What we learned, Friday 28 March
It’s certainly been a big day – we finally have a date for the upcoming federal election! Here’s everything we learned today:
Anthony Albanese announced the federal election will be held on 3 May.
Making his pitch, the prime minister said the choice was clear and “your vote has never been more important”.
The influence of Donald Trump on the Australian election is already evident, with Albanese saying “we do not need to copy from any other nation to make Australia even better and stronger”.
The PM also said he is aiming for a majority, something his ministers repeated through the day.
This comes as the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, says a “minority government is coming”.
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, too, noted the influence of independents, arguing they were the “nation’s biggest threat in the regions.”
Peter Dutton also made his election pitch, telling voters the election is “a choice about who can better manage our economy”.
The press pack trailing Albanese touched down in Brisbane this afternoon in the first stop of the five-week election campaign. Dutton’s plane is expected to leave Canberra tomorrow morning.
The Australian Electoral Commission announced more voters are on the electoral roll than ever before.
Updated
Qatar deal helping cheaper fares take off: Virgin boss
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has given Virgin Australia and Qatar Airways the final go-ahead for a five-year partnership expected to double flights between Australia and Doha.
As AAP reports, Virgin Australia CEO Dave Emerson says the “positive benefits” are already being seen:
Already we are seeing some of the positive benefits of the partnership, including increased sale activity on air fares between Australia and Europe, the Middle East and Africa thanks to increased competition.
We are pleased to welcome Qatar Airways as not just a strategic partner, but a part owner in Virgin Australia.
For more on how this deal affects the overall Australian aviation industry, you can read our analysis from Elias Visontay and Jonathan Barrett below:
Updated
AWU lashes Coalition gas reservation policy as ‘cynical hoax’ that doesn’t address gas retention problem
The Australian Workers Union has denounced Peter Dutton’s gas reservation policy as a “cynical hoax” that misleads Australians instead of “genuinely addressing the nation’s gas retention problem”.
The AWU said it had long called for a gas reservation scheme, but argues what is proposed by the Coalition is “either inept or bad faith”.
In a statement, the union said that under the Coalition’s plan, only east coast LNG spot cargoes – small amounts of gas sold overseas on a one-off basis – would be reserved for domestic use, amounting to 1% of the gas Australia produces each year.
Put another way, reserving east coast spot cargoes for east coast users would leave the eastern states paying the same high prices for over 85% of their gas.
The national secretary, Paul Farrow, said:
Dutton’s proposal would leave east coast workers, households, and manufacturers stuck paying exorbitant global prices most of the time … It’s clear this is a plan crafted in consultation with the gas industry to dupe voters, allowing producers to continue exporting our gas at huge profits while Australian consumers and businesses get short-changed.
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Tink says Queensland is ‘dark horse’ in 2025 election
Asked if she thinks she can make a dent in Peter Dutton’s vote, Kylea Tink said “Queensland is the dark horse in the 2025 election” – pointing to the fact Anthony Albanese has arrived there as his first stop on the campaign.
Ellie Smith is running here in Dixon and she is a cracking candidate. What is most telling about it is that she is running because her community has asked her to.
It’s not like myself or anybody from the Community Independents Project, or anybody from Climate 200, had anything to do with this seat actually turning around and going ‘maybe we want somebody else to actually represent us’ …
The two major parties have gotten too lost in pursuing their own political ideologies, so Community Independents is about taking your voice and your vote back.
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Tink on power of crossbench: ‘Many of us were discounted in 2022’
Outgoing independent MP Kylea Tink has been speaking with ABC Afternoon Briefing this afternoon.
As we reported earlier, she will travel to Queensland this weekend to support independent candidates – including the one aiming for Peter Dutton’s seat – after being appointed director of the Community Independents Project.
Tink said people were “shocked to see the size of the crossbench grow” after the 2022 election.
We had the largest crossbench in the history of Australian politics and we have proven to have been a constructive force in politics in the last two years … In 2022, many of us were discounted and seen as a bit of a flash in the pan.
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Equality Australia warns of travel to the US
Equality Australia has warned certain members of Australia’s LGBTQ+ community against travelling to the US.
In a travel advice document, it says the advice applies to those with a gender X marker on their passport, with identity documents with gender markers or a name different to those assigned at birth, and those with a track record of LGBTQ+ activism.
Travel to the US carries serious risks that should be considered before planning any travel, particularly if you fall under one of the above categories.
It outlined a number of potential risks, including the refusal of a visa, denial of entry, mistreatment and arbitrary detention. The document also lists advice for prior to travelling, during travel, with resources for further information.
Krishani Dhanji reported in January that gender-diverse Australians applying to stay in the US long-term could face visa delays and be forced to use their gender designation at birth on forms following Donald Trump’s executive order on gender.
There have also been calls extending beyond the LGBTQ+ community to avoid travel to the US.
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Burney says government needs to be involved in truth-telling, but it’s not ‘be-all and end-all’
Linda Burney was asked if she was accepting that the government could not pursue a process for truth-telling because of the no vote, and if she believed others should instead pursue a community-led process.
