internet service that Elon Musk owns and the “amazing technology” Taylor and other families in his regional electorate use.
Musk is of course the head of Doge, an executive branch team leading tens of thousands of public servant cuts across the US – some of which were ruled illegal.
He then moves to the actual question but won’t say where those jobs will but cut from, and like Dutton reiterates that the Coalition wants to see efficiency in the APS:
I’m a relative newcomer to politics, but I learned in that [private sector] career that you don’t need to have a bigger team to have a better team… Take away some of the bureaucracy.
It won’t be from frontline services and the focus will be on the Canberra-based jobs of course. I also think that some movement in and out of the private sector with the public service is what we want to see more of too.
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Taylor claims Coalition budget would be better than under Labor by focusing on energy costs
Back to the National Press Club, we’re on to questions, and Tom Connell asks whether a Coalition budget would be better off over the forward estimates.
“Yes” says Taylor … and then is asked to expand.
It is a one-word answer. And the truth is we need a stronger budget position and that’s why we’ve opposed over $100bn of unnecessary Labor spending at this time. That’s not an easy thing to do.
Asked further whether the next budget deficit would be lower and how the Coalition would cut programs like the housing Australia future fund, or rewiring the nation, Taylor says more focus should be on cutting energy costs to make sectors like housing and manufacturing more competitive.
We want manufacturing to succeed but we know the way for manufacturing to succeed is get energy costs down, make sure our construction sector is competitive. Make sure you get approvals quickly. That’s how you do it. You don’t make up for all of that with big government subsidies.
(Just a quick note here: the Coalition has said they’ll up subsidies for the gas industry to increase gas supply in Australia.)
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Dutton pledges $6.2m for Melbourne Headspace facility
Peter Dutton’s campaign has arrived in Melton, in the Melbourne seat of Hawke. He visited a Headspace centre in a shopping centre of the suburb, pledging $6.2m to the facility.
Dutton was joined by mental health advocate Patrick McGorry at the announcement. In a statement he said the “announcement forms part of the Coalition’s commitment to invest an additional $400m to deliver a world-leading focus on youth mental health.”
The money for Melton would boost capacity at the centre, employ more staff, and bring down wait times for young people. Dutton said it would give 12,000 extra appointments at Headspace for 2500 more people.
Australia’s youth mental health crisis will be at risk of worsening under a re-elected Albanese Labor government.
Hawke is held by Labor first-term MP Sam Rae on a 7.6% margin.
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Albanese campaign lands in Tasmania
Anthony Albanese’s election campaign has arrived in Tasmania for the first time, landing in Burnie in the state’s north-west.
Burnie sits in the electorate of Braddon, which the Liberals hold on a notional margin of 8.03%.
But Labor believes the seat is winnable with Senator Anne Urquhart as its candidate, after passing laws to protect Tasmania’s salmon industry.
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Taylor announces new investment body with three taskforces
Taylor says the Coalition’s economic plan has five goals:
We will make it our mission to, first, beat inflation sustainably. Second, repair our housing and energy markets, and revive growth through investment and backing small business, deliver targeted timely tax relief, and restore the budget to protect our nation.
How will they do that?
On inflation, Taylor points to spending cuts on programs the Coalition has already announced (like the rewiring the nation plan, and public service cuts). For housing, it includes changes to the serviceability buffer that was announced yesterday, allowing super to be used for home deposits and increasing housing supply.
Taylor also announces “Investment Australia” which he says will be a statutory body in the Treasury department. He says this will drive Australian jobs.
It’s about fast-tracking investment, not holding it back with bureaucracy. It will bring the major project facilitation agency into Treasury, consolidating the market and infrastructure functions of Treasury, and bringing elements of foreign investments screening and the takeovers panel under one function. It will boost our competitive[ness] and facilitate investment.
Taylor promises a chair for the body within 100 days and will establish three investment taskforces to “reduce regulatory costs”.
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Angus Taylor says ‘election is about the economy’ in budget reply
Angus Taylor is at the National Press Club giving his budget reply (yes, the budget was just a week ago, and yes it feels like it’s been an age).
Despite the fact that Taylor didn’t expect to be necessarily giving his budget reply in the middle of an election campaign, the timing is somewhat apt, as the election will be fought hard on the cost of living and the economy.
That’s what Taylor starts with.
This election is about the economy. It’s about who Australians trust to restore their living standards. Their hope and their aspirations for the future, and the future of their families. We need strong economic management to restore Australia’s prosperity. Economic management that has been lacking from a distracted government.
The Coalition has long shaped the narrative that it is the better economic manager, and polling has often reflected that (as NPC host Tom Connell brought up a poll showing voters thought the Coalition might have put forward a better budget than the Labor government).
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Liberals reveal posters saying ‘Monique, please DO NOT take this sign!’ after Ryan’s apology
The Liberal campaign has wasted no time in capitalising on Monique Ryan’s apology after her husband was filmed removing a campaign sign for her Liberal challenger last month.
The incident prompted the Australian Electoral Commission to issue a warning to all political candidates about “the importance of civility while campaigning”.
Ryan’s husband, Peter Jordan, admitted he made a “mistake” in taking the sign for the Liberals’ Kooyong candidate, Amelia Hamer, from outside the home of a Coalition supporter.
The Liberal party has now printed official campaign posters saying, “Monique, please DO NOT take this sign!” to be installed alongside posters for Amelia Hamer.
Of course, Ryan did not remove the sign herself. It was her husband who did. But the sign demonstrates how some Liberal insiders believe the incident could be politically damaging to her brand. Ryan has campaigned on integrity issues.
