Hello readers, and welcome to today’s election edition of Afternoon Update.
It’s day 13 of the campaign and the Coalition’s energy policies remain very much in the spotlight.
At today’s debate between the climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, and the opposition’s pick to replace him, Ted O’Brien, the pair traded barbs over each party’s plans to power Australia and who could do it more cheaply, after a climate protester earlier interrupted proceedings.
O’Brien also defended the Coalition’s nuclear plan, insisting that even if it lost the 3 May poll, it would take the policy to the next election.
And he refused to rule out withdrawing Australia from the Paris climate accord if Peter Dutton won the election – only to confirm the Coalition’s commitment to the agreement hours later, as senior Liberals Michaelia Cash and Jane Hume insisted a Dutton government would remain in Paris.
Today’s big stories
Anthony Albanese started the day in far north Queensland, where he spruiked his plan to spend $10m to protect the Great Barrier Reef and subsidise school visits to the world heritage site.
The prime minister was also asked about the US trade war saga, and news that the Trump administration paused tariffs on goods from most countries – except China – for 90 days, meaning they would temporarily be at the same 10% base level set for Australian goods. He repeated that Australia would continue to push the US to remove all tariffs on its goods.
The government meanwhile rebuffed an invitation from the Chinese ambassador to “join hands” against US tariffs, with the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, saying Australia was “not about to make common cause with China”.
What they said
***
“If you look at the standard of candidates we have selected across the board, I think we have selected some amazing people.”
Peter Dutton remained broadly defensive of the Coalition’s overall talent pool on Thursday, despite a string of controversies over a handful of candidates.
The opposition leader ducked questions about the quality of the Liberal party’s vetting processes after concerns were raised about a 2024 charge against the party’s candidate for the Melbourne seat of Wills, Jeffrey Kidney, who pleaded guilty to obtaining financial advice by deception for a 2019 breach in a story revealed by Nine newspapers. A conviction was not entered against him.
The report followed the Coalition – as we noted earlier this week – repealing its endorsement of its Whitlam candidate, Ben Britton, after Guardian Australia revealed he had expressed a string of controversial views on fringe podcasts before his preselection.
The LNP candidate in the must-win far north Queensland seat of Leichhardt, Jeremy Neal, apologised this week after old social media posts resurfaced.
How social media saw it
The Liberal party is very much leaning into the future with its latest campaign video, which has been promoted as the first federal election ad made entirely with artificial intelligence.
The ad portrays an AI-generated alien filling up a tank of petrol, purportedly made cheaper by the Coalition’s fuel excise cut, which Dutton was spruiking this afternoon with his sixth bowser visit in seven days. Some observers pointed out the tech is nothing new for the party, which made AI ads for last year’s Queensland election, and previously for campaigning in Victoria.
The Liberal campaign HQ confirmed with Guardian Australia it is claiming this one as a federal first.
The big picture
With the spotlight again on Leichhardt during Albanese’s visit, Labor was no doubt happy to have a candidate who stands out.
Matt Smith, a former professional basketballer, stands 210cm tall (that’s 6ft 10in), and was seen towering over the PM and the health minister, Mark Butler, in front of cameras at the Great Barrier Reef today.
That height stat is according to listings from Smith’s days at the NBL – where heights are measured with shoes on – but over on his Instagram account, Smith purports to be 7ft.
A tall tale?
Watch
Australia’s most skilled aerial mammal is on an “inexorable slide” to extinction as global heating creates more extreme bushfires that are robbing the species of the food and tree hollows it relies on to survive.
Watch this video on the “endearing and fascinating” yellow-bellied glider, as Guardian Australia highlights the plight of our endangered native species during an election campaign that is ignoring broken environment laws and rapidly declining ecosystems.
And in other news …
Australian stock market surges amid Trump tariffs ‘pause’ despite no change for Australia
‘Grubby’ treaty principles bill voted down in New Zealand parliament
NSW government considering buying back Northern Beaches hospital amid Healthscope debt crisis
Virgin Australia offers refunds to 61,000 passengers after charging incorrect itinerary change fees
Trump signs executive order on water pressure to ‘restore shower freedom’
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: THIS. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
Sign up
If you would like to receive this Afternoon Update: Election 2025 briefing to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here, or start your day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know with our Morning Mail newsletter. You can follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland.