She answered:
When you look at the different models of truth-telling around the world – and in fact in Australia you have a judicial type processing, for example [in] Victoria; they don’t all have to be like that.
There is a place for that, but there is also a place for communities to be empowered to look at their story, to be involved with the historical society, the schools, local government, different community groups.
I think government does need to be involved, but it is not the be-all and end-all of truth telling.
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Burney takes aim at Dutton for ‘walking away’ from ‘decades of bipartisanship on Aboriginal affairs’
The former Indigenous affairs minister Linda Burney is also up on ABC Afternoon Briefing – and said it was going to be a “hard election for everybody”.
The former Labor MP announced her departure as minister last year, and she stayed on as the member for Barton until the election – meaning she has now officially left parliament.
She labelled Peter Dutton as “incredibly divisive” and said it was “unforgivable” for him to walk away from “decades of bipartisanship on Aboriginal affairs”.
Burney said the “devastation” from the outcome of the voice referendum is still felt, and the issue would not go away:
The issues of constitutional recognition will not go away, and they didn’t start in 2017 with the Uluru statements. They started decades ago and they will go on for decades.
Asked about Anthony Albanese’s previous comments on Makarrata, and if she was disappointed, Burney answered:
I understand the practical realities of the no votes. I see the Northern Territory new government, I see the Queensland new government walking away from treaty and truth, but Aboriginal people will not walk away from those things.
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Election analyst on decline of primary vote, influence of Trump and early predictions
Election analyst John Black has been speaking to ABC Afternoon Briefing about the “steady decline” in the primary vote by the two major parties, ahead of the upcoming election.
He said it has been trending down consistently over the past 20 years, but now there was a “dramatic drop down to 15 seats at the last election won on primary votes.”
There was only eight ALP and seven Coalition members of parliament sitting elected on primary votes. Every one of the others, 136, were determined by who did not like them all that much and voted for other parties and begrudgingly cast a preference … to them … I think we will see the same sort of thing this time.
On the influence of Trump, Black argued that if you “position yourself to be criticised by Donald Trump and defend yourself and your country’s honour, then you will do OK in this election.”
Getting criticised by Trump is going to be a big plus, and sticking up for your country an even bigger one.
Body of man recovered from waters in WA
Moving away from politics for a moment: The body of a 79-year-old man has been recovered in Western Australia, after he fell from his kayak into the Drysdale River.
Western Australia police said officers were called to the remote location on Monday, where the man was trapped and submerged. He was part of a group of nine people on a multi-day rafting and kayaking tour.
A multi-agency search operation has been under way since. Yesterday it turned to a recovery mission, and the body of the man was recovered from the water.
Police said the matter has been referred to WorkSafe and a report would be prepared for the coroner.
Det Supt John Hutchison said it had been an “extremely challenging search and rescue operation given the weather, difficult terrain and remote location”.
I would like to thank everyone involved in this incident, and express our sincere condolences to the family of the deceased man.
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Media plane following Dutton hasn’t left, expected to leave tomorrow
The election campaign has started, but the campaigns are moving at different speeds on day zero. While the media contingent to follow Anthony Albanese on his campaign has already taken off from Canberra earlier this afternoon and arrived in Brisbane, the media plane following Peter Dutton hasn’t left Canberra yet.
It’s looking more likely that the Dutton media plane won’t take off until tomorrow morning.
For those who don’t know, the prime minister and opposition leader travel the country for their campaign in VIP jets funded by the taxpayer, while a media pack follows them on a separate charter plane (more like a basic passenger jet).
The media organisations pay their own way, with the campaigns responsible for booking travel, hotels and so forth. That’s because they don’t tell the media (or other outsiders) where they’re going next – so the journalists basically get on a plane or bus with little or no idea where the final destination is.
Albanese has brought his media plane to him today, a short few hours after calling the election, likely in anticipation of events being held tomorrow – but Dutton hasn’t yet.
Both men gave press conferences this morning, of course. And as usual in elections, both campaigns keep their plans (including their travel) very close to their chest, not giving much away about where they’re going next or what they’re doing.
Updated
Press pack trailing Albanese lands in Brisbane for first stop of campaign
The press pack trailing Anthony Albanese has touched down in Brisbane in the first stop of the five-week election campaign.
Queensland is a conservative stronghold, with Labor holding just five of 30 seats in the sunshine state.
It was also the epicentre of the “Greenslide” at the 2022 federal election, where the Greens picked up three Brisbane seats in a historic result for the party.
Labor is desperate to win back Griffith from the Greens’ Max Chandler-Mather and is also optimistic about its chance in the nearby electorate of Brisbane.
Coincidentally, the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, will also be in Brisbane on Saturday for an anti-Peter Dutton rally with MPs and members.
Dutton made his opening pitch of the campaign from his home city on Friday.
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Labor historian and former NSW Liberal MP weigh in on influence of Trump administration amid election
Labor historian from the John Curtin Research Centre, Nick Dyrenfurth, has been speaking to ABC Afternoon Briefing this afternoon – asked about the influence of the Donald Trump administration.