In a media statement after the video was published by media organisations, Jordan said:
I unreservedly apologise for removing the sign. It was a mistake.
I believed the sign was illegally placed but I should have reported my concerns to council.
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Dwelling approvals dip 0.3% after January rise
The number of dwelling approvals fell 0.3% in February, following a 6.9% increase in January, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
It said 16,606 dwellings were approved in February, slightly down from 16,650 in January.
Private sector dwellings excluding houses fell 1.5%, after reaching a two-year high in January. The ABS said in a statement:
Despite the drop, the series is 73.1% higher than February last year.
There were 313 new apartment approvals in New South Wales in February, in original terms. This comes after 2,694 were approved in January – the highest result since May 2023.
Meanwhile, total residential building value recorded an all-time high for the second consecutive month, rising 5% to $9.65bn.
The result was comprised of a 5.8% gain in the value of new residential building approved (to $8.4bn) and a 0.3% fall in the value of alterations and additions (to $1.16bn).
The value of approved non-residential buildings fell 16.5% to $4.69bn, after falling 21.6% in January.
A productivity commission report in February found the Australian housing construction sector was only building half as many homes relative to the number of hours worked compared with 30 years ago.
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Open door on Sydney driverless train under investigation
Moving away from politics for a moment: An investigation is under way after a door stayed open on a driverless metro train travelling between Chatswood and Crows Nest at peak hour this morning.
“A door fault” was identified on a train travelling between the two stations about 8.01am, Metro Trains Sydney CEO Daniel Williams said in a statement.
A customer journey coordinator and customer operations lead were onboard the service, he said. Attempts to remotely fix the issue were unsuccessful. The operational control centre then instructed the frontline staff to manually close the door.
Two staff members stood by the door until the train came to a stop at the next station, where it was able to be closed, Williams said.
The metro had been removed from service, and the incident was under investigation. Williams said:
We apologise to customers for the concern this caused.
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PM’s campaign leaves Melbourne
Anthony Albanese’s campaign is on the move again after just one event in Melbourne this morning – a stop at a childcare centre in Michael Sukkar’s eastern suburbs seat of Deakin.
The press plane trailing the prime minister is on the tarmac at Melbourne airport preparing to take off.
Destination unknown.
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Key event
Day six of the campaign – in photos
Here are some images that have been filtering through from the sixth day of the election campaign, with Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton both in Melbourne.
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NSW doctors to defy strike ban and go ahead with industrial action – union
Doctors fed up with alleged staffing shortages in hospitals, low pay and excessive workloads plan to take industrial action despite the threat of fines, AAP reports.
The Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation said today it would continue three days of planned industrial action beginning next week, in the face of an industrial court’s orders to halt.
The rare walk-out is expected to impact hospital care across New South Wales, with doctors in major Sydney hospitals and regional areas including Tweed Heads and Wollongong voting to strike from next Tuesday.
In a post to social media, the union said the action was needed in response to unsatisfactory pay offers that don’t compete with other states.
Excessive workloads, staffing shortages and a lack of engagement in negotiations are also claimed.
It is likely that the union will face fines in relation to this order.
Your council has considered this possibility and is prepared to continue regardless.
It told doctors they will not be personally liable for penalties and directed them to press on in a bid to force further bargaining with the state government.
The union is expected to provide further details of its plans on Wednesday morning.
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PM says school students should join in marking Anzac Day
Off the back of his press conference, Albanese is talking to 2GB radio, starting on his beloved NRL Rabbitohs team (I won’t delve in, I don’t know enough about footy).
More seriously, Albanese is asked about a story in the Daily Telegraph about a Sydney public school allowing students to opt out of an Anzac Day service.
The PM was asked the question during his press conference too and said he supported Anzac Day and he’d be at the War Memorial to mark the day.
He says the same on 2GB but after being pushed further he puts forward a position:
They should be participating, each and every Australian – it is a solemn day in our calendar. I’ll be there at the Australian War Memorial, and I’ll be so proud to be there as the Australian prime minister. And I said that Peter Dutton should be joining me at what is a national event.
Albanese adds that under the previous government, 42,000 veterans were waiting for support payments, and the current government has paid an additional $13bn to support those who have served in uniform.
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Dutton gas plan has ‘reckless’ lack of detail, King says
The resources minister, Madeleine King, has told a gas industry conference in Sydney that opposition leader Peter Dutton’s gas plan “is not much of a plan” and contains a “reckless” lack of detail.
In a pre-recorded speech, King said:
There is a distinct lack of detail, and there is certainly nothing new in it, and nothing the government hasn’t already done.
All Peter Dutton’s gas reservation scheme has to offer is a slogan. [The] lack of detail in his plan is reckless…
King said that in the recent parliamentary term, the opposition had voted against government legislation, such as a temporary $12-a-gigajoule price cap designed to bring down domestic gas prices, only to announce its own plans last week for a gas reservation scheme for the east coast aimed at lowering prices.
So they voted against bringing prices down, security supply, applying penalties to exporters, and now they want to pursue – and each and every one of those policies, it is staggering and proves everything we all thought about the Coalition is right.
They just don’t do the work.
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Continuing from our last post…
The Victorian opposition’s spokesperson for police, David Southwick, has described acting police commissioner Rick Nugent’s decision to walk away from the job after just 41 days as “yet another sign of the chaos within Victoria police under the Allan Labor government”.
Southwick said Victorians had been “left in the dark” about Nugent’s decision and what led to it, and placed the blame on the premier, Jacinta Allan, and her police minister, Anthony Carbines.
But Allan told reporters on Wednesday that Carbines was made aware this week that Nugent was reconsidering applying for the role this week.
