Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Emily Wind and Krishani Dhanji (earlier)

Dutton visits sixth petrol station in seven days – as it happened

Coalition Richard Marles Peter Dutton United States Donald Trump Bridget McKenzie Australia Ben Fordham Labor Landbridge
Peter Dutton at petrol station
Peter Dutton visits a petrol station in Caulfield on day 13 of the federal election campaign. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

What we learned, Thursday 10 April

Many thanks for joining us on the blog for another jam-packed day on the campaign trail. That’s where we’ll leave things for now – here are all the main takeaways from today:

Krishani Dhanji will be with you bright and early in the morning, and I’ll be back on the blog tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime, take care and enjoy your evening.

New Zealand PM and deputy at odds over response to US tariffs

Now for some news from across the ditch, via AAP:

As the New Zealand prime minister, Chris Luxon, rallies regional leaders to discuss a united front to US tariffs, his deputy isn’t quite sure it is needed.

Luxon spent today delivering a speech on the risks to global trade from the US actions, suggesting a collective approach between trading blocs was needed:

You’ve got 15% of world trade tied up in the [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership], there’s a real opportunity for us to coordinate and to work together. One possibility is that members of the CPTPP and the European Union work together to champion rules-based trade and make specific commitments on how that support plays out in practice.

My vision is that includes action to prevent restrictions on exports and efforts to ensure any retaliation is consistent with existing rules. Collective action, and a collective commitment, by a large portion of the global economy would be a significant step towards preserving free trade flows and protecting supply chains.

The CPTPP is a 12-nation trade region including Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Peru, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and several Asian nations. Luxon said he would spend this afternoon talking to Indo-Pacific leaders and in the evening make calls to Europe, to gauge support for the idea.

But in an odd twist, his deputy PM and foreign minister, Winston Peters, said such action would be “very premature,” and in this case, NZ should “wait until we see what emerges with the tariff war that’s going on”.

It’ll come to a resolution much quicker than people think, and as in the last 24 hours we’ve already seen the beginnings of that, so let’s not panic here.

Updated

Boa constrictor on the loose in southern Sydney found and captured

Moving away from politics for a moment: A boa constrictor that had been on the loose in southern Sydney, triggering biosecurity warnings and concern for pets, has been found and captured.

Tyler Gibbons, the owner of Shire Snake Wranglers, told Guardian Australia he had caught the snake at about lunchtime after a news reporter spotted the snake emerging from rocks close to where it had last been seen.

Gibbons had alerted the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development about the exotic creature, which is native to South America, on Monday after seeing video footage of the snake on a boat ramp beside the Georges River in Sylvania on Sunday.

I got there quickly, put it straight in my snake bag and contacted the DPI.

The juvenile male measured about 5-foot and was in “good health,” he said.

They are from Brazil, it’s hot and humid there, it would have struggled to survive the Sydney winter. It would have gone into brumation, when they lower their metabolic rate, slow down and pop out during warm days.

Despite being illegal to keep as pets in Australia, boa constrictors have been found across the country and are typically escaped or deliberately released illegal pets, according to Agriculture Victoria.

The DPI said it was continuing its investigation to determine the owner of the snake.

Updated

Bennelong Liberal candidate declines to say whether Chinese celebrity endorsements complied with guidelines

Liberal candidate Scott Yung and party officials have declined to answer detailed questions about whether his use of Chinese celebrities and a public relations firm in the 2019 state election complied with official guidelines, as the Liberal party confirms an audit of campaign disclosures.

A private dinner at a “luxurious venue” in Sydney to raise campaign funds for Yung, featuring the former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott, has also been cancelled without explanation.

You can read the full story on this below:

Greenpeace calls on Dutton to commit to Paris agreement ‘in no uncertain terms’

The CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific, David Ritter, says abandoning the Paris agreement would be a “terrible idea” that is “straight out of Donald Trump’s playbook,” following Ted O’Brien’s comments at today’s debate.

In a statement, Ritter said withdrawing from the agreement would harm the Australian economy, our global standing and “our relationship with our Pacific neighbours.”

Shrinking our climate targets and walking away from international cooperation on reducing emissions and climate finance will harm our economy as the world moves to decarbonise and alienate our Pacific neighbours on the frontlines of climate change. It would not be in our national interest to leave the Paris agreement.

It is shocking that the Coalition is even entertaining the possibility of abandoning this important global climate accord, which is our best chance at averting catastrophic climate change. Peter Dutton should distance his party from this Trumpian tactic and commit to keeping Australia in the Paris agreement in no uncertain terms.

What has the Coalition said about the Paris agreement today?

Let’s take a look at everything the Coalition has said about the Paris climate agreement today.

At today’s energy debate, the shadow energy and climate change minister Ted O’Brien was asked to clarify the Coalition’s stance on the Paris agreement a number of times.

O’Brien initially said the Coalition would commission “analysis” on the Paris agreement targets, and would “not be setting targets from opposition”.

Our own Dan Jervis-Bardy then asked O’Brien if the Coalition would walk away from the Paris agreement – and O’Brien left the door open to this:

Once we have done that analysis, then we will be making decisions along the lines of that you pose, though I won’t be pre-empting that hypothetical today with all due respect … I can commit [that] we will always act in the national interest.

Three shadow ministers have since reiterated the Coalition’s commitment to Paris, following O’Brien’s comments at the debate. This has included:

Updated

Cash provides further details on the Coalition’s proposed future funds

Michaelia Cash was also asked to explain the Coalition’s two proposed future funds announced today (you can read more detail earlier in the blog).

The host noted that successive governments have already been taking windfall revenue to pay off debt, so how is this different?

Cash argued the “Labor party have been reckless with the Australian people’s money” and that debt in Australia is heading towards $1.2tn.

Asked if the Coalition will be retiring debt with this money, or putting it in a fund and using the interest to retire debt, she said:

80% of that windfall gain will be placed into those funds … 80% of those windfall gains will be placed in to, under legislation – so no one can ever get out of this again – into these future funds.

How will debt be retired? Cash said there would be “parameters for this fund, one of those parameters will be that you can use it to retire debt.”

It may well be that you have a region that cannot even afford a swimming pool, something that we here in the cities take for granted. That is something that you could look at the fund actually investing in.

A future fund that pays for swimming pools? Cash answered:

When was the last time that you went to rural and regional Australia and talked to them about the type of facilities they need to be invested in? That makes huge differences.

Updated

Dutton’s petrol pit stop, in photos

Here are some of the pictures from Peter Dutton’s petrol pit stop and photo op:

Updated

Cash asked if she stands by previous comments Dutton is ‘man of action’ like Trump

Jumping back to Michaelia Cash on Sky News, who was asked if she stood my remarks she has made over Donald Trump in the past, when she said:

The American people, they expect action, and that is what they’re getting. And they’ll get the exact same attitude under a Peter Dutton government.

Asked if she stands by the statement, Cash said Dutton is “someone who will always act in Australia’s best interests.”

Is Trump hurting the Coalitions campaign, though? Cash repeated:

Peter Dutton will always act in Australia’s best interests, and he has made that clear.

So he’s not a man of action like Donald Trump? Cash responded:

Now you just want to play games with words, and that’s fine. Peter Dutton is a man who is decisive. He is a man who will make decisions in the best interests of the Australian people.

Join Matilda Boseley and Josh Butler on the ‘Tell me more’ livestream!

Guardian Australia’s Tell Me More live streams are your chance to ask your burning election news questions to the people who wrote that news in the first place.

This evening host Matilda Boseley is joined by political reporter Josh Butler to untangle the chock-a-block second week of the federal election campaign. From flip-flops to photo ops, what have the party leaders been up to, and who’s come out on top?

If you have a question you want answered, simply pop it in the comments on YouTube or TikTok or email australia.tellmemore@theguardian.com.

Updated

Cash faces questions on Paris agreement

The shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, was up on Sky News earlier to weigh in on today’s energy debate between Chris Bowen and Ted O’Brien.

She was asked if the Coalition is considering pulling out of the Paris agreement if elected, “because Ted O’Brien left a bit of room for that?”

Cash didn’t answer the question directly and said:

I think Ted O’Brien set out a very clear and consistent plan for cleaner, cheaper and consistent energy in Australia. He also showed the Australian people exactly what our plan was going to do by way of price reductions for them going forward.

Brought back to the original question, Cash answered that there are “no plans to pull out of the Paris agreement, and I don’t think that is what Ted O’Brien said.”

Dutton visits sixth petrol station in seven days

Peter Dutton dropped into a petrol station in Caulfield for another of the opposition campaign’s media stunts.

Sitting shotgun while Goldstein candidate, Tim Wilson, drove in his extremely blue Liberal-branded van, Dutton exited to put 35 litres in the tank.

Dutton was joined by Wilson, the Victorian opposition leader, Brad Battin, and Macnamara candidate, Benson Saulo.

The four men stood at the bowser – a completely unnatural petrol tank fill-up – talking about how the opposition’s proposal to slash the fuel excise by 25.4 cents a litre for 12 months would help drivers save money on petrol bills.