He said the “real question” is “who is going to stand up for the Australian national interest” in the face of Trump:
He is pursuing an America-first strategy, but if that is the world we’re living in then we need someone who is going to put Australia first – who is going to protect our steel and aluminium exports, who is going to protect our PBS and who is not going to bag the government …
Strong leaders will stand on Team Australia and will not be on the side of team Trump and team Elon Musk during this election. That is the big risk. We need to know that Peter Dutton is going to be on Team Australia.
Former NSW Liberal MP Pru Goward, also on the program, said it was “outrageous to suggest that either party would not stand up to the Trump administration” on tariffs.
Of course everybody is on Team Australia in the end … There is no doubt that the Trump tariffs uncertainty and the material way he operates as a president is unnerving the world.
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Youth issues will be ‘overrepresented’ this election, with baby boomers outnumbered for first time
Dr Intifar Chowdhury, a lecturer in government at Flinders University, spoke with ABC TV earlier about the generational trends on display at this election.
She said millenials and gen Z would outnumber baby boomers for the first time, who are down to 33% of the voting cohort.
That means that youth issues … will be quite overrepresented this time around during the election.
Chowdhury said younger generations are more likely to tilt to the left, but we “shouldn’t discount the fact [they] are also more likely to be issue-aligned”.
No major party, including the Labor party, can really bank on the youth vote. It really depends what issue they are taking to the polls.
She said if you compare those aged 18-30 now with those in 1998 – just over 25 years ago – they’re more likely to change votes during the campaign and less likely to consistently vote for the same party.
That adds a volatility to the cohort and, of course, there’s the sheer number.
She said this voting bloc extends from “the upper-bound 45-year-old millennial [to] the lower-bound 18-year-old gen Z”, and there were “a multitude of issues that they are concerned about”.
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ANU staff support vote of no confidence in chancellor and vice-chancellor
Staff at the Australian National University have overwhelmingly supported a vote of no confidence in the leadership of the chancellor, Julie Bishop, and vice-chancellor, Prof Genevieve Bell, over job cuts and leadership issues.
More than 800 union staff participated in the vote, with about 95% backing the no-confidence vote.
It follows reports published in the Australian Financial Review that Bell held a second job at Intel while in the role, and that the ANU had outsourced work to a firm owned by Bishop’s business partner and longtime political staffer. ANU is also working through a series of job cuts amid a projected budget deficit.
In December a spokesperson for Bell was quoted in the AFR saying that “outside paid work was commonplace for academics” and that her role with Intel had been disclosed to the university council. With respect to Bishop’s business partner, ANU was quoted saying that the communications team had contracted the firm to provide “specialist speech writing knowledge and skills” that were not available within the university.
The NTEU ANU branch president, Millan Pintos-Lopez, said morale at the university was “at rock bottom”.
This is a great university, with great staff and great students. However, we’ve been let down by ANU leadership and this vote result is a clear reflection of that.
ANU’s chief operating officer, Jonathan Churchill, wrote to colleagues that the NTEU vote had “no legal or binding effect”, with appointments decided by university councils.
The final result cannot be considered to be fully representative of the views of the majority of our almost 5,000-strong staff. However, I understand that this is a difficult time for our community and that many of you participated in this exercise to express your sincere views in good faith.
Our leadership team has a lot of critical work to do over the coming weeks and months to continue delivering our reforms in a respectful and transparent way.
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Watt confident Labor can form majority government
Murray Watt said he is “absolutely confident” Labor can form a majority at the 3 May election. He told Sky News:
I sincerely believe that we can get there. I think there are a number of seats in which the Coalition is vulnerable and of course, here in Queensland, there are Green seats that we are working very hard to get back as well.
Asked if minority government would be a failure, Watt responded, “I’ll leave that for other people to talk about.”
He was pushed on this again, but gave a similar answer:
Again, I’ll leave it to very smart people like you, Tom, to measure our performance. What we’re doing is try to win every seat we possibly can to form another majority government, and I genuinely believe that we can do it.
Watt weighs in on Coalition’s gas reservation policy
Asked about the Coalition’s gas reservation policy, Murray Watt said this “may appeal to some people” but wouldn’t provide the cheapest forms of energy:
I think what most people are looking for is what is the solution to provide the cheapest forms of energy that we can provide. And as you know, the overwhelming evidence from the CSIRO and others is that the best way to bring power prices down is through renewables. But we recognise we need more gas in the system to back up those sectors.
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Labor’s Murray Watt claims Dutton would put Medicare ‘on the chopping block’ to pay for nuclear reactors
The employment minister, Murray Watt, has been speaking with Sky News this afternoon.
He was asked about Medicare, the PM’s decision to brandish his Medicare card at this morning’s press conference, and the fact the Coalition has matched Labor’s signature policy on Medicare.
Watt argued that “everyone considers Peter Dutton to be completely insincere when it comes to Medicare”.
More broadly, the reality Peter Dutton has to face and has to answer to is, how is he going to pay for the $600bn he needs to build nuclear reactors?
He’s got to cut somewhere now. He started last night by confirming that he’s going to cut 41,000 public servants across all areas, from health care to education, to emergency services to veterans affairs. So those massive cuts will have an impact on people, but he needs even more in order to pay for those nuclear reactors, and that’s why Medicare is on the chopping block. Especially when you consider Peter Dutton’s record.