She said:
[Nugent] has been very upfront about his reasons for reconsidering and deciding not to apply for the role. And I think that demonstrates that behind every police uniform is a person and we should respect that.
Allan denied the police force was in “crisis”.
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Victorian acting police chief says he won’t apply for permanent role
Ducking off the election trail for a moment…
The Victoria police acting chief commissioner, Rick Nugent, says he will not apply to stay in the role permanently.
In a statement released this morning, Nugent said he made the difficult decision after realising he could not commit to the demanding 24/7 nature of the role for five years and that he wanted to pursue other opportunities. He said:
After almost four decades at Victoria police, plus 18 months as emergency management commissioner, I cannot say, hand on heart, that I have it in me to fulfil the duties of this office for the full five years. It is simple yet unavoidably true, life is short and there are other passions and opportunities that I wish to pursue.
Nugent denied reports in the Herald Sun on Wednesday that suggested he was quitting the position due to a conflict of interest related to his previous tenure as commissioner, which had been referred to Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog.
He said:
I want to be completely clear about media reporting this morning about complaints that have been made to Ibac. These allegations are entirely wrong and I look forward to meeting with Ibac to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.
I will work with government as to how long I remain in the role of acting chief commissioner. As always, I remain in absolute gratitude for the incredible work of everyone at Victoria police in keeping our community safe.
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Coalition would give gas 'critical mineral' status to boost industry funding – senator
Coalition senator Susan McDonald has told a gas industry conference in Sydney that a Coalition government would give gas the same status as a critical mineral to allow the industry to access a $4bn export finance fund that was set up to support the transition to net zero.
McDonald said:
I can announce today that to boost investment, a Coalition government will elevate gas to the same status as a critical mineral. This will ensure gas projects are able to apply for funding from the $4 billion critical minerals facility.
This will ensure gas projects so critical to our national and international security are able to access specialised teams within the Department of Resources to support their projects.
The facility is a fund managed by Export Finance Australia. It was established to support projects that are in line with the goals of the government’s critical minerals strategy, which aims to boost the critical minerals sector as energy systems transition to clean energy.
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PM steers around labelling Dutton ‘Temu Trump’
Earlier during Albanese’s press conference he was asked if he’s calling Peter Dutton a “Temu Trump”.
“No,” he replied.
But it’s a mark of how much the Labor party is trying to shape up that comparison, particularly when Dutton talks about cutting the public service and changing the school curriculum to avoid the “woke” agenda.
You might remember just last week Greens MP Stephen Bates called Dutton “Temu Trump” (an unflattering social media term) during question time (which was quickly determined unparliamentary).
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Allan says parliament timetable to blame for no show with PM
Jacinta Allan was also asked why she hasn’t appeared with Albanese while he’s been in Victoria. Similarly, she blamed parliament sitting:
I’m determined to go back to parliament today and be on the floor of the legislative assembly, to be part of that historic moment where we pass the anti-vilification social cohesion bill.
She denied the Victorian government, which under her leadership has experienced a slump in the polls, is a drag on their federal counterparts:
If you look at my priorities, if you look at the prime minister’s priorities, they are the same.
Allan said both state and federal Labor were focused on supporting working people, funding hospitals, schools and infrastructure.
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Dutton repeats Albanese a ‘weak leader’
On tariffs, Dutton is digging in to his criticism that Albanese is a “weak” leader and that he would take a stronger stance against the Trump administration.
He also says under the previous Liberal government, his party drove a “very hard deal” with Joe Biden for the Aukus agreement with the US and UK.
I don’t care whether it is President Trump or any other … leader, my job is to up for Australians and I have the strength and experience to be able to do that. The prime minister is seen as a weak leader here in Australia and is a weak leader in our international partners as well. That is just the reality of it, the way he conducts himself.
Earlier on Sky News, Dutton said he had no concerns about Aukus, and that there was enough support from Republicans and Democrats to sustain the agreement.
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Dutton says ‘ballooning the public service is not an efficient way of helping families’
Dutton’s being pushed again on what sort of cuts he would make to the public service and where.
The Coalition has promised to cut it by 41,000 staff – the same number that have been employed by the government over the past three years – but has said this won’t impact frontline services. Dutton also this morning wouldn’t rule out cutting the ABC.
The government has created an environment and an economy where they are increasing the public service by 41,000 people, three times the rate of the Gillard government… Increasing the bureaucracy in Canberra is not a way to deliver efficient services to families in the suburbs.
He adds that “I think it is important for us to live within our means”, a reference to the Abbott 2014 budget, when cuts were made to key services like health and the ABC.
Our own Josh Butler asks whether it’s fair Dutton won’t say exactly where those 41,000 public servant job losses will come from. The opposition leader responds:
I think you want to get back to reality, and reality is in the suburbs, here across the country where families cannot afford to pay that bill, and ballooning the public service by 41,000 is not an efficient way of helping families.
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Dutton blames Labor for sending wages ‘backwards’
Peter Dutton is also in Melbourne and is speaking off the back of Albanese, and is asked what submission a Coalition government would make to the Fair Work Commission.
Earlier this morning, two Coalition frontbenchers said they supported wage rises, but stopped short of supporting a push for the commission to lift the minimum wage above the rate on inflation.
Dutton says the same, that he supports wage increases, but blames the government for sending wages backwards.
Families have gone backwards under this government. There’s been seven quarters where families have been in recession. Mr Albanese can talk up about putting up wages. Real wages have gone down under this government.
The last part of that is not quite true … real wages, according to the ABS wage price index, have gone up (though a very modest 0.7% in the latest quarter).
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PM says Port of Darwin shouldn’t have been ‘flogged off’ to Chinese company
Albanese has flagged he will have “more to say” over the campaign on the future of the Port of Darwin.