It was a swift stop, as most stunts for the TV cameras are, but it was delayed ever so slightly by a 12-year-old kid who walked up to ask the alternative prime minister a few questions.

Then Dutton was off and the press pack left behind waiting for the next stop.

Updated

Labor minister lashes Coalition’s mixed messaging over Paris agreement

Labor MP Anne Aly, also speaking on Afternoon Briefing, took aim at the Coalition’s mixed messaging over the Paris agreement. Here was what she had to say, in full:

I just want to get everything right here, because you’ve got Ted O’Brien leaving the door open to Paris, Jane Hume just came on recently and said no we’ll stick with it, [Jonathon Duniam] is saying something different now. This pretty much sums up what the Coalition has been for the nine years they were in government, which sums up why they did not land a single energy policy for those whole nine years.

With all due respect, we are not going to be lectured by a party, a Coalition, that could not come up with an energy plan for nine years while they argued and quibbled over whether or not climate change even existed. We’re not going to then be lectured by then about Paris or environmental targets or anything else.

What we have is a clear path to renewable energy, shored up by gas, shored up by hydro, that will deliver to the grid the electricity needs for now, and the future, that Australians need – and at a cost Australians need.

All the Coalition is offering is a nuclear fantasy to build nuclear plants somewhere in the never-never that our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren and great great-grandchildren will be paying for, that will not deliver the energy needs we need, at a higher cost.

Updated

Second shadow minister says Coalition committed to Paris agreement following O’Brien’s earlier comments

The shadow environment minister, Jonathon Duniam, has also claimed a Coalition government would remain committed to the Paris agreement.

To recap: at today’s debate, the Coalition’s energy spokesperson Ted O’Brien refused to commit to staying in the Paris agreement.

The finance minister, Jane Hume, told Afternoon Briefing there was “no doubt” the Coalition was committed to the Paris agreement.

And now, also speaking on Afternoon Briefing, Duniam said “there is no intention to leave it”.

We have signed up, we now have a legislated target here, which is frankly unnecessary, we were going to be working toward the target anyway.

We’ve got to do what we can to minimise our impact on the planet and I think there are a range of measures that can be put in place. We differ from the government about how best to achieve the target.

Updated

Former ambassador to China says Australia will need to work with them ‘whether we like it or not’

The former ambassador to China, Geoff Raby, says Australia is going to have to work with China “whether we like it or not”.

Discussing all things tariffs on ABC Afternoon Briefing, he described the tariff back-and-forth between the US and China as “much more chaotic than one could ever imagine” and that “anything that harms China’s economy harms Australia.”

China takes 37% of our exports, more than the next five markets that we sell to, and although we talk endlessly about diversification the reality is that the fundamental economic relationship between Australia and China is such that we will be selling to China a lot of our goods, and it will continue.

Asked about China’s call for Australia to “join hands [with them] to defend the multilateral trading system,” Raby said China has been the “word that no one in this election campaign dares mention.”

It’s nothing unusual for us to be working with China – it’s unusual that for our single largest market, politicians in Australia today seem to be reluctant to even talk about it.

The reality is we are going to have to work with China, whether we like it or not, as well as we work with other regional countries. But other regional countries, south-east Asia in particular, have none of the hesitation that we have over working with China.

Updated

Dutton makes third stop in Melbourne today

We’re at our third stop in Melbourne for the day following Peter Dutton.

The final stop of the blitz is in Caulfield in the seat of Macnamara. And it’s at a petrol station – his sixth bowser visit in just seven days to spruik the fuel excise cut promise.

The opposition leader is yet to arrive but the cameras are in position with the Liberal candidate, Benson Saulo, waiting in the petrol station’s empty car park to the side.

Also joining the media flurry is the Victorian opposition leader, Brad Battin.

Updated

Leigh rules out revisiting changes to negative gearing in favour of ‘supply-side measures’

Andrew Leigh was also asked if it is worth Labor revisiting changes to negative gearing, if it has “some merit and if the community mood is changing?”

But he ruled this out, saying “most economists” would point to “supply-side measures” as having an impact on housing.

The Greens are focused almost entirely on demand-side measures … In many cases Greens candidates are opposing development. We believe supply really is the key here.

Updated

Leigh lashes Coalition’s proposed future funds as ‘replacing housebuilding with pork barrelling’

The assistant minister for competition, Andrew Leigh, is also up on ABC Afternoon Briefing this afternoon – responding to the Coalition’s proposed future funds.

Leigh argued it was “no surprise” this policy was announced the day after the treasurers’ debate, as “Angus Taylor wouldn’t have wanted questions on this last night.”

The fact is you don’t pay down debt taking on more debt and this is going to be policy which will increase gross debt if the Coalition was elected.

As you made clear to Jane Hume, if this policy had been in place the Coalition wouldn’t have delivered any surpluses if they’d been in government … through the last couple of years, and that would be consistent through what happened over the previous decade when they printed the mugs but never delivered the surpluses.

He argued that Labor’s funds are about “building housing and investing in manufacturing,” and the Coalition’s were “about going back to the days of car park rorts, sports rorts” and better regions fund, “which saw 90% of resources channelled towards Coalition target seats”.

The Coalition have a terrible record of pork barrelling. You’re not going to benefit future generations of Australians by replacing housebuilding with pork barrelling.

Updated

Hume says there is ‘no doubt’ Coalition is committed to Paris agreement, despite O’Brien’s comments

Jane Hume was also asked whether a Coalition government would commit to remaining in the Paris agreement, after Ted O’Brien ruled out committing to this during today’s debate.

Hume said that “yes,” a Coalition government would remain in the Paris agreement.

We are committed to the Paris agreement, there is no doubt about that.

But on Labor’s current trajectory, the idea of getting to 43% is an absolute fantasy and I think that’s exactly what it was Ted was alluding to.

Updated

Hume questioned on Dutton’s repeated insistence Labor seeking to do deal with Greens

Jane Hume was asked about Peter Dutton’s repeated criticism that Labor would make a deal with the Greens if elected to a minority government.

(The PM has repeatedly ruled out a deal with the Greens).

She was asked, couldn’t Labor do a deal with the teals rather than the Greens?

Hume responded:

Potentially, but why would they not make a deal with the Greens? That way they get control of both houses, the upper house and the lower house …

“Because they said they don’t want to,” Patricia Karvelas noted. Hume repeated her argument:

You can see why that would be an enormous temptation for Labor to get in bed with the Greens, because they get control of both houses.

But Labor could form government with the teals, “just on the numbers”? Hume conceded:

They absolutely potentially could, and it would be interesting to see what that teals’ demands would be.

Updated

Hume rejects suggestion windfalls from Coalition future fund plan could lead to pork barrelling

The shadow finance minister, Jane Hume, is speaking with ABC Afternoon Briefing about the Coalition’s new future fund proposals.

The two new funds being promised today – the Future Generations Fund and Regional Australia Future Fund – will be grown using 80% of any “positive windfall receipts variations each year”. You can read more details on this earlier in the blog.

Hume touted the future funds as helping Australians “benefit from the prosperity of our nation, rather than having it squandered on either recurrent spending, making the structural budget worse, or, more importantly, on sugar hits”.

Host Patricia Karvelas asked what the point of putting money aside is “when you’re still running deficits?”

Hume said this was an “opportunity to pay down debt.”

If you put money into a future fund it actually earns more money than it cost to repay the debt.

Asked about concerns this could lead to pork barrelling, Hume said “it in itself [is] a physical guardrail, it means you can’t use windfall gains for pork barrelling, or physical sugar hits or for recurrent expenditure.”

There will still be infrastructure investment that [is] done through the regular budget processes, that would be expected. The regular budget processes will not change, but what’s important here is when there are these windfall gains, that they are invested for future generations rather than squandered.

Updated

Suicide Prevention Australia welcomes $15m funding package from Coalition

Suicide Prevention Australia has welcomed the Coalition’s $15m funding package for suicide prevention services, as announced this afternoon.

In a statement, the group welcomed news the Coalition would reinstate the suicide prevention research fund if elected – and called on Labor to do the same.

Its CEO, Nieves Murray, said suicide prevention “must be at the core of our national agenda”.

We cannot afford to roll back investment in suicide prevention at a time when distress levels remain high, particularly among young people. Our latest community tracker revealed that nearly one in five (19%) young Australians (18-34) have experienced suicidal distress in the last 12 months, including having serious thoughts of suicide, making a suicide plan, or attempting to take their life …

The Coalition’s commitment to reinstating the research fund if elected is a step in the right direction, but we now call on the Albanese government to reverse its decision and ensure suicide prevention is prioritised in this election.

  • In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Updated

Smart Energy Council slams O’Brien’s refusal to commit to staying in Paris agreement

Thom Woodroofe, a senior international fellow at the Smart Energy Council, says Ted O’Brien’s refusal to commit to staying in the Paris agreement was an “extraordinary confirmation that not even this would be safe under a Coalition government”.

In a statement, he argued the Coalition was “hell bent on wasting money on nuclear plants we don’t need and making us an international pariah again”.

It confirms what we all feared to be the case: Peter Dutton may say one thing on Paris now, but his party room will force him to have a different position after the election. And that’s before we even get to our plans to reduce emissions.