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Top Liberal figure could be called in MP’s abuse trial
A Liberal party state director could be called to give evidence as a witness at MP Gareth Ward’s rape trial.
As AAP reports, the 44-year-old member for the NSW seat of Kiama is due to face a jury trial in late May on five charges, including sexual intercourse without consent. He has pleaded not guilty to each count, which related to alleged incidents in 2013 and 2015.
The district court has been told the longtime head of the party’s organisational wing in NSW, Chris Stone, might be required to enter the witness box to give evidence.
Stone has been heavily involved in the party’s campaigns since 2008. The court was not told what his evidence would cover.
Ward has held the Kiama electorate since 2011, winning three elections under the Liberal banner and the 2023 poll as an independent.
He was charged in 2022 over alleged indecent assaults of a 17-year-old at his South Coast home in 2013 and a claim of non-consensual sexual intercourse with a man in his 20s in inner Sydney two years later.
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Rightwing campaign group already seeking to raise funds after election announcement
Rightwing campaign group Advance is already seeking to raise funds on the back of this morning’s election announcement.
The group has just sent texts marked “URGENT” to its membership base, warning:
The election is on & the clock is now ticking. The Greens are now radical extremists and Albo is too weak and woke to stop them. We’re fighting back – chip in now!
Advance played a role in defeating the voice to parliament referendum and has grown its financial influence, reporting $15.6m in donations and other receipts in 2023-24, triple the amount from the previous year.
The donations included $500,000 from the Cormack Foundation, a Liberal party investment vehicle.
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Queensland human rights commissioner criticises LNP’s rejection of 70 review recommendations
The Queensland human rights commissioner, Scott McDougall, has criticised the government’s decision to reject all 70 recommendations of a human rights review that would have strengthened protection for people facing housing inequality, victims of family violence, and victims of crime.
The review – a statutory requirement four years after the implementation of the Queensland Human Rights Act – was rejected out of hand by the LNP state government, which said this week it did not reflect the government’s “positive agenda on victims’ rights”.
McDougall noted that the review, conducted by Griffith University’s Prof Susan Harris-Rimmer, included measures to increase victim support by ensuring they were treated “in a respectful and trauma-informed manner”.
Many of Queensland’s current challenges are human rights challenges, including the housing affordability and accessibility crisis, food insecurity, experience of violence, over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in youth justice and child safety systems, and climate impacts.
Implementation of Prof. Harris-Rimmer’s recommendations would have addressed some of these issues, including by creating new rights such as a right to adequate housing; a right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; and a right to live free from gender-based violence.
Protecting the human rights of each individual in Queensland makes us all safer. Government decisions that fail to properly incorporate consideration of human rights impacts, particularly on Queensland’s most marginalised people, risk unintended policy consequences and negative community outcomes.
I call on the Queensland government to prioritise the human rights of the people they were elected to govern.
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Peak body urges parties to not use First Nations children as ‘political footballs’
The peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, Snaicc – National Voice for Our Children, has urged a bipartisan approach to Closing the Gap for children ahead of the 3 May election.
Its CEO, Catherine Liddle, says it is more important than ever for bipartisanship on this issue:
The 2025 election comes at a critical time when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are removed from their families, communities and cultures and placed into child protection and juvenile justice systems at appallingly disproportionate rates, with little to no early intervention and diversion programs to help.
Addressing this national disgrace should be top of mind for all Australian political parties and decision makers.
Snaicc is urging all sides of politics to invest in evidence-based policies, “rather than feeding into ill-informed, fear-driven narratives that ultimately don’t serve our children, families or the wider community.”
Too often, we see our children treated as political footballs in a race to the bottom – we’re calling on our nation’s leaders to steer clear of that trap this election.
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Paterson questioned on Coalition’s gas reservation policy
In Peter Dutton’s budget reply speech he outlined the Coalition’s gas reservation policy and said the price of gas would go from $14 to $10, the wholesale price – is that an election promise?
James Paterson told Sky News this was the “the advice that we’ve received”.
He was asked how this policy will actually be achieved, because the commonwealth only controls export licences – will they use that leverage, or would it be a threat to the amount of gas companies can export?
Paterson said the Coalition would “use any public policy levers available to us”, but ruled out tearing up existing contracts, saying “foundational export contracts with our key partners” would be upheld.
What we’ll be relying on is the spot market to force more of that supply into the domestic market … It is a fiendishly complex area of public policy. I’m not going to wade into the minute detail on that.
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Paterson says details of Coalition plan to cut 41,000 public sector jobs to come soon
James Paterson was also asked about the Coalition’s plan to cut 41,000 public servants.
The host noted there were only 80,000 in Canberra, “so half of the public servants in this town will go”.
Paterson said the details would be outlined soon on how the Coalition will reach its target:
We’ve been very clear we don’t think Australians have got good value from the increase of 41,000 that’s happened on this government’s watch.
Asked if the government would need contractors in their place, Paterson again said that details would be coming soon:
I’m not going to go ahead on my colleagues who have announcements to make in that area until it is time to talk about it.