Under the former government, the Northern Territory signed a 99-year lease with Chinese-owned Landbridge for the port in 2015.
Albanese says he wouldn’t have “flogged it off” in the first place.
We opposed it at the time, we thought that was unwise… not only did the Northern Territory government get income from the People’s Republic of China for flogging off the port, they got a top-up payment from Australian taxpayers for selling the port of Darwin to a company that is closely connected with the People’s Republic of China government. I will have more to say when – over the course of this campaign.
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Back to the tariffs, Albanese says there are daily discussions taking place between the Australian and US administrations ahead of the next round of tariffs.
We are certainly prepared tomorrow for whatever outcome is determined. And you’ll see that tomorrow.
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Why isn’t Jacinta Allan with PM in Melbourne?
There’s been speculation as to why Victorian premier Jacinta Allan isn’t with Albanese, Wong and Murray Watt at today’s press conference in Melbourne. (Note: the very popular Peter Malinauskas was right by Albanese’s side when he was in Adelaide yesterday, and Roger Cook was with the PM earlier during his visit to Perth).
Allan isn’t as popular in Victoria, and Liberal insiders believe her lack of popularity will help turn voters towards the Coalition in the state.
But Albanese says:
Parliament is sitting. It’s this little thing called Parliament.
He adds he works closely and has a good relationship with every premier and chief minister.
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Albanese rejects Dutton barb over Trump
Albanese refutes the criticism from Dutton during that earlier interview that Trump is walking all over him.
Albanese says Dutton “says different things every day”, between praising Donald Trump and standing up for Australia. (You might remember Dutton had called Trump “shrewd”, “reasonable” and a “big thinker”).
I stood up for Australia when they put on aluminium and steel tariffs. I continue to stand up for Australia and have said very clearly we won’t compromise and negotiate on our PBS, our on biosecurity, on our media bargaining code. I will stand up for Australia.
Peter Dutton will always dial things up to 11. He thinks this is a contest of who can say the most aggro things. It’s not.
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Wong says Labor working to diversity trade in face of Trump tariffs
To Trump (no surprises here – we’ll be seeing questions on this for days to come), foreign minister Penny Wong takes a question on whether Australia should team up with China to counter the US’s tariffs.
Earlier on ABC RN Breakfast, Wong said Australia needed to be “realistic” about the potential outcomes on trade.
Wong reiterates the point, adding that the government has been working to diversify trade and will continue to do so.
What we have to do is to recognise the reality and make good decisions for Australia. And they include making sure we diversify our trade, and you’ve seen over the three years of this government our work to diversify our trading markets, not only to remove $20 billion of trade impediments on the Chinese market, but to do more to exploit the economic opportunities, to take the economic opportunities of South-East Asia, of India, of [a] free trade agreement with the UAE.
We just heard earlier from Peter Dutton talking to Sky, saying that he’d take a more aggressive approach to the US administration.
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PM says Labor support aims to offset falling birth rate
Back to Albanese’s press conference in Melbourne, the PM is asked about the decreasing birth rate in Australia, and what that shows about confidence in the economy and future.
Albanese says that’s why Labor has looked at paid parental leave, and super on that leave, as well as more subsidised childcare to try and help young parents and families.
All of these measures have been aimed at encouraging population growth through an increased number of births that are important. So, the government is conscious about it.
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Dutton says he’d ‘have a fight with Donald Trump’ in a heartbeat if needed
Over on Sky, Peter Dutton has done a pre-recorded sit down interview traversing health, public service cuts, defence and tariffs.
Labor has been trying to tie Dutton and his policies to the US, at a particularly awkward time when Australia is negotiating against a new round of tariffs (due to be announced tomorrow morning our time).
Yesterday we heard treasurer Jim Chalmers call Dutton “DOGE-ee” – a reference to the US “department of government efficiency”. But Dutton has been trying hard to pin Albanese as a weak leader.
Asked whether the comparison with Trump is hurting the Liberal campaign, Dutton says:
I think the prime minister will go and he’ll throw the lines out. He’ll get Jim Chalmers and other lackeys to throw the lines out. Ultimately, what people want is a prime minister who can stand up for our country...
If I needed to have a fight with Donald Trump or any other world leader to advance our nation’s interests, I’d do it in a heartbeat, and I’ll put the Americans on notice.
That sounds a little like shirt fronting to me… (see Tony Abbott versus Vladimir Putin circa 2014).
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PM recounts holding up $1 coin as he backs minimum-wage rise
Anthony Albanese is standing up in Melbourne childcare centre, in an area that Labor needs to sandbag its support.
There are two key themes here for Albanese – one is the submission to increase the minimum wage (which would impact some childcare workers) plus the government’s guarantee for three days of subsidised care for kids.
On the wage rises, Albanese reminisces that last election, he held up a $1 coin to signify what a wage rise matching inflation would mean.
Last campaign I was in Victoria, here in Melbourne, where I held up a $1 coin repeatedly. Because when asked … would I support a pay increase if the Fair Work Commission determined it, I said ‘absolutely’. The Coalition at that time said that must be a mistake because the sky would fall in.
We’ve said that not once, not twice, not three times but now for the fourth time we’re saying we support minimum wage and those on award wages, some 3 million Australians, not going backwards.
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Victorian premier announces school uniform shift to ease family costs
Meanwhile, in Victorian politics…
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has announced public school students will be allowed to wear non-branded shorts, pants, skirts and socks under a major policy change designed to ease financial pressure on families.
Speaking at Abbotsford primary school, Allan announced that from 2026, school logos on shorts, pants, skirts and socks in Victorian government schools would be banned.