If Australia were to leave the Paris agreement, we would be the only country in the world to follow Trump out the door, subject ourselves to even more trade tariffs in the form of carbon border adjustments, and irreparably damage our relationships in the Pacific.

Updated

Dutton labels independent candidate running in his electorate a ‘Green at heart’

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, spoke with Brisbane’s 4BC radio this afternoon, taking aim at the independent candidate for Dickson – who is seeking to unseat him – as a “Green at heart”.

Ellie Smith is running in Dutton’s electorate and is backed by the Climate 200 movement, but doesn’t want to be labelled as a teal, but rather, a community independent, Queensland-style.

Speaking on the program, Dutton took aim at Smith as being “funded by multimillionaires out of Sydney who are heavily involved in the renewable energy industry”.

She really is Green at heart and will only ever support an Albanese government. So a vote for the teal candidate in Dixon is just a vote, ultimately, for Anthony Albanese.

The fact is that it’s just a front for the Greens. At least the Greens have the decency to wear who they are on, you know, on their sleeve … Whereas a teal pretending to be independent, who is actually a Green and would only ever support the Labor minority government, it’d be really bad for our local area.

Updated

Man’s body pulled from water at Victorian beach

Moving away from politics for a moment:

A man has drowned at a beach on Victoria’s Bellarine peninsula.

Police confirmed he was pulled from the water at Thirteenth Beach Road, Barwon Heads, just before noon.

He is yet to be formally identified, and the death is not being treated as suspicious. A report will be prepared for the coroner.

Updated

Doctors’ union argues ‘no evidence’ chemotherapy appointments being cancelled amid strike

This morning a spokesperson for the doctor’s union, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (Asmof), questioned the minister’s figures, stating it “has spoken with doctors at major cancer centres across NSW and found no evidence that chemotherapy appointments are being cancelled due to strike action”.

The government must stop using cancer patients as political pawns. Our members are doing everything they can to protect essential care during this strike.

If the NSW government is claiming cancer treatments are being cancelled, they need to front up with details and be honest with the public.

The conflicting statements appear to centre on the difference between oncology appointments with specialists and chemotherapy treatment itself. Minister Ryan Park’s office said the figures were for oncology appointments, which can include chemotherapy.

Guardian Australia understands as today, a total of 667 oncology patients have had their care affected across the state’s local health districts – 260 from the South West Sydney district, 161 from the Illawarra Shoalhaven, 78 from the Mid North Coast, 45 from North Sydney, 33 from Western Sydney, 28 from Hunter New England, 26 from South East Sydney district, 23 from Western NSW, nine from Sydney district and four from the Sydney Children’s hospital network.

Park said it is “distressing that anyone would call into question the many patients who have had care impacted including over 400 oncology appointments.”

It was for this reason the Industrial Relations Commission ordered Asmof not to proceed with their strike action.

Updated

Cancer patients’ appointments with specialists cancelled amid NSW doctors strike, minister says

The NSW government has confirmed cancer patients’ appointments with specialists have been cancelled as a result of the doctors’ strike, as the doctors’ union questioned the health minister’s statements about chemotherapy treatments being cancelled.

The three days of industrial action by the state’s public sector doctors will end at 10pm tonight, which the union has maintained would see essential care remain safely staffed while only non-time-critical services reduced to public holiday levels.

On Tuesday the health minister, Ryan Park, apologised to patients who had “chemotherapy cancelled,” with his office citing a figure of 486 patients having chemotherapy sessions cancelled.

In yesterday’s press conference Park said about 4,000 outpatient services and appointments had been cancelled, including more than 400 for oncology (cancer) patients.

For cancer patients, doctors have to be around to make sure that they can monitor the impact of the treatment on the patient, that they can review blood tests around what the dosage and what is happening in terms of their overall bloods as a result of the treatment. They’re also in place to make sure that they can obviously prescribe the treatment initially.

Updated

Good afternoon! Emily Wind here, I’ll be taking you through the rest of the action on the campaign trail.

Thank you all for joining me on this blog journey today, it’s been quite a day! (And honestly, after that energy debate, I need a lie down.)

I’ll leave you now with the fabulous Emily Wind, to take you through the afternoon, and I’ll see you bright and early in the morning.

Peter Dutton was just visiting a Lifeline centre in Abbotsford, in the electorate of Melbourne.

It’s unexpected territory for the opposition leader, given the seat is held by the Greens, and the Liberals stand no chance of flipping progressive voters here.

Joining Dutton was the Chisholm candidate, Katie Allen, who was previously the Liberal MP for Higgins. The Coalition are hopeful they could get Allen over the line in the eastern Melbourne electorate, which is currently held by Labor’s Carina Garland on a 3.3% margin.

The Coalition’s pit stop in Melbourne’s inner city was to announce a $15m funding package for suicide prevention services. Dutton took no questions from reporters.

Updated

Dutton announces $15m for suicide prevention

Peter Dutton has announced $15m towards suicide prevention in Australia, standing up again in Melbourne, with his shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, and candidate Katie Allen.

The funding will go to further research on suicide prevention:

So that we can provide those on the front line, those on the phones, clinicians elsewhere who are providing support to families and people in their darkest hour with the best cutting-edge response and technology.

Dutton says there are many families across the country who have been touched by suicide.

I’ve been to suicide scenes and they are confronting. And anything that we can do as a country, we should be doing that and more to provide support to frontline services and to clinicians and today, to the researchers.

He leaves after a short address, and doesn’t take any questions.

• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Updated

Bandt says Labor’s Great Barrier Reef pledge will ‘promote the reef, not save it’

The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has laid into Albanese’s $10m announcement today for the Great Barrier Reef.

At the smart energy summit earlier today in Sydney, Bandt said the funding was going towards promoting the reef, but “not to save it”.

Labor’s paying money to promote the reef, but not to save it. Labor is promoting the very same reef that it is destroying by approving over 30 new coal and gas projects.

The Greens have been calling on the government to end approvals for new coal and gas, and have promised to pressure Labor further in the event of a minority government.

Updated

Former Victorian premier backs Jacinta Allan and refutes reports to the contrary

The former Victorian premier Steve Bracks has issued a rare public statement in a show of support for Jacinta Allan.

Bracks was named in a Herald Sun report this morning as privately supporting a change of leadership to Allan’s deputy premier, Ben Carroll. However he disputed this in the statement:

I firmly support the leadership of Jacinta Allan and believe she is best able to win an historic fourth term for Labor. Media reporting to the contrary is false.

Earlier this morning, Allan insisted she had the support of her Labor colleagues and said she wouldn’t reconsider her job even if the party lost several seats at the federal election. She said:

My colleagues know – and that’s why they did support me in this role in 2023 – they know that I’m a fighter and I’m focused on those things that Labor governments focus on.

Updated

Candidation nominations close as Liberals face questions over vetting processes

During his press conference earlier, Peter Dutton evaded questions on his vetting process after concerns were raised about a 2024 charge against a Melbourne candidate.

It’s the latest in series of issues facing some Liberal candidates across the country, including one who was sacked by the party just before the AEC closed candidate nominations today.

This means that if any other candidates are disendorsed, like Benjamin Britton was over the weekend, they now won’t be able to be replaced.

Sarah Basford-Canales is travelling with the opposition leader, and she has the full story here:

Updated

Littleproud calls fears Coalition regional future fund could be used for rorts ‘puerile’

The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, says accusations the Coalition’s would spend all the money in the regional future fund and that it would be a recipe for rorts is “puerile”.

Littleproud is on the wombat trail (it’s what we call the election trail for the Nationals party who travel across the regions), and he stood up a short time ago with Bridget McKenzie.

Littleproud got defensive when asked a similar question by Sabra Lane on ABC AM, because he said this future fund would operate in a similar way to the building better regions fund that operated under the previous government. The auditor general found some serious issues in the way that fund was administered.

Now, he goes on the attack, blaming the treasurer, Jim Chalmers.

They’re [the accusations are] puerile. Jim [Chalmers] is not the most economically literate bloke I have met.

What I will spend is the return. So, Jim, what happens is, you set this money aside. You make that return, the 7.68% that allows you to spend that, Jim. We you’re not going in to spend $20bn.

Updated

Energy debate ends as Bowen urges voters to ‘stay the course’ of renewable energy transition

The debate ends in a similar way to how it started: Bowen says in his closing argument that Labor has put more renewables into the grid than the former Liberal governments did in a decade.

He implores voters to “stay the course” with the renewable energy transition, which will be firmed by gas power.

I’m pleased with what we have done, but not satisfied. We have a lot more to do… under the last government 24 coal-fired power plants announce their closure dates but the LNP failed to plan for the future, they failed any replacement electricity… We need to stay the course, listen to the experts and that is what we would do if we get a second term.

O’Brien again attacks Labor for having a renewables only policy, and putting “all [their] eggs in one basket”.

He says the Coalition’s policy will be mean “cheaper, cleaner and consistent 24/7 power so that not just cost of living is eased, but our future is one that is rich and not poor”.

Updated

Bowen says national emissions targets do not take into account state targets but rather ‘the specific policies’ instead

Bowen is asked whether the Queensland government’s plan to review its emissions targets will have an impact on Australia’s national plan. He says national targets don’t take into account state targets, but they do consider the specific policies within those targets.