For more on this, you can read our explainer from Sarah Basford Canales below:
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‘No partisan differences’ on Medicare this election, James Paterson says
The Coalition’s campaign spokesperson, James Paterson, has been on Sky News this afternoon to discuss the campaign roll-out.
On Medicare, he argued there was “no partisan differences when it comes to Medicare at this election”.
We’ve committed to $9bn, they’ve committed to $8.5bn, and we’ll be restoring the mental health sessions … back up to 20, which they put down to 10.
The host noted that Labor is also rolling out the Medicare urgent care clinics, another difference. He asked if the Coalition has “reputational damage” around Medicare that it needs to assure voters against, and Paterson responded:
Labor [has] certainly run scare campaigns a number of times on this issue … but the record actually, frankly, counts in our favour.
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Humanitarian group welcomes further assistance for Gaza amid ‘uncertainty’ in global donor environment
The Australian Council for International Development (Acfid) has welcomed the further $11m in humanitarian assistance pledged by the government for civilians in Gaza.
If you missed it, you can read more details earlier in the blog here).
In a statement, Acfid’s humanitarian lead, Naomi Brooks, said the funding comes at a critical time when the global donor environment is changing, and uncertainty is growing:
This announcement signifies that in a world of uncertainty and overwhelm in the humanitarian system, Australia is willing to continue to support those most at risk.
In these uncertain times, Australia is building its credentials as a stable donor of choice, but more needs to be done. We continue to call for the Humanitarian Emergency Fund to be doubled to address the scale of need across the world, particularly with the gaps created in humanitarian funding by USAID cuts.
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Australians eating more meat, buying more bottled water and energy drinks
Moving away from politics for a moment, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics has released some interesting new data showing the nation is eating more meat.
Australians ate 2.3% more meat and poultry in 2023-24 compared with the previous financial year, according to the new data.
Compared with six years ago, Australian are eating 13% more poultry per person, while beef, lamb, and pork consumption has risen by 1.8%.
The ABS’s health statistics spokesperson, Paul Atyeo, said at the same time, Australians are eating fewer processed meats – “which have dropped 12% since 2018-19.”
We’re also buying more bottled water, up by 3.9% over the last year. Soft drinks also went up by 2.2%, and energy and sports drinks combined saw a 9.3% rise. Meanwhile, fruit juices and fruit drinks dropped by 4.8%.
Chocolate appeared to lose favour over the last year (down 5.7%) but there was a 10% rise in potato chips. Australians are also eating more berries, Atyeo said:
While most fruit categories have seen a fall since 2018-19, we’re eating 24% more berries than we did six years ago.
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More people on electoral roll than ever – AEC
The Australian Electoral Commission says more voters are on the electoral roll than ever before, ahead of the 3 May federal election.
Commissioner Jeff Pope said in a statement this afternoon:
There are more voters on the electoral roll than ever before, there’ll be more voting venues than ever – both within Australia and overseas, there’ll be greater accessibility options than we’ve ever had, and we again need around 100,000 staff to deliver it …
Australia’s electoral roll is already sitting at an incredible 97.8% of eligible voters enrolled, but we know the announcement of an election will be an incentive for new voters in particular to get enrolled.
The AEC said 710,000 more people were on the electoral roll (between the 2022 federal election and the end of 2024).
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Northern Land Council condemns changes to NT sacred sites legislation
Just circling back to some earlier news, that the NT government has introduced changes to its sacred sites legislation.
The move has been denounced by the Northern Land Council, which says the changes prioritise development over protection of the territory’s most important cultural heritage assets.
The council accused the NT government of progressing legislation “without any consultation at all”, saying the Sacred Sites Act does not need to be upgraded and their proposed amendments to strengthen it “were largely ignored”.
Chair Matthew Ryan said in a statement that the bill was “a rush job”:
The Sacred Sites Act isn’t about putting profits before our people, it is to protect our cultural heritage as we are obliged to do as custodians.
Traditional owners deserve the courtesy of being consulted about matters of critical importance and they are angry about being ignored.
Securing rights to land and protecting sacred sites and cultural heritage have been hard-won rights and this dismissive behaviour from the NT government is nothing short of an attack on our people.
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Tink to campaign for independent challenger in Dutton’s electorate this weekend
Outgoing independent MP Kylea Tink will travel to Queensland this weekend to support independent candidates – including the one aiming for Peter Dutton’s seat.
Tink will lose her seat of North Sydney at the upcoming election, as the seat is set to be abolished.
She was recently appointed director of the Community Independents Project, where she will travel around the country to support independents during the election campaign.
In a statement, Tink said she would visit Queensland this weekend to support the following candidates:
Ellie Smith – independent candidate for Dickson (Dutton’s seat)
Keryn Jones – independent candidate for Fisher (Andrew Wallace’s seat)
Francine Wiig – independent candidate for Fairfax (Ted O’Brien’s seat)
Tink said this election was “already an historic moment” for the independent movement, with “one in five electorates running a community independent”.
From Darwin in the north to Hobart in the south, communities in our cities, our regions and our suburbs are standing up and making their voices heard. Voting for a community independent in this federal election is your opportunity to reclaim your community’s true voice and show that politics can be done differently.