She said the decision followed consultation with schools and parents, which found the branded items were the biggest contributor to uniform costs, especially when it came to items worn daily.
Allan said:
Kids grow pretty rapidly and often need a new school uniform, a new pair of socks, a new pair of shorts – that is adding cost and additional pressures on family.
I’ve certainly noticed this – one of our kids started year seven this year, so we had to go and get a whole new school uniform. And whilst we didn’t have the branded socks, we certainly had the branded shorts, the branded pants, which does add cost and often they are more expensive, much more expensive than what you could buy as a more generic item from other retail outlets.
Allan says branded logos would be required “from the waist up” on hats, tops, shirts, dresses and jackets but not “from the waist down”. She says:
We absolutely want to see the uniforms born with pride, but that’s why we’re saying from the waist up, have those logos. For the other items, the generic items will do just the same job.
The unbranded items will need to match the school colours. There will be transitional arrangements to ensure that uniforms already purchased can continue to be worn.
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Peter Dutton will visit a housing estate at Donnybrook, in the outer Melbourne seat of McEwen, for a press conference this morning.
The seat is Labor-held, but only on a slim 3.8% margin. These type of outer suburban, mortgage belt seats are exactly the type of electorates that Dutton needs to win if he stands any chance of electoral victory.
We’re at a home in a new estate out in the suburbs. There’s a pretty impressive bed of tall sunflowers in the front garden. We’re told the young family in this home is working multiple jobs to make the mortgage payments.
Dutton will be joined by McEwen candidate Jason McClintock.
Victorian upper house passes anti-vilification laws after marathon sitting
Victoria’s upper house sat until almost 4am this morning to pass anti-vilification legislation, with new safeguards added to the bill to secure the support of the Greens.
The justice legislation amendment (anti-vilification and social cohesion) bill will expand Victoria’s existing legal protections against vilification, which currently only cover race and religion, to cover disability, gender identity, sex and sexual orientation.
It will also make serious vilification - such as incitement of hatred or physical threats - offences punishable by up to five years’ jail.
Under the amendments secured by the Greens, police and the courts will have to consider the social, historical, and cultural context when making decisions about vilification in both civil and criminal cases.
The bill will also retain third-party oversight in criminal prosecutions by limiting police power by requiring them to obtain consent from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) before proceeding with charges.
The Greens also successfully negotiated to add the phrase “address systemic injustice and structural oppression” to the purpose of the bill and to narrow the expanded religious exception to “prevent the vilification of LGBTQIA+ and other marginalised groups under the guise of religion”.
The bill will return to the lower house later today to pass the changes.
Greens MP Gabrielle de Vietri said:
We’ve ensured this bill protects people against hate speech with safeguards in place to prevent these laws from being misused, especially against marginalised and overpoliced communities.
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Dutton won’t rule out cutting ABC
Staying on Dutton’s interview with ABC radio Melbourne, Raf Epstein asks whether Dutton’s cuts to the public service include the ABC.
He won’t rule it out, and says where there is waste or ineffective spending, “we don’t support that”.
I think where we find waste and we find ineffective spending, then we don’t support that
I think there’s a lot of very good work that the ABC does, and if it’s being run efficiently, then you would keep the funding in place.
If it’s not being run efficiently and there is waste, then I think taxpayers, who pay for it, and who are working harder than ever just to get ahead, would expect us to, you know, to not support the waste.
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Dutton faces 'PM for Sydney' accusations on Melbourne radio
Peter Dutton’s admission he’d move into Kirribilli House in Sydney is continuing to bite.
He’s on ABC radio Melbourne, and listeners have accused him of “wanting to be the prime minister of Sydney” and that he does more Sydney media that Melbourne media.
Dutton says that’s not true and says he’s spent time doing commercial Melbourne radio and national commercial media.
There are many I know this city, many other mediums I do know this city. I’ve been coming to this city for the last 25 years, and I love Melbourne. It’s a great, great city, and I have lots of friends and family here. I have lots of support here…
I want to make Victoria a safer place. I want to work with whoever is the premier in this state to make sure that we can address what I think is some pretty significant failings in the economic settings here in Victoria.
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Coalition nuclear scheme would shutter aluminium smelters around country, Labor says
Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan would see the closure of aluminium smelters in Tasmania, NSW, Victoria and Queensland, Labor has asserted, pointing to changes in electricity demand assumed under the Coalition’s energy modelling.
Smelters at Bell Bay, Tomago, Portland and Boyne would close before 2030, Labor claims, because the Coalition’s plan assumes lower electricity demand than Labor’s plan does - spelling trouble for the energy-intensive aluminium sector, the government has said today.
This is a complicated story - with lots of detail about modelling, assumptions and the power grid - but we’ve stepped it out in an article earlier this week:
Dutton visited Tomago earlier this week and denied this sort of claim, saying this argument was a “misinterpretation” of his plan, and claiming the shortfall in demand was because renewables required Labor to “overbuild” the system.
But Labor is continuing this argument today, and say the nuclear modelling doesn’t have enough power to keep energy-intensive industries running.
Dr Dylan McConnell, an energy systems expert at UNSW, told Guardian Australia earlier this week:
The version of the future that the Coalition is relying on is one that has aluminium smelters closing. It assumes a big reduction in large industrial loads.
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PM ramps up campaigning in Melbourne battlegrounds
With Labor needing to sandbag seats in Melbourne, Albanese starts today on the offensive, campaigning in the eastern suburbs electorate of Deakin, held by Liberal frontbencher Michael Sukkar on a razor-thin margin of 0.02%.