We don’t take into account those targets because it is not simply a matter of adding them up and coming up with a national target. What we do is look through the targets and consider the impact of policies at the state level and local level for that matter. And that feeds into the national target and we do that very carefully.

He says the government will look at the implications of any new policies, but that will be done in “the normal course of events”.

Updated

O’Brien won’t say if the Coalition would stay in or leave the Paris Agreement

Our colleague Dan Jervis-Bardy asks if the Coalition’s analysis of emissions targets (if they win government) comes back and says Australia won’t get to 43%: will the Coalition walk away from the Paris agreement?

O’Brien says a Coalition would focus on three things when coming up with their targets – the trajectory of emissions, state of the economy and their suite of policies. He leaves the door open to the Coalition walking away from the Paris agreement.

Once we have done that analysis, then we will be making decisions along the lines of that you pose, though I won’t be preempting that hypothetical today with all due respect ... I can commit [that] we will always act in the national interest.

Bowen says he’s “disappointed” that O’Brien has left that door open:

I am disappointed to hear Ted’s answer because, in effect, he couldn’t confirm staying in Paris or leaving because [if you] change the 43% target you are leaving Paris.

Updated

Coalition won’t abandon nuclear policy if it loses

What would the Coalition do on its nuclear policy if it loses the next election?

O’Brien is asked if the Coalition would take a rejection at the polls as a rejection of its nuclear policy, but he says that’s a “wild hypothetical”. He backs the policy in and says there’s “no intention” of changing tack – even if it’s an additional three years before they get to make a move on it.

We have no intention of changing our view on that. We’ll have to focus always on what is right for Australia.

Australia is already behind the eight ball when it comes to zero emissions nuclear energy. The sooner we get going the better … we can’t delay, we need to get on with it and remember it’s not just about nuclear, it’s working and just working as a balanced mix.

Updated

The energy minister’s debate, through the lens

While the debate at the National Press Club rages on, why not take a look at how it’s playing out for the cameras?

Ministers spar over cost predictions

Bowen and O’Brien continue to spar over what cost impacts their policies will have. Bowen says that the Coalition’s modelling is cheaper because it anticipates 44% less demand in the system:

Only because it is 44% smaller. You could print a cheaper education system with 44% less students in 2050. It would not be accurate but you could do that and that is what you have done.

While O’Brien says there’s evidence of nuclear lowering power prices in other countries and jurisdictions.

When I sat down with a Japanese department, looking at their details, they say nuclear in the mix brings prices down. Ontario Canada brings prices down. What is it that Anthony Albanese and you know that the United States doesn’t know, Canada doesn’t know, Japan doesn’t know … ?

Updated

The next question goes to 2030 emissions targets

Bowen is asked whether, following his concession that their previous modelling by Reputex is no longer relevant, sticking to the 43% emissions reduction target is still appropriate.

Bowen says the government is still on track to meet the target, and the latest estimate – done independently – shows Australia will get to 42%.

43% is an appropriate level and there have been many people including friends outside who would say it should be higher. It is substantially higher than what could be achieved by the Coalition and I am proud of the fact that we have back on track to achieve that.

Meanwhile, the Coalition hasn’t yet said what its 2030 target would be, and O’Brien is asked whether a Coalition government would lower the target under Paris Agreement O’Brien says emissions haven’t moved despite what Bowen says:

They probably, hand on heart, believe they are saving the planet to when they came to office the Coalition had reduced emissions by 29% from 2005 levels. Do know what it is now? Around 29% … they have not budged. This is the problem. Emissions are not even going down.

But the substantive question is whether the Coalition would back away from the Paris agreement. O’Brien says they’ll commission “analysis” on those targets.

We will do the analysis and then we will work out what is going to be the impact of emissions reduction on families in Australia, on regional Australia and on businesses in Australia…

We will not be setting targets from opposition.

Updated

Statistical confusion at the energy debate

This is genuinely difficult to keep up with – both Bowen and O’Brien are talking over each other a lot.

We’re still on what both energy policies will do to prices. Even the host Tom Connell says, “frankly voters get pretty confused”.

O’Brien says the Coalition’s nuclear costings show prices will reduce by 25%, and the pair argue over whether the numbers reflect modelling that’s been done separately by the CSIRO (and there’s a lot more argument on that point).

Updated

Chinese menu v Chinese fortune cookies

Sorry, what?

We’re getting some interesting insults here today, with both parties throwing shade at the others’ modelling. Bowen says:

You mentioned opposition modelling which I think is generous term. This is the document. I’ve seen more detail in [a] Chinese menu.

O’Brien retorts:

This is coming from the minister whose own plan wouldn’t fit in a Chinese fortune cookie. If anything, that’s probably where it would belong because you crack it open and all it would be would be a slogan. No numbers, no plan, no modelling.

Look I have few words for what … that … was, but I’ll get to more of the substance in a moment.

Updated

Who will bring down energy prices?

It’s the question that most people around the country want to know right now. The energy minister and the shadow minister are asked point blank if prices after the next election will go up or down.

Bowen doesn’t exactly answer but says “energy prices will be cheaper under Labor than under Mr O’Brien”:

Anybody who predicts energy prices in this complicated geopolitical environment, I think, is making a punt so I will not do that. I will say that when the alternative plan is to introduce the most expensive form of energy available in the world, which is nuclear.

(This is of course off the back of Labor promising a $275 cut in energy prices at the last election … which did not happen).

O’Brien says the Frontier economics analysis – that his party commissioned – shows there will be a drop in gas prices. He takes aim at Bowen not being able to provide a figure on what Labor’s plan will do to energy prices.

They [Labor] don’t have anything. They’ve done no modelling. His decision-making is based on gut.

Updated

Climate protester interrupts Coalition opening address at energy debate

Our reporter Dan Jervis-Bardy is in the room for the debate, and has some more details on the heckler we heard.

He says:

A climate activist demanding a stop to new coal and gas projects has briefly disrupted the election debate between the climate change minister, Chris Bowen, and his counterpart Ted O’Brien at the National Gallery in Canberra.

The protestor loudly interjected just as O’Brien was preparing to make his opening statement before security escorted him out of the venue.

Updated

Climate protester temporarily interrupts Coalition shadow energy minister

As O’Brien starts, he gets heckled loudly by a member of the crowd calling on the Coalition to stop coal and gas investment. It’s hard to hear exactly what they’ve said.

They soon stop, and O’Brien starts his opening statement again. He agrees with Bowen that we’re at a “fork in the road”, but calls Labor’s policy an “all eggs in one basket” and “renewables-only” policy:

There is not a country in the world trying to go down the path that Labor is trying to go down. A predominantly wind and solar grid. This is unheard of and already [in] early days it is failing, failing on every single count and Australia knows that because they feel the pain. Families are on their knees because they cannot pay the bills.

Updated

Bowen addresses the ‘many’ problems with Coalition’s energy policy as energy debate starts up at National Press Club

The energy minister, Chris Bowen, is going head-to-head with the shadow energy minister, Ted O’Brien, for the National Press Club.

Bowen has just given his opening statement, saying we’re at a “fork in the road when it comes to energy and climate”.

Energy is a key area where the two major parties have completely different policies – between renewables and nuclear. Bowen says the Coalition model doesn’t account for higher levels of EVs or household batteries and leaves coal running past its use-by date.

He says the Coalition’s lack of action over the last decade it was in government was “a Sunday picnic” compared to their nuclear plan:

The problem with their plans are many, it is a bizarre approach that argues the answer that needing more and cheaper energy now is to introduce the most expensive form of energy even, by their own admission, in 12 years time. And in reality we know it will be much longer than that.

Over the last lost liberal decade they watched for gigawatts of energy leave the grid and only replaced it with one. That would be a Sunday picnic compared to the damage caused by the liberal’s risky plan now.

Updated

Wong says Australia ‘prepared to engage’ US on tariffs but won’t compromise on range of issues

A little earlier, foreign minister Penny Wong was up on Sky News to chat all things tariffs.

Asked if she wants the US ambassador Kevin Rudd to “go in and keep the pressure on to get a deal,” Wong made the point that “we’re not where Peter Dutton is.”

Peter Dutton has made clear he would cut a deal, no question, which leaves very open the question of what he will give away to cut that deal.

What we have said is we will continue to engage, but what we are not prepared to give ground on is the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and our biosecurity system, both of which have been raised by the US trade representative to the congress.

Now the prime minister has made clear, the trade minister has made clear, I’ve made clear, we’re not in the world of compromising on those issues. And the question for Peter Dutton is, are you?

Wong reiterated there has “not been much change for Australia, because we already had the best position of any country.”

We are prepared to engaged. We are not prepared to give ground on the issues which the administration has indicated they are seeking us to compromise on.

Coalition’s proposed future funds ‘a recipe for bigger deficits’ says Chalmers, Gallagher

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, have said the Coalition’s proposed future funds will lead to more gross debt, not less.

They’ve also claimed the opposition could use the funds to “rort” money into politically aligned projects.