My message to the traditional parties at this election is: ignore the community independent movement at your peril.
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Full Story podcast: what’s ahead in the election
Now that the election has officially been called, our political reporter Dan Jervis-Bardy talks us through what we can expect – before he heads off on the trail.
You can have a listen below, on the latest Full Story episode:
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Allan responds to federal election being called
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has responded to the federal election being called. She told Guardian Australia:
The choice this election couldn’t be clearer: a Labor government that is strengthening Medicare, investing in housing and education and building our economy. Or Peter Dutton, who’ll cut infrastructure funding in Victoria and cut Medicare to pay for his $600bn nuclear reactors.
Victoria has emerged as a battleground at the election, with the Coalition hoping to capitalise on the unpopularity of the Labor government, which has been in power at a state level for 10 years.
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Good afternoon! Emily Wind here, I’ll be taking the blogging reigns after what was a whirlwind morning – with plenty more to come.
Thank you for joining me on what has been Christmas for politics lovers (the announcement that the election will be held on 3 May, officially triggering the election campaign).
I will be back with you next week, bringing you all of the key (and of course silly) moments of the election campaign – and there will be plenty!
I will leave you in the hands of blogging queen Emily Wind to take you through the afternoon.
Pocock brands Coalition policies ‘breathtakingly bad’
Independent senator David Pocock (who represents the ACT, where the Coalition is promising to cut public service jobs) responded to the budget reply first on social media.
He says he agrees with the Coalition that health, housing and energy are priority issues, but says the Coalition’s solutions are “breathtakingly bad”.
While Pocock has also called for a gas reserve policy, he says Dutton’s policy coupled with a rapid expansion in gas isn’t the way to go.
You can see Pocock’s full response here:
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Pocock says Gallagher’s claim of underdog status does her ‘a disservice’
Just finally back to David Pocock speaking earlier, he also responded to previous comments made by the finance minister and ACT senator, Katy Gallagher, who considered herself an underdog in the ACT Senate race.
Gallagher, who was first elected to the upper house in 2015 and was the ACT’s chief minister between 2011 to 2014, described herself as an underdog, conceding she thought Pocock would get first place.
Pocock responded on Friday:
I spend a lot of time in sport where people are constantly trying to call themselves the underdog. I think she’s doing herself a bit of a disservice there. You know, she’s been a politician in the ACT since I was in grade eight, so she’s very well known.
She’s the finance minister ... I guess it maybe shows the pressure that community-driven politics is putting on both major parties, and it’s no surprise that they work together to stitch up electoral reform to try and ensure that going forward. It’s much harder for independence because they are a threat to the status quo in both of the major parties.
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Beware of independents – Littleproud
Littleproud is also warning the public not to vote for independents.
A few Nationals seats are under threat from the community independents movement, including Cowper, which is held by Nationals MP Pat Conaghan.
Conaghan is sitting on a slim 2.3% margin against independent Caz Heise, who is running again.
Littleproud says a vote for the independents is a vote for Labor.
The nation’s biggest threat in the regions are independents. A vote at the next federal election for an independent is a vote for Anthony Albanese and three more years of an Albanese-Green-teal-independent chaotic government.
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Littleproud ups the energy on campaign trial
Nationals leader David Littleproud is also putting his best campaigning foot forward – with a heavy focus on energy.
The energy grid transition has a massive impact on regional Australia – with all the renewable projects and transmission lines that are being built across the country - which the Coalition has argued is not good for farmers and regional communities.
Littleproud’s speaking to the ABC from Toowoomba backing the gas and nuclear plan:
In fact, just a couple of hundred kilometres west of where I stand today, is a much of where that gas that we will flood into the Australian market, where Australian gas should be used by Australians first.
The Coalition won’t commit to a figure on how far energy prices could drop, but promises increasing supply will drive prices down.
If you solve the energy prices and bring gas into the grid quickly, they will also put downward pressure on your grocery bill. And if you look at what we’re doing with excise on fuel, that will flow through to the supply chain, putting downward pressure on to your grocery bill at checkout.
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Pocock says Coalition plan to slash public service jobs ‘clearly ideological’
Continuing from our last post: David Pocock has described the opposition’s plans to slash 41,000 federal public service jobs as “clearly ideological” and “Canberra bashing”, likening it to Elon Musk‘s razor gang in the Trump administration.
At his press conference on Friday morning, the independent ACT senator said the plans seemed “impossible” without also cutting essential frontline service jobs, despite Peter Dutton ruling that out in his budget reply speech.
Pocock noted about 60% of the Australian Public Service, which is forecast to reach about 213,000 by the end of June 2026, worked in the ACT, and axing 41,000 roles would rip out billions of dollars in the territory’s gross product.
I think it’s impossible to cut that many public servants from Canberra without doing the kind of thing that we’re seeing Elon Musk do. And if, you know, if that’s Peter Dutton’s vision for Australia, where you’re just decimating the public service, the very services that people rely on every single day. And in a country where you take veterans – for example, we have 6,000 veterans who are homeless. That’s shameful. And to be even talking about cutting frontline services, which he says he won’t, but I don’t see how else you cut that many public servants, is really irresponsible.