The latest YouGov poll published on Sunday showed Sukkar on track on lose the seat to the Labor candidate, Matt Gregg.
Albanese will visit a childcare centre in Croydon South with Gregg and the employment minister, Murray Watt, to talk up Labor’s push for a pay-rise for low-paid workers - including early childhood educators.
As we reported earlier, Labor’s submission to the Fair Work Commission’s annual wage review calls for an above-inflation pay rise for 2.9 million workers.
Albanese has fronted press conferences with the popular WA and SA premiers in recent days but it doesn’t sound like Victorian leader Jacinta Allan will be present at this morning’s event.
That’s telling.
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Gallagher says lowest paid should ‘get a good pay rise’
Finance minister Katy Gallagher is plugging Labor’s submission to the Fair Work Commission (as Dan Jervis-Bardy noted earlier, they’re submitting it as a party rather than as the government as they’re already in caretaker mode).
She’s told News Breakfast those on minimum wages have been hit hard by the cost of living crisis, and deserve a wage boost.
One of our [Labor’s] key economic priorities as been to get wages moving again after they had fallen so much under the Coalition, and we’re seeing that and there’s no reason why those lowest-paid shouldn’t get a good pay rise as well.
Gallagher is also asked about the tariffs due to be announced in the next 24 hours.
She says the government has been putting forward all its arguments through the diplomatic channels. When asked whether the government should go harder in criticising Trump, like Canadian PM Mark Carney has, she says:
I think we are being very strident. We are acting in the national interest, we’ve said these are policies we don’t support, we are arguing our case very strongly and we will continue to do so.
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Bandt says Greens have worked before with a minority Labor government
Bandt has been saying this election is an opportunity (with the prospect of a Labor minority government) for the Greens to be able to push for stronger nature reforms.
But Sally Sara asks whether Labor might be more willing – if they are in a minority government position – to go to the teals, rather than the Greens.
Bandt says last time Labor was in minority with the Greens, back in 2010 under Julia Gillard, the Greens helped get dental into Medicare for kids. He also says the Greens have been working with Labor in this term of parliament.
Yes, there’s been areas where we’ve pushed the government to act on the environment, on housing, but we’ve also been able to negotiate passage of large amount of legislation through this parliament, and we’re heading to a situation in this country where less than a third of the country voted for the government at the last election.
What would the Greens be pushing for in the next term of parliament? Bandt says he wants further action on housing, and affordable housing, more action on the environment, and dental into Medicare for everyone.
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Bob Brown to join Greens’ policy launch
The Greens are launching their Green Australia policy today, and will be joined by their former leader Bob Brown.
The minor party is pushing for 1% of the budget to be spent on nature – as Lisa Cox brought you earlier – and leader Adam Bandt says the spend on nature is currently half that.
Bandt is on RN Breakfast and says he doesn’t trust either Liberal or Labor to deliver on nature reforms.
This is something that’s been pushing for some time, sadly. Because of government’s broken promises, environment protections at the end of this government are now weaker than they were at the last election. And as a result, we’ve now got koalas are endangered, there’s an area the size of the MCG of bushland cleared every two minutes in this country.
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Young Australians file UN human rights complaint over climate
Nine young Australians have filed a complaint to the United Nations that argues the government breached their human rights by failing to act urgently enough on climate change.
Calling themselves “Generation Justice”, the diverse group – represented by a legal team at Environmental Justice Australia – said the federal government’s weak climate targets, fossil fuel expansion and subsidies breached their rights as children, people living with disabilities and First Nations people.
Maya Farmer, 19, who lives in Melbourne/Naarm, said:
While they drag their feet on climate action, we’re living through heat waves, bushfires, floods and rising seas – our childhoods and futures have been stolen by their inaction.
Chris Black, 18, from Sydney/Eora, said:
We lost the chance to just be kids, so we’re filing this complaint with the UN to make sure we don’t lose our future too.
Connor Wright, 27, a Larrakia man from Darwin living in Melbourne/Naarm, said:
Indigenous knowledge is tied to the land, the tides and the weather, but as the climate changes, so does our ability to pass down traditions. It feels like a second wave of colonisation – another force stripping Indigenous people of our way of life.
The young people say they have witnessed terrifying disasters such as bushfires, “supercell” hail storms and drought, and seen treasured natural places damaged by climate change.
The formal complaint was made through their lawyers to the UN’s special rapporteur on climate change.
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PM gets to work in Victoria as campaign hots up
Anthony Albanese flew into Victoria late yesterday and it feels like the real federal election contest is about to begin.
Political insiders and commentators believe the election could be won and lost in Melbourne, where the Liberals are hoping to capitalise on discontent with the state Labor government to snare half a dozen government seats.
Peter Dutton is also eyeing Goldstein, the bayside seat that teal independent Zoe Daniel won in 2022.
Albanese began the sand-bagging operation immediately on Tuesday afternoon, pledging millions for a sporting club upgrade in Corangamite outside Geelong before visiting an urgent care clinic in Lalor, in Melbourne’s outer western suburbs.
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Littleproud says tariffs will hit Trump’s ‘favourite food’ – the Big Mac
With just 24 hours before the Trump administration announces its latest tariffs, the issue will be dominating interviews and press conferences again today.
David Littleproud, the shadow agriculture minister and Nationals leader, says any move to put tariffs on Australian beef and agriculture will hurt the US more.
It’s language both sides have used – the government has called the tariffs an “act of economic self-harm”.
Littleproud told ABC News Breakfast:
If he looks at Australian beef and he wants to slap it on Australian beef, he, in fact, will be slapping it on his favourite food, a Big Mac, because most of the meat that goes into a Big Mac is lean beef and it comes from Australia. America doesn’t produce enough of it for themselves. So this will be a tax on Americans.