Chalmers and Gallagher argue their budgets have returned about 70% of tax upgrades to the budget, compared to the previous Liberal government that they say banked about 40%.

In a statement, they wrote:

This is a recipe for bigger deficits and more gross debt, not less. These new funds will mean that future revenue won’t be used to directly improve the bottom line or pay down debt.

Instead, taxpayers money will be parked in new funds that we know will be rorted.

Updated

No further details provided on costings for Coalitions public service plan

Peter Dutton has still refused to release the costings for his public service plan, which would see the sector shrink by 41,000 staff over five years.

The Coalition clarified on Monday that the cuts would only happen through hiring freezes and natural attrition, but promised that all had been costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office, and there was no change to the savings they’d been promising from the measure.

Dutton pins some blame on the government for not releasing some of their own costings, and says his numbers will be released during the campaign.

The government have not released their costings in relation to their promises on the campaign and parties release costings in accordance with the rules. We will do that. We said that. We’ve had ongoing discussions with the Parliamentary Budget Office.

Updated

Would the Coalition “join hands” with China, as its ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian is suggesting?

Dutton says Australia should have a “strong trading relationship with China”, to secure jobs and investment.

But at the same time, he says Australia needs to have a “rock solid” relationship with the US and UK through Aukus and Anzus.

I believe that we can work very closely with China on building our trading relationship and have a respectful relationship with China. As a country, we have to stand up for our interests and we can’t do that with a weak prime minister.

He accuses Labor of having taken out $80bn in defence funding (though Labor says it’s added $50bn to the defence budget over the next decade).

Dutton also says Albanese is having his “strings pulled by a junior coalition partner in Adam Bandt”, who has repeatedly called for the end of Aukus.

Updated

Dutton addresses comparisons between proposed public service policy and Doge

The comparisons between the Liberal’s public service policy and Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Doge keep coming.

Dutton is asked about his shadow assistant treasurer who said in a Facebook post that if the Coalition wins government, then Doge will be implemented and senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price will be the minister in charge.

Dutton says that Nampijinpa Price’s role will be heading a process similar to what the Howard government did with an expenditure review process.

Where I find waste in the federal budget, I will make sure we can cut it so we can support Australian workers and that we can support frontline workers and that we can support the doctors and nurses and the medics and the police officers.

Earlier, the PM was asked about the comparison, and whether he agrees with his treasurer that Dutton is “Doge-y”. Albanese wouldn’t say the word, but told voters to look at the opposition’s words.

Updated

Dutton defends Liberal party’s vetting process

Asked if there is “anything wrong with the Liberal party’s vetting process”, Peter Dutton defends it:

If you look at the standard of candidates we have selected across the board, I think we have selected some amazing people. Manny Cicchiello [candidate for Aston] is someone who is been a teacher for 25 years, providing support to young Victorians as they grow and I want to make sure that we can select good candidates so we can get rid of the bad candidate.

Another reporter asks about a candidate in the Labor held seat of Wills.

Dutton refuses to answer the question, despite other reporters pushing him to. He instead tries to turn the heat on to Albanese.

I think Anthony Albanese has been deceiving as many people for the last three years he has lied about the $275.

Updated

Dutton asked if Liberal candidates ‘borrowing Trump tactics’

A reporter asked Peter Dutton about whether any of his candidates are “borrowing Trump tactics” and if this is damaging the Liberal brand?

Dutton responded:

Jeremy Neal [the candidate for Leichhardt] is somebody who served as a paramedic and he’s made statements in relation to the matters that you raise. But what he’s about in Leichhardt is continuing the great work of Warren Entsch. If there is a Labor member elected in Leichhardt, that means that Anthony Albanese forms government with Adam Bandt.

(Again, this is something the PM has ruled out repeatedly.)

Updated

Dutton addressing reporters in Melbourne

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is speaking to reporters from Bayswater in Melbourne.

He is continuing to criticise a potential Labor-Greens alliance – even though this is something the PM has repeatedly ruled out – and said:

If the prime minister and Adam Bandt introduced changes to the way in which negative gearing [works] in this country, that is a big asset class for people who are on the cusp of retirement or have retirement plans based on rental incomes, that will be a disaster for our economy.

It is reminiscent of what Bill Shorten was promising a few years ago. It demonstrates what the Labor party and Greens have in mind in the election. Australians cannot afford three more years of a Labor government.

Updated

Teal independent calling for review of Aukus deal amid ‘growing uncertainty’ of US

The teal independent Zoe Daniel has called for a review of the Aukus deal amid concerns about cost, delivery risks and the “growing uncertainty” of the US as a reliable defence partner since Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

The Goldstein MP said a probe of the trilateral security pact with the US and UK should be among the “first orders of businesses” for the next parliament.

The comments are noteworthy given the prospects of a hung parliament in which crossbenchers such as Daniel could hold significant sway. Daniel said:

Strategic autonomy isn’t just about submarines. It’s about having choices. Right now, Australia has only one plan – and it’s Aukus. That’s not good enough.

If we’re serious about national security, we must be honest with Australians about what it will cost – and how we’re going to pay for it.

Updated

Security at western Sydney hospital allegedly threatening doctors in relation to industrial action

Security personnel at a western Sydney hospital have been threatening doctors and instructing them to remove badges and posters related to their industrial action, according to the doctor’s union.

Today is the third and final day of the NSW public sector doctor’s strike which will end at 10PM this evening, which has seen services reduced to public holiday levels while emergency and critical care remain safely staffed.

The Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation say they condemned these reports of “union-busting behaviour” at Westmead hospital by Western Sydney Local Health District management.

A spokesperson for Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) said there has been no directive from the district to security staff to remove items representing the doctor’s strike action.

While WSLHD wants to ensure our hard working ED staff are supported, it’s common practice for security to remove posters from public walls and property.

Updated

WSU subject to ‘persistent and targeted attacks on our network’

Western Sydney University has said there was unauthorised access to its single sign-on systems, with information of up to 10,000 current and former students accessed and a separate incident with personal information of those at the university potentially posted on the dark web.

The university’s vice-chancellor, George Williams, said the WSU had been “the subject of persistent and targeted attacks on our network”.

The university said it expects to notify approximately 10,000 current and former students next week whose information was accessed in January and February this year, with information related to demographic, enrolment and progression information accessed.

The university said as soon as the unauthorised access was detected, cyber experts began working to shut down the access in real time and investigations into the incident are ongoing.

Separately, last month the university said it became aware of a post on the dark web referring to personal information for people at the University. The post was made before the most recent attack on 1 November 2024.

This post is being investigated, but the university said early investigations suggest the information contained in the post “broadly reflects the same types of personal information outlined in previous cyber notifications.”

As is the standard approach to these incidents now, WSU has been granted an interim injunction in the NSW supreme court to prevent access, use, transmission and publication of any data in the post.

Updated

Victorian premier addresses record low polling

Staying off the campaign trail for a moment and heading back to Jacinta Allan’s press conference …

Allan is asked about polling in the Herald Sun this morning, which says her personal standing has reach a record low of -35. According to the paper, it’s got her colleagues considering plans to topple her as leader.

Asked if she accepts she is unpopular, Allan says she will “leave commentary to others”. She goes on:

What I am focused on every single day, is focused on delivering what working people and families need from a Labor government.

Asked if she’s got the support of her colleagues, she says she does:

I know I have the support of my colleagues, because [I’m] talking and working with them every single day, it’s a great privilege. I’ve always found it an honour to sit in the Labor party group as a member … then through roles as minister and now as premier. It was a tremendous privilege to work with a talented group of people who all have the same singular focus, that keen understanding, that keen understanding of why Labor governments matter.

Updated

US call for release of Australian engineer imprisoned in Iraq

The US government has intervened to call for the release of Robert Pether, an Australian engineer imprisoned in Iraq for four years.

Pether was imprisoned in 2021 after a contractual dispute between his firm CME Consulting and the central bank of Iraq. The bank had engaged Pether’s firm to help build its new Baghdad headquarters.

A United Nations report in 2022 said the case against Pether contravened international law and found he and a colleague, Khalid Radwan, had been subjected to “abusive and coercive” interrogations.

Overnight the US presidential envoy for hostage affairs, an office of the US state department, posted on X about the case, saying:

We stand with our Australian partners in calling for the release of Robert Pether, following the end of his custodial sentence.

Updated

Dutton visiting metalworks facility in seat of Aston

Peter Dutton is visiting a metalworks facility in Melbourne’s Bayswater in the seat of Aston.

The Liberals are hoping to win back the seat, once held by former Coalition minister Alan Tudge, after they lost it to Labor in a byelection in 2023.

Labor’s Mary Doyle holds Aston by a margin of 3.6%.

The opposition leader is joined by his deputy, Sussan Ley, and shadow education minister, Sarah Henderson.

Updated

What are the Coalition's new future fund proposals?

So to recap exactly what this future fund policy is": the Coalition is promising to set up two new future funds.

Australia already has seven future funds, including the main future fund that was set up under John Howard’s government in 2006 and has around $225bn in it (as of mid 2024). It’s managed by a board who can invest the money and grow the pot.