The Liberals are without an ACT federal representative after the former senator Zed Seselja lost his seat to Pocock in 2022. Pocock said the major party seemed “to have very little regard” for the nation’s capital.
This is totally ideological. Where you get to, you get to punch down on Canberra and try and get votes elsewhere, where people are feeling cost of living pressures. This is not the way to deal with those cost of living pressures.
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David Pocock backs Dutton’s gas reservation policy
The independent ACT senator David Pocock held a press conference earlier at Parliament House where he welcomed one aspect of Peter Dutton’s budget reply – the gas reservation policy.
Interestingly, it’s a policy supported by a number of progressive politicians, including the Greens, and now Dutton and his Coalition.
To quickly recap, the idea is to force gas companies to supply more gas for domestic consumption over exporting it overseas. It’s expected such a policy would reduce domestic gas prices.
But where the opposition and progressive politicians diverge is on whether to open up new gas projects – Pocock and the Greens are staunchly against new projects and the Coalition want to ramp-up domestic production.
Pocock said uncontracted gas should be offered to Australians first to alleviate the projected shortfall by the end of the decade.
We have a situation where both the major parties, over decades, have just capitulated in the face of vested interests, where we basically get nothing from our gas exports, and we’re paying international prices here at home.
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Federal court considers position on AI
The chief justice of the federal court of Australia, Debra Mortimer, has said judges of the federal court are considering the development of guidelines or a practice note around the use of generative AI within the federal court jurisdiction.
Mortimer said the court was “keen to ensure” the guidelines “appropriately balances the interests of the administration of justice with the responsible use of emergent technologies in a way that fairly and efficiently contributes to the work of the court”.
To this end, the federal court will consider the practices of other courts and consult with litigants conducting their own proceedings and with the legal profession before it finalises any position.
Parties will continue to be responsible for the material that is tendered to the court.
Mortimer said legal practitioners and litigants must use AI in a responsible way consistent with existing obligations to the court, and make disclosure of such use if required by the judge or registrar.
The use of generative AI has come up in court cases across Australia about a dozen times in the past few years, often when cases cited turn out to not exist, as a result of an AI hallucination in the documents provided to the court.
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The election has been called – what now?
So now that the election has been called, what actually happens and what does it mean for you?
Well, we’ve got the lowdown on a bunch of handy FAQs for you to feast your eyes on.
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NT’s sacred site law changes ‘hastily drafted’, Indigenous group says
Leaving the election campaign for a moment: Fast-tracked amendments to sacred sites legislation have been condemned by traditional owners and the authority which safeguards them, AAP reports.
The Northern Territory government has introduced changes to the Sacred Sites Act it says will provide “simpler and streamlined” approval processes for development.
Certificates issued by the territory’s independent Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority would be transferable under the amendments.
The NT environment minister, Joshua Burgoyne, says the changes are designed make the process more “accessible, efficient and protective of sacred sites”.
The authority, which is responsible for overseeing the safeguarding of NT sacred sites, has raised concerns about the lack of consultation and rapid timeframe for feedback on the amendments.
The authority chair, Bobby Nunggumajbarr, said the board supported streamlining existing processes but instead of consulting with Aboriginal people, the government had proposed the “hastily drafted” transfer power.
We could be discussing a one-stop shop where all Aboriginal heritage and sacred sites are protected under a single process and a single act.
We could be simplifying the authority’s cost structure. We could ensure the offences and the penalties are in line with other heritage and environmental legislation.
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Coalition housing plan will leave ‘tens of thousands in limbo’, Anglicare warns
Going back to Peter Dutton’s budget reply speech last night, Anglicare Australia has responded today with a warning that plans to repeal the Housing Australia Future Fund would worsen Australia’s social housing shortfall.
The organisation says there is already a shortfall of 640,000 homes, but that number is set to grow to 940,000 in the next two decades.
Anglicare Australia’s executive director, Kasy Chambers, says under the plan “tens of thousands will be left in limbo”.
Across the country, there are people in severe rental stress. They are being forced to make unfair choices every day, from skipping meals to getting into debt, just to keep a roof over their heads.
At a time when we need more social housing, the opposition is proposing to build less by scrapping the Housing Australia Future Fund. That would see our already large social housing shortfall get even worse.
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Dutton shrugs off Trump policy comparisons
Journalist have twice tried to put questions to Dutton on whether his agenda is mirroring Donald Trump’s platform – particularly in respect to his plan to slash the public service.
Both times Dutton has basically ignored the comparison, and is justifying the cuts to the public service.
Like on radio this morning, the opposition leader says taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for these 41,000 jobs when they’re working so hard to make ends meet (but he commits to not slashing front-line workers).
Asked whether the comparison to Trump is a sledge or a compliment, Dutton puts the blame for the comparison on to Albanese:
What you will see from the prime minister is all of the negative stuff day after day. The ads are out there, the prime minister has written, and the sledging is on by the prime minister because he doesn’t have a good story to tell about his three years in government.
(You might remember yesterday Greens MP Stephen Bates called Dutton “Temu Trump” during question time, before it was ruled unparliamentary language.)