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Coalition says gas plan costings will be released ‘in due course’
The opposition is yet to release its costings on how much the gas plan will cost Australian households, and what impact it will have on their bills.
Yesterday Dutton said he was happy the “anticipation” was building for the costings, but with just weeks before polling day, the opposition only says those numbers will be released soon.
Shadow energy minister Ted O’Brien follows Wong on RN Breakfast, and Sally Sara asks if he’s seen the modelling or just been briefed on it?
No, certainly we are very aware of it, as I have personally been involved, and that will be released in due course, and we are supremely confident that we can get the price of gas down.
He later clarifies he has seen the modelling.
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Dutton says Australians shouldn’t be ‘beating ourselves up about our history’
Dutton’s MMM interview also went to how he planned to “bring Australians together”. The opposition leader said he wanted to “restore national pride”.
I think we’ve been taught for too long to be ashamed of our history, where we live in the greatest country in the world. We’ve got parts of our history that we should recognise and that we should spend a lot of time talking about, but we can’t relive that.
And I firmly believe that if we’re dividing people into different groupings, it’s impossible to be the best that we can be…
I think we need to talk more about that, instead of beating ourselves up about our history and accept that we have a very proud Indigenous heritage, but that a part of, and a very important part of our story too, is our migrant story.
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Dutton talks up fuel excise cut as ‘best way’ to provide support
Peter Dutton starts the day in Melbourne, where we expect he’ll keep talking about his funding for the airport rail link.
We’re expecting to head to another city this afternoon – perhaps Perth, but TBA.
Dutton was on Triple M radio in Melbourne earlier, where he spoke about the Coalition’s $3m commitment to Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision, made yesterday. The Liberal leader also talked up his plans to halve the fuel excise.
So if you’re filling up a Ranger or a Hilux, it’s about 20 bucks a week. And if you’re in a two car family, or if you’ve got a bludging teenage child whose car you’re filling up as well, maybe three cars, we thought that was the best way that you could provide support.
An interesting note: in a few questions about Medicare, Dutton was asked about whether dental could go on the program, which he didn’t entirely rule out. He said:
Maybe there’s a way in which we can do it, but it does cost a lot of money.
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Wong says ‘we have to diversify’ in face of Trump changes
Wong is also asked to respond to the US pausing or cutting funding to joint research programs at eight Australian universities.
She says, more broadly, the world is changing, and we can see that across research domains, economic domains and geo-strategic domains.
Wong – and trade minister Don Farrell – have been saying Australia should move its eggs into more diverse baskets, and Wong says it’s no different with our university sector.
What we have to do is make sure we are resilient in a time of change and what in the context of both trade and other engagements such as research, we have to work at diversifying our relationships… But right now, just as I say to our exporters, we have to diversify. We can’t have all our eggs in one market. So too I would say, in the context of universities and research, we have to recognise that we live in a different world.
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Wong says Australia won't 'trade away' healthcare as Trump tariffs loom
Foreign minister Penny Wong has told RN Breakfast that Labor is “realistic” on what outcomes the government can achieve on tariffs with the Trump administration.
We’ll keep working hard for the best outcome, but I think all of us are realistic. As the prime minister made it clear yesterday, we are not willing to trade away the things that make Australia the best country in the world, like our healthcare system. We don’t want the Americanisation of our healthcare system. We won’t be weakening our biosecurity laws and we won’t be trading away our PBS.
Wong issues a challenge to Dutton on how he’ll respond to the tariffs tomorrow – asking whether he’ll “back Australia or is he going to back the imposition of tariffs?”.
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Coalition stops short of backing minimum wage rise beyond inflation
The Liberals argue that real wages haven’t moved, but have stopped short of supporting the government’s submission to the Fair Work Commission to increase the minimum wage this year by above the rate of inflation.
Shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan says on Sky News the prime minister had promised real wage rises (wage rises above the inflation rate) but that hasn’t happened.
He made a similar submission, and what happened to real wages over the last three years? Real wages have dropped in this country, and workers have seen the greatest drop in their standard of living over three years.
Over on Sunrise, shadow finance minister Jane Hume also stopped short of backing the submission to the commission.
The Fair Work Commission are an independent body. They shouldn’t be politicised. That is why they are independent.
Hume said real wages would be moving forwards if inflation was brought down, which Labor had “failed” to do.
The government has said the most recent five quarters have shown real wages have risen, with the most recent quarterly wage price index rising by 0.7%.
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Watt ‘certainly concerned’ ahead of Trump tariff announcement
Donald Trump’s next round of tariffs will be announced tomorrow, and Watt says the government hasn’t been told yet – either way – on how Australian industries may be hit.
The government says it’s still been negotiating and making representations to the Trump administration at all levels, but Albanese hasn’t yet made a third call to speak with the US president.
Yesterday, Anthony Albanese said the three areas of concern laid out in a US trade report (news bargaining code, pharmaceuticals and biosecurity) would not be up for negotiation. Meanwhile, Peter Dutton has continued to say he would be stronger arguing the case for Australia to be exempt from any tariffs (though no country has yet managed to get itself a carve out).
Watt says he is “certainly concerned” ahead of tomorrow for Australian industry.
We haven’t been informed yet of any sort of particular outcome from the Trump administration. The expectation is that decisions will come through tomorrow, but we’re certainly concerned about the risk of more tariffs being imposed on Australian industry, whether it be farmers or anyone else, and that’s why we have been standing strong and taking it up to the Trump administration, arguing for Aussie farmers and arguing for Aussie industry.