The housing Australia future fund – another, more recent fund – was set up under Albanese and invests its money specifically into social and affordable homes. It has a pool of $10bn in it and can invest up to $500m a year, from some of that pool or from interest that it earns.

The two new funds being promised today – the Future Generations Fund and Regional Australia Future Fund – will be grown using 80% of any “positive windfall receipts variations each year”.

In every budget there’s a the difference between what treasury budgeted that the government would get from mining revenue and what they actually delivered, because Treasury has historically underestimated the price of commodities. The Coalition says they’ll put that difference (“windfall revenue”) into these funds.

The future generations fund will help to pay down debt. The regional Australia future fund will grow up to $20bn and spend up to $1bn per year on projects.

Updated

Liberals introduce new future fund proposals on national debt and regional infrastructure

Angus Taylor and Jane Hume are announcing their two new future fund proposals, to pay down debt, and build regional infrastructure.

Taylor says Australia’s mining windfalls will be “turned into national assets” under the funds and will help stop future generations being saddled with debt. Hume, the shadow finance minister, says the fund will act as a “fiscal guardrail” to stop more spending.

I want all young Australians to hear this message very clearly. The Coalition will stop future governments putting your future on AfterPay.

Updated

Three of five Melbourne Metro Tunnel stations handed to state government

Leaving the election trail for a moment: Three of the five Metro Tunnel stations in Melbourne have been handed over to the government from builders.

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, is announcing the milestone at Parkville station this morning, which – along with Arden and Anzac stations – are now officially complete.

She says the handover marks the moment rail workers can “move in” and start getting familiar with the stations and their systems ahead of the tunnel opening later this year.

The keys have been handed over from the builders … who have worked hard eight years on this site, and also too at Anzac station and Arden station to hand over the keys to the government and to Metro Trains as the rail operator, to now go into that next phase of getting the stations ready to welcome those thousands and thousands of passengers who will be coming through stations like this one here at Parkville every single day.

Allan says trains testing the tunnel have also now cracked 100,000km. She says the tunnel will mark a “massive transformation and new era” for the city:

It’s five new, modern underground stations that are going to support people across our state to get to where they need to go. But it also represents, when it opens later this year, the biggest upgrade, the biggest transformation of Victoria’s train system since the opening of the city loop more than 40 years ago.

The transport infrastructure minister, Gabrielle Williams, is asked about the progress of State Library and Town Hall stations, which are yet to be completed. She says:

Those two CBD stations, the complexity of those two stations should not be underestimated… they are at the deepest point directly under the CBD, 30-40m underneath. I think once you see them and you see the scale of them, you’ll realise why they have always been set to take longer to build than the three stations, we’ve been talking about today. We’ve likened it to doing keyhole surgery in the middle of the CBD.

Updated

NAB predicts double rate cut as Trump trade war fallout continues

NAB says it now expects the Reserve Bank will deliver a double rate cut on May 20, as the opening salvo in a series of move that will slash the official cash rate from 4.1% now to 2.6% by February next year.

A standard rate cut is 0.25 percentage points, which means the NAB prediction would see a move down to 3.6% next month.

In a note to clients this morning, NAB’s chief economist, Sally Auld, said the fallout from Trump’s trade war would hurt Australian economic growth and pull inflation down and that this demanded a more robust response from our central bank.

The risks were now of higher unemployment, rather than a tight labour market and higher inflation.

Auld said the direct impact of American tariffs on Australia would be “small”, but “we are not immune from the indirect impacts”. Nevertheless she said: “We think the distribution of risks to both growth and inflation in Australia have shifted such that the central bank is required to act with some sense of urgency”.

Even as NAB predicted a bigger rate cut, Deutsche Bank rapidly reversed a similar change in its forecast made only earlier this week, after Trump gave a last-minute 90-day reprieve on his more punishing tariffs which had been due to come into effect today. As sharemarkets bounced back, Deutsche Bank chief economist Phil O’Donaghoe said:

Just 48 hours ago, we said that unless the US administration tilts to an off ramp within days on its tariff policy, we expected the RBA to lower rates by 50bps in May. A few hours ago, we would argue that the US took that offramp.

O’Donaghoe said he now anticipated a 0.25ppt rate cut next month, followed by cuts in August, November and February, which would leave the cash rate at 3.1%.

Updated

On the PM’s pop-culture references

My coworkers have picked up that Albanese misquoted his pop culture reference, when he said “I don’t want to channel Tom Cruise here with follow the money ... but follow the market”.

Many of you would have guessed that was supposed to be a quote from Jerry Maguire, and what Cruise actually says is: “show me the money”!

For all my millenial and Gen Z friends, that movie came out in 1996, so there’s a chance you might have missed the moment altogether.

And where does “follow the money” come from?

“Follow the money” was the advice from Deep Throat from All the President’s Men, the Watergate docudrama about corruption. I hope you, like me, have learnt something new today.

Updated

ASX lights up after Trump backdown

Leaving the press conference for a moment… the ASX is awash with green after investors piled back into Australian shares this morning.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was up more than 6% to 7,840 points in early trade and is on track to be one of the strongest single-day sessions ever recorded if it holds its gains today. That said, the benchmark is still lower than it was before Donald Trump unveiled his tariff regime mid last week and is down more than 5% this year.

Australian shares have followed Wall Street, which soared overnight after Trump unveiled a 90-day pause on tariffs above 10% on dozens of countries – with the notable exception of China.

The chief economist at Betashares, David Bassanese, warned investors today there were still many risks to the global economy.

Despite Trump’s concession, the global economy – and particularly the US economy – faces enormous risk in the weeks and months ahead While equity markets bounced overnight, this may well be but one of likely several cruel bear market rallies in what had become a very oversold market in the short-term.

We’re not out of the woods just yet.

Updated

Albanese on climate record: ‘follow the market’

Again, Albanese is challenged on Labor’s climate record which – while more ambitious than the Coalition’s – has still attracted wide criticism for not going far enough.

Albanese says Labor is still waiting for the independent climate change authority to provide their advice to the government on an emissions target for 2035.

He says the former Coalition government didn’t plan for the future shutdown of coal-fired power stations, which were announced while they had been in government. Labor’s approach to the transition, he says, is supported by the movements of the market:

If things don’t stack up, I don’t want to channel Tom Cruise here with follow the money ... but follow the market. The market will not have a bar of nuclear and they won’t build new coal-fired power stations. What they will build is renewables, backed by firming capacity of gas, hydro and batteries.

(The PM is slightly misquoting the line – or perhaps conflating it with a different line from a different movie.)

Updated

Does Albanese agree with his treasurer that Dutton is a “Doge sycophant”?

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been calling Peter Dutton “Doge-y”, making a comparison between the opposition leader and Trump and Elon Musk’s efforts to gut the US public sector.

Albanese won’t say the same names Chalmers has, but says voters can “make their own decisions” based on what Dutton has said:

Peter Dutton has said on education, ‘I don’t know why we have so many people in education if we don’t run schools’. He said the same about health and hospitals.

People will be able to draw their own conclusions I think on where some of the public service cuts, some of the rhetoric that comes through, some of the culture wars … people will look at similar policies around the world and ... And they will make their own decisions.

He’s asked as a follow up whether Labor is risking doing harm to the relationship with the US for political gain: Albanese says “no”.

Updated

Albanese rebuffs China’s offer and reiterates that ‘free and fair trade is a good thing’

Back to tariffs: it’s pointed out to Albanese that when he says no one’s got a better deal than Australia, most countries are all in the same boat now, facing 10% tariffs on goods sold in the US.

The best deal is zero: that is why we are continuing the to put forward at every avenue at our disposal. The changes that have occurred from day-to-day, what they emphasise is the need for a considered, calibrated, clear position when negotiating over these international issues.

Albanese says the government were prepared for the tariffs. He takes aim at Peter Dutton’s approach – he had suggested that defence should be put on the negotiating table. Albanese says:

You do not dial it up to 11 at every opportunity, which is what Peter Dutton’s plan is on everything.

Asked as well whether Australia will “join hands” with China – as its ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, has suggested in an op-ed in the Nine Newspapers, Albanese says:

We will speak for ourselves. Australia’s position is that free and fair trade is a good thing

Updated

PM: opposition is gaslighting Australian public on gas

Albanese is asked how many new gas plants would need to be opened under a Labor government to help secure the renewable energy transition. He won’t give a number, but says gas is an “important part of providing stability” to the system, while trying to pick apart the Liberal’s plan to accelerate gas project approvals and secure an east coast gas reserve:

All the opposition have is not a policy, they have [been] gaslighting the Australian public.

Labor has also been consistently challenged on their climate change record. Albanese was asked whether voters will now be waiting for the Greens to push Labor further.

Greens have blocked major [policies], including nature-positive [laws], they have held it up … We will engage with industry and with the environmental groups to make sure we get it right going forward.

An important reminder here – Tanya Plibersek had secured a deal with the Greens and senator David Pocock on the nature positive legislation before it was scuttled by the PM.

Updated

PM says Chinese tourism ‘important’ and his government will continue to advocate US tariffs on Australian goods ‘should be zero’

Albanese says he wants to see more tourists from China, as he’s asked whether the relationship between the two countries has changed or strengthened since the US imposed its second round of tariffs.

The PM doesn’t directly answer that question, just saying that the trade relationship with China “is an important one”. He links that back to tourism:

I think there is a lot of opportunity to grow tourism in particular from the Chinese market. The statistics show that Chinese visitors to Australia are big spenders. They tend to come for a longer period of time.

To a second question on tariffs. Albanese’s holding firm on the line that no one has received a better tariff deal that Australia, and that these actions are “an act of economic harm”:

It is quite clear from the response of the markets that the announcement is doing harm to the United States, it is doing harm to its prospects of employment, inflation, all the key figures as well. We will continue to advocate that Australia’s tariff rates should be zero. We do not impose tariffs on US goods into Australia. We have a free trade agreement with the United States.

Updated

Albanese says ‘practical measures’ on slate to Close the Gap after failure of voice referendum

On to questions: Albanese is asked what a Labor government would do next term for First Nations people after the failure of the voice referendum.

Albanese says First Nations people overwhelmingly voted yes but the government has respected the overall outcome. He says he has spoken to Noel Pearson and other First Nations leaders and will “provide practical measures” going forward.

We’ll provide practical measures going forward in Closing the Gap on education, on health, on housing. These are the measures that we’ve put in place through proper funding in our budgets going forward of: how do we make a difference so that the gap - which is far too wide and, in some cases, is widening …

Albanese gets another question on whether he’d give Warren Entsch (the retiring LNP MP) a posting. The PM says he gets “the impression that Warren is looking forward to sitting back and putting his feet up” rather than looking for a posting.

Updated

PM promises $27.5m for health and engineering wing at Central Queensland University

Albanese has made another local announcement during his press conference, promising $27.5m for a health and engineering wing at Central Queensland University’s Cairns campus.

The PM says this will help close workforce shortages in the health space and help regional students study closer to home.

This will open this facility in 2028. It will double nursing student capacity from 630 to 1,260 to address workforce shortages. It will expand facilities to accommodate growth in physio, OTs, clinical exercise physiology, addressing the projected workforce shortages.

Albanese hasn’t whipped out his signature Medicare card prop as yet, but it’s probably not far away.

The health minister, Mark Butler, is with the PM for this health announcement and says training students in Cairns will make it more likely for those students to stay there in the region.

Updated

PM begins campaign day in Cairns promoting Labor’s climate change credentials

Anthony Albanese is standing up in Cairns, donning a Rabbitohs cap, and starts on climate change.

He says his government turned around Australia’s relationships in the Pacific by taking stronger action on the climate with their stronger emissions reduction target.

The Great Barrier Reef is incredibly vulnerable to climate change and Albanese says protecting the reef is essential for tourism:

One of the attractions of Australia is to come to this part of the world, and then people will go to a capital city or Uluru or Kakadu or other sites. But the Great Barrier Reef is a magnet for the world. And in order for it to be a magnet for the world, who want to see a pristine environment, we need to be able to show that we’re behaving responsibly and sustainably.

Updated

Greens senator calls Adani ‘desperate’ for ‘hauling dead people to court’

Greens senator Larissa Waters has accused Adani of being “desperate” after the company named two dead Australian war veterans in court documents alleging they were part of a conspiracy against them.

Adani is so desperate to muzzle ordinary people’s dissent of their dodgy mines, they’re hauling dead people to court.

If Adani knew Mike and Bill had passed when naming them co-conspirators, then their nastiness knows no bounds.

You can read the exclusive report by our colleague Ben Smee here:

Updated

ABC says ‘collective Liberal decision’ for Wilson to miss televised debate

Following from our last post…

The ABC’s Raf Epstein has been asked why the Liberal candidate for Goldstein, Tim Wilson, hasn’t appeared at an election debate with the incumbent independent, Zoe Daniel.

We have been talking to [the Liberals] for a while about this. It’s a collective Liberal decision to not be here. It’s up to their volunteers, whether or not they wanted to be here. There are clearly a lot of Zoe Daniel’s supporters here. We threw out the invitation. This is the end result.

Updated

Tim Wilson, Liberal candidate for Goldstein, misses ABC debate with independent Zoe Daniel

One of the hot seats to watch in Melbourne is Goldstein. It’s currently held by the independent Zoe Daniel, but the former Liberal MP Tim Wilson is trying to win it back.

The two politicians were scheduled to appear at an election debate by ABC Melbourne this morning. But Raf Epstein has told the audience that Wilson has “not been made available to us”.

Raf has started by asking Daniel whether she’d rather have a coffee with Peter Dutton or her Liberal opponent, Wilson. Her response:

Peter – because after the election, I may have to negotiate with him and it would be good to have that conversation.

Daniel has again been asked about who she would support in the event of a hung parliament, but she kept her powder dry.

Well I think anyone who works in business or negotiation would know that it would be completely daft for me to give up all my leverage four weeks out from an election, when I might end up in a negotiation the day after it, and also when lots of things can happen in the next month.

Updated

Former US ambassador suggests PM should ‘eyeball the president’ to get out of Trump tariff crosshairs – after the election

The former ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos says politicians will have to “wait and see” what Donald Trump does next, as the election in Australia looms.

Sinodinos told ABC News Breakfast earlier that Trump won’t be likely to negotiate “too many deals” because that would “undermine the protective effect” of what the administration is trying to do.

He says the prime minister should only go and “eyeball” the president after 3 May.

I think wait and see at least for now is the right strategy and then once the election in Australia is out of the way, if it’s Albanese re-elected or Dutton elected as prime minister, the leader of Australia has to come to Washington, eyeball the president, and try to work this out leader to leader. That’s the only way you make real breakthroughs with Donald Trump.

Updated

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price targets ‘waste’ in Indigenous affairs portfolio and promises ‘reset’ regarding Closing the Gap

The shadow minister for government efficiency, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, has said she’ll audit expenditure in her Indigenous affairs portfolio as the Coalition promises to crack down on spending and “waste” in the public service.

She says she’d work with colleagues in government, if the Coalition won, to work out where there’s “waste”.

It’s about working along with my colleagues in their portfolios to understand the lay of the land within their portfolios. We won’t know until we’re in government exactly what the lay of the land looks like.

If you want to take Closing the Gap, for example, we can see that there’s nothing. There is no progress in that particular area. For me, it’s about a reset across Indigenous Affairs when it comes to Closing the Gap.

Updated

Anthony Albanese is up in Cairns this morning, announcing $10m in funding for education and tourism programs for the Great Barrier Reef.

I’m sure they’re hoping the seat of Leichhardt (which Labor is hoping to clinch) will be ‘blown away’ by the announcement.

Updated

Coalition announces national debt and regional future funds

The Coalition has announced it would establish two future funds – one to pay down national debt, and the other to invest in regional infrastructure.

The regional Australia future fund (RAFF) would amount to $20bn and spend around $1bn per year on infrastructure to improve access to childcare and healthcare access and increase regional connectivity.

The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, told ABC AM a little earlier that some of the money for the fund would come from Australia’s exports:

What we’re saying is that regional Australia is contributing about $350bn worth of exports every year … over the coming four years, we’re going to take a little bit of that to set this fund up that’ll get … a return every year to invest a billion dollars above and beyond the normal … infrastructure spend.

Things got a bit stickier after Sabra Lane asked whether this fund would mirror the previous building better regions program (established by the Liberals and then cancelled by Labor in 2022). Littleproud says it would be similar.

Lane says an auditor general found back in 2022 that “funding decisions weren’t appropriately informed by departmental advice that the basis for funding decisions weren’t appropriately documented and in some cases deficient. It sounds like a pork barreling exercise”. Littleproud immediately gets on the defensive, saying:

I think this is so sad that we’re going to go in and try and tear down regional Australia’s future.

There’s a bit of back and forth on this point, and Littleproud says there “are probity measures” that will ensure the funding is appropriately dispensed.

Updated

Albanese announces $10m for Great Barrier Reef education and tourism

The PM is in Cairns this morning, announcing $10m to protect the Great Barrier Reef.

He’s in the seat of Leichhardt, all the way in far north Queensland, which Labor is hoping to clinch from the LNP as its longstanding MP, Warren Entsch, retires.

Albanese tells local radio station 4BC that the funding is focused on education and tourism for the area:

What we are delivering is $10m today we’re announcing for [an] educational experience fund … that will provide $6m for kids, for reef rebates for schools who want to come and see firsthand the magnificence of the Great Barrier Reef.

It provides a million dollars in support for local reef tourism … We want to expand our tourism opportunities.

Updated

ASX to soar after tariff pause ignites Wall Street rally

Australian shares are poised to surge when the market opens, after Donald Trump’s decision to pause his oversized tariffs against most nations sent stock prices rocketing on Wall Street.

Futures prices are pointing to an increase in excess of 6% for the S&P/ASX 200, taking the index above 7,850 points.

Such a move, while adding hundreds of billions of dollars in value to Australian shares, would take the ASX back to levels recorded one week ago – shortly after the new tariff regime was unveiled.