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Australia ‘can afford’ minimum wage rise – Watt
Employment minister Murray Watt says workers on a minimum wage should be able to “get ahead”, as the Fair Work Commission goes through its annual wage review.
As in previous years, the Labor won’t recommend a specific number to the commission, but this year says it should be above the rate of inflation.
Watt told Sky News it’ll be up to the commission to determine what rise is “economically sustainable”.
The minimum wage in Australia is only about $47,000 a year, so we believe we can afford to see those workers receive a pay rise that is economically sustainable but also allows them to keep up with the cost of living and actually get a little bit.
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Good morning,
Krishani Dhanji here with you, thanks to Martin Farrer for starting us off this morning.
Higher wages have been a key measure on Labor’s list of cost-of-living supports, and the government is again pushing the Fair Work Commission to give workers a minimum wage pay bump above inflation (ie a real wage rise). We’ll be hearing plenty about that today.
Both leaders are in Victoria this morning – a state which both parties desperately need. Melbourne swung heavily to Labor at the last election, including in areas which have traditionally been the Liberals’ bread and butter. The Coalition will be hoping to turn that around in May.
So buckle up, it’s going to be a big one!
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The cost-of-living debate will run right through the election campaign and could yet cost Anthony Albanese his job if the results of elections in many countries last year are anything to go by.
The data crunched by our economics editor shows that there has been a slide in Australians’ disposable income in the past three years but – despite a huge jump thanks to Covid-era federal handouts – the benchmark has been flatlining for some time.
Read Patrick Commins’s full piece here:
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Greens want budget boost for nature funding
The Greens have announced they will push for 1% of the federal budget to be spent on nature after the election.
The party said this would represent a significant increase in funding for nature, doubling current expenditure over the forward estimates, according to analysis by the parliamentary library, and bringing the conservation budget into line with what groups including the Biodiversity Council and WWF-Australia say is necessary to address Australia’s extinction crisis.
It follows a parliamentary term that saw the government delay broad reforms recommended by a 2020 review of national environmental laws and kill off its own legislation to establish a national environmental protection agency.
Greens leader Adam Bandt said:
Labor broke their promises to protect the environment and Peter Dutton doesn’t even pretend to care.
We can’t keep voting for the same two parties and expecting a different result.
The Greens said their environment plan would see government expenditure on nature rise to $7.8bn for 2025-26 and provide an additional $17bn in investment in nature over the forward estimates.
The plan also includes $20bn over the next decade for biodiversity restoration, $5bn over four years for a protected areas fund to purchase and manage land for conservation, and a commitment to establish a land and sea country commissioner.
The party has recommitted to policies for a climate trigger, a moratorium on clearing of koala habitat and to end native forest logging and close deforestation loopholes in national environmental laws. They said they would also move to implement mandatory nature risk disclosures for big businesses and governments and to make greenwashing illegal.
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Coalition ‘wants Australians working longer for less’ – Chalmers
More from Dan on Labor this morning.
Albanese, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and the employment minister, Murray Watt, will use the submission to contrast Labor’s approach to helping workers with that of Peter Dutton, who has vowed to overturn the $5-per-week tax cuts legislated just before the election.
Chalmers said:
The choice at this election is between a Labor government which has been creating jobs, getting wages moving again, rebuilding living standards and rolling out responsible cost of living help versus a Coalition that wants Australians working longer for less.
The submission was filed by the Labor party, rather than the government, due to caretaker conventions in election campaigns.
If Albanese is re-elected, the government will lodge a formal submission.
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Labor to ask Fair Work wages review for above-inflation increase for low-paid workers
Anthony Albanese will urge the fair work umpire to deliver an “economically sustainable” real wage increase for 2.9 million low-paid workers.
Shifting its election campaign focus from health to wages, Labor will on Wednesday release its submission to the Fair Work Commission’s latest annual wages review.
The Albanese government has used previous reviews to call for wages for workers on the minimum wage and award to keep up with inflation, aligning with Labor’s message that pay packets shouldn’t go backwards amid soaring prices.
The commission last year announced a 3.75% increase to the award and the minimum wage, taking it to $24.10 an hour or $915.90 a week.
That increase was roughly in line with the inflation rate at the time.
In its submission to this year’s review, Labor has recommended “an economically sustainable” increase to real wages – in other words, a pay rise above inflation.
It said the increase should account for inflation – currently sitting at 2.4% – returning “sustainably” to the Reserve Bank’s target band this year.
The submission read:
An increase in minimum and award wages should be consistent with inflation returning sustainably to the target band this year, while providing further relief to lower income workers who continue to face cost of living pressures. Labor submits that this outcome is both fair and economically responsible.
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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.
Our top story this morning focuses on the world of online campaigning and its rules. Our reporters have discovered that Chinese-language influencers who mostly post lifestyle content are interviewing Australian election candidates on the social media app Rednote, allowing politicians to bypass an apparent “shadow ban” on campaigning by the app and reach a disengaged but vital audience.
Labor will kick off day six of its campaign by focusing on low pay, with Anthony Albanese urging the fair work umpire this morning to deliver an “economically sustainable” real wage increase for 2.9 million low-paid workers. In its submission to the Fair Work Commission’s latest annual wages review, the Labor party will call for “an economically sustainable” increase to real wages.
It’s good timing that there’ll be a big discussion about living standards, because our economics editor has been looking at the big question in the federal election: whether or not voters feel better off now compared with three years ago. Patrick Commins says the numbers show we have less disposable income, but the bigger picture is that we’ve been flatlining for a decade – Covid era excepted – with neither party talking about how that might change. More coming up.
And the Greens are calling for more of the budget to be set aside for nature. We’ll have more details on their proposal soon.
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