The US stock market soared overnight after Trump unveiled a 90-day pause on tariffs above 10% on dozens of countries, with the notable exception of China. The US president said he would raise US tariffs on Chinese exports to 125%, effective immediately, in response to Beijing’s move to implement 84% tariffs on US goods this week.

The Australian dollar has also recovered significant ground, rising to US61.5c early on Thursday, after threatening to plunge below the US59c barrier earlier this week.

Updated

Marles says Albanese ‘focused on’ Australian people when asked if PM has tried to speak to Trump

Richard Marles (he’s back again… this time on RN Breakfast), is asked whether Albanese has requested a call with Trump since the latest tariffs were announced. The deputy prime minister says that Labor is now “focused” on the Australian people, ahead of the election, which is just over three weeks away.

Ie no, Albanese hasn’t requested a call since then:

We continuously advocate to the United States through the representatives of the government. It’s fair to say right now Anthony Albanese is focused on his conversation with the Australian people as we move towards the federal election on 3 May.

Updated

What does Trump's tariff 'pause' mean for us — and the world?

So what is Donald Trump’s pause on some tariffs, and what does it mean for Australia?

Trump has now said the US will offer a 90-day reprieve for most countries, and give them a blanket 10% tariff rate instead.

But of course, Australia was already being hit with a 10% tariff, so not much is changing for us in the interim.

You can see the full list of countries hit by the tariffs and the pause below:

Updated

Dutton says ex-candidate dumped for 'deeply concerning' views not yet made public

Peter Dutton has revealed the former Liberal candidate for Whitlam, Ben Britton, was dumped for holding “deeply concerning” views not in the public domain.

Speaking on 2GB this morning, the opposition leader would not reveal further details about why Britton was dumped but said they were not in line with party values. Dutton said:

There are a number of views that Ben’s expressed that I don’t agree with, and they were the grounds on which his candidacy were canceled, some of them not in the public domain, and I think they’re deeply concerning, and that was the decision that was made. And we have to make sure that our candidates reflect our party’s values. And that wasn’t the case in relation to this candidate, and we moved to resolve it.

The show’s host, Ben Fordham, asked why Britton was swiftly disendorsed after Guardian Australia reported comments he made on a fringe podcast months before his preselection last year. Dutton said:

Well Ben, it’s hard, because I’m not going to comment on some of the views that Ben has, but they are not consistent with the values of the Liberal party or our supporters. And as a leader of the party, my responsibility is to act where I see a problem. We’ve done that, and we’ve done it with respect, but it was necessary.

Britton expressed a string of controversial views on fringe podcasts before his preselection, including the claim that women should not serve in combat positions with the Australian Defence Force. The former candidate, who will now run as an independent in the NSW seat, claimed his dumping was a “witch hunt” and that the party’s NSW division was stabbing Dutton in the back.

Britton has since been replaced by Nathaniel Smith, a former NSW MP from the party’s religious right faction, who has claimed school students are being “brainwashed” by Marxist and woke ideologies.

Updated

Deputy PM says government could use powers if Chinese-owned company does not divest from the port of Darwin

Asked about the port of Darwin, which is still under a 99-year lease by Chinese owned company Landbridge, Marles says Labor wants to see a “commercial agreement where Landbridge sells out”.

The port was leased in 2015 by the former Northern Territory government, under the Liberal party.

Peter Dutton has since called that decision a mistake, while Anthony Albanese has said the Liberal party shouldn’t have “flogged” it off.

Marles tells News Breakfast that “one way or another” it will be returned to Australian hands.

It was a mistake by the Liberals to put the port of Darwin into Chinese hands. The actual lease is between the Territory government and Landbridge. We would like to see a commercial arrangement here where Landbridge sells out and that’s something we will pursue. But at the end of the day, the commonwealth does have powers here and if needs be, we will exercise those powers.

In recent days, the port’s operator has accused the major party leaders of treating it like “a political football”.

Updated

Marles says US defence alliance seperate to trade relationship

Marles is taking one for the Labor team this morning, and is on morning media duty.

He’s now moved over to ABC News Breakfast, where he repeats that the government is focused on diversifying trade – and also spruiks the five-point response plan Labor announced last week.

There have been growing concerns about the reliability of the US as a defence partner, but Marles says the defence relationship is separate to the trade relationship.

Our relationship with the United States under the banner of the alliance [is] on its own terms and, in fact, you know we’re optimistic about that going forward. I met with my counterpart more than a month ago now in Washington, and had a really positive conversation about how we can walk forward together with the United States in terms of pursuing the alliance.

Updated

Richard Marles declines to say whether Trump ‘a genius or a nutbag’

Over on the Today show, the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, gets asked: “Is Donald Trump a genius or a nutbag?”

The question doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for Marles to move, so he just says “he’s [Trump’s] the president of the United States, and we will just keep pushing Australia’s interests”. (Diplomatic breakdown avoided …)

Trump’s paused some tariffs but has increasing the levy on Chinese imports to 125%.

China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, wrote an op-ed in Nine newspapers this morning calling for Canberra and Beijing to “join hands” in response to Trump.

Marles is asked whether Australia will work more closely with China.

I don’t think we’ll be holding China’s hand. We don’t want to see a trade war between America and China, to be clear, but our focus is on actually diversifying our trade. We’re doing a lot more in south-east Asia with countries like Indonesia, which is a massive potential market on our doorstep. We’re about to sign a new trade agreement with India.

Updated

Bridget McKenzie says Coalition better at weathering overseas economic storms

Trump’s tariffs are the order of the morning, and the shadow infrastructure minister, Bridget McKenzie, is up on ABC News Breakfast, arguing that there needs to be a government who can strengthen the economy to weather the global economic storms.

The party has been using the line that households have been in a per-capita recession for more than a year, meaning the economy is weaker than it was under the previous government.

What you need to ensure is that your nation has a buffer, if you like, to actually deal with weathering these type of storms from overseas. We need to make sure that our economy is strong – what we have seen is that it is weaker over the last three years.

The Coalition has announced a future fund policy – two funds to help pay down debt and set up regional infrastructure.

Host Bridget Brennan asks McKenzie how that funding would be distributed fairly to regional areas. McKenzie, under the previous Morrison government, had previously used a Community Sport Infrastructure Grant Program to fund projects in key and marginal seats. She quit cabinet and resigned as deputy Nationals leader at the time. McKenzie says this funding should not just go to Nationals seats.

It shouldn’t go to seats that are just held by Liberal and National party members, it should be about the 9 million of us that don’t live in capital cities. Actually having a fair share of investment from the resources that our nation supplies to global markets.

It’s a legislated fund with an independent analysis of the impact of any government’s decision-making on the state of the regions, that will be tabled in parliament, and this information will inform ministers on where they need to invest that money.

Updated

ACTU report says wages would have been lower under Coalition

Australian workers would be $8,700 worse off had Peter Dutton achieved his goal of blocking major government reforms that boosted wages, new research shows.

The Getting Wages Moving: And the $8,700 risk of Peter Dutton report by the Australian Council of Trade Unions, released today, shows that wages have grown by 3.7% since Labor came to power in 2022, while in the decade prior, under the Coalition government, they grew 2.1%. Under the Rudd and Gillard governments, wage growth averaged 3.6%.

According to the ACTU report, wages have grown across all industries since 2022 owing to five key policy changes including intervention in annual wage reviews and Secure Jobs, Better Pay reforms – all of which the report claims are not supported by the Coalition.

The union’s secretary, Sally McManus, said that the report “confirms just how much lower wages would have been had Peter Dutton’s policies been in place”.

In a statement, she said:

While workers are doing it tough, he would have made things a lot worse by keeping wage rises low and allowed big business to continue using their wage-cutting loopholes.

At a time of global uncertainty, it’s even more important for workers to have the confidence that the gains they’ve been making over the last three years continue. We do not need Peter Dutton importing more of that uncertainty here.

Updated

Good morning

Krishani Dhanji here with you, as Donald Trump continues to dominate the Australian election campaign.

From last night’s treasurers’ debate, where the tariffs dominated, to Trump putting a pause on some of those tariffs early this morning, we can’t seem to get enough of the issue.

And the Australian Council of Trade Unions has released research on wages, and how much lower they might be under a Coalition government (they’re saying wages would be about $8,700 lower).

We’ll follow all that this morning.

Updated

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
All Vapes Are Flavored Vapes, Some Just Have Cigarette Flavors
A plea for more accurate descriptions of non-combustible nicotine products.
Reason
Reason
Lil Nas X rushed to hospital after ‘losing control’ of his face
‘I can’t even laugh right now,’ rapper said
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lady Gaga insists Harlequin is 'one of her proudest pieces' despite Coachella snub
Lady Gaga didn't perform any songs from 2024's 'Harlequin' album at Coachella on Friday (11.04.25), but she has insisted she will never forget the record.
BANG Premier
BANG Premier
Weezer are making a movie
Weezer confirmed at Coachella that they are making a movie.
BANG Premier
BANG Premier
The great Easter basket question — to Peep or not Peep
Love them or hate them, marshmallow Peeps are inescapable around the Easter holiday
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood condemns SNL’s ‘mean and unfunny’ sketch
Actor uses Instagram story to address skit in which SNL cast member Sarah Sherman mocked her appearance
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play