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Energy will be cheaper under Coalition – Dutton
The battle over tax cuts v fuel excise cut is heating up.
Dutton again argues the help the Coalition is offering is more targeted and will provide immediate relief.
The prime minister’s offering 70 cents a day by way of a tax cut in 15 months’ time. I think the prime minister’s completely out of touch with the pressure that Australians are under at the moment… we want to help now [providing] pensioners and families and small businesses right across the economy with a 25 cent reduction in fuel excise.
On the Coalition’s energy measures, Dutton won’t specify how much electricity prices will go down, or how quickly.
It’s something Labor’s been burned by – at the last election offering a $275 drop in household energy bills, which hasn’t happened.
Dutton says more generally:
Under us and our plan, Australians will pay less for energy.
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Dutton brushes off energy criticism, saying 'our plan has gas'
We’re on to questions, and Dutton is asked why he barely mentioned the $300bn-plus nuclear energy plan in his budget reply speech last night.
Dutton says he spoke extensively about the energy plan:
It’s important to point out that our plan has gas, and a lot of gas, in the system between now and when nuclear can come online in 2035-37.
Another reporter mentions comments from energy producers who have dismissed the reservation plan, claiming it will lead to an oversupply on the east coast.
Dutton says “that’s good”.
That’s good and it will bring down prices and that’s exactly what we want to do. I’m not here to argue for the gas companies, I’m here to argue for Australian consumers.
(I’ll direct you back to comments from Tim Buckley, an energy expert who told ABC RN Breakfast this morning: “The idea that we’re just going to somehow have the gas industry find a whole lot of new gas production to ramp up – there are no new gas fields imminent.”)
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Dutton says Australia ‘can’t afford three more years like the last three’
The opposition leader has again foreshadowed an increase to spending for the defence force, as he lists the policies – new and old – that the Coalition is taking to the election.
Dutton says the Coalition will reduce the migration intake and cut the fuel excise in half and promises to improve healthcare and reverse cuts to mental health services.
Mr Albanese is too weak and Labor is too incompetent to fix the problems that they’ve created and that are facing our country today. We can’t afford three more years like the last three.
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Dutton says election is ‘a choice about who can better manage our economy’
Peter Dutton is now responding to the election call, out of Brisbane.
He says the election is “a choice about who can better manage our economy”.
He’s focused on what the Coalition believes are Labor’s weakest points – the failed referendum for the Voice to parliament, the cost of living crisis, and energy prices.
Dutton puts forward his campaign slogans (that we’ll be hearing a lot of over the next five and a bit weeks).
Australian families need relief now. And we must do better and there is a better way. And the Coalition has an achievable plan to get our country back on track.
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Continuing from our last post…
Under the new laws, anyone who solicits, buys or sells a claim faces a fine of up to $55,000. Lawyers will also be prohibited from charging or retaining fees associated with a claimed farm.
NSW attorney general Michael Daley said:
The NSW government has legislated to put a stop to the insidious practice of claim farming that exploits the trauma of vulnerable people. The predatory practices can worsen the trauma and distress experienced by victim-survivors.
No one should be harassed or intimidated into making a civil compensation claim which may not be in their best interests.
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NSW bans ‘claim farming’ in bid to protect the vulnerable
The New South Wales government has passed legislation banning “claim farming”, which it describes as a “predatory practice … that exploits the trauma of vulnerable people”, in a bid to protect vulnerable people from being pressured to lodge civil compensation claims.
The Claim Farming Practices Prohibition Bill 2025 passed parliament last night. The bill makes it illegal for third parties to sell on the details of potential clients to law firms, who then make a claim for compensation on the victim’s behalf.
The legislation makes NSW the third state to ban claim farming, after South Australia and Queensland introduced similar legislation in recent years.
It comes after a series of high-profile arrests last month, which saw NSW police arrest nine people (and Queensland police arrest a further man) over an alleged fraudulent claim farming ring worth millions of dollars. Police allege the group was involved in making and inciting others to make fraudulent claims of historical sexual abuse about the NSW Department of Education and the Department of Communities and Justice, as well as to the national redress scheme.
Claim farmers often target child abuse victim-survivors through cold calling.
Victim-survivors have reported emotional distress at having their childhood abuse – that they might not have disclosed to anyone – brought up to them by a cold caller wanting to see if they would like to make a compensation claim. This person’s details are then sold to a legal practice or another claim farmer.
Other concerns about the practice are that it increases the likelihood of fraudulent compensation claims being made – because claim farmers receive a referral fee for each person they pass on to a law firm – that the existence of claim farming makes decision-makers about compensation sceptical of real claimants, and that victims who go through claim farmers end up paying more in legal fees, as a result of the claim farmer’s involvement.
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Gas will always cost less under Labor – senator
We’ve been hearing a lot of “X will always be cheaper/better under Liberal/Labor” over the past few days, and now Labor assistant minister Tim Ayres has told Sky News energy will always be cheaper under Labor.
Host Laura Jayes says point blank “that is a lie”.
But Ayres argues the transition to renewables will still be cheaper than the Coalition’s nuclear plan (this is obviously disputed by the Coalition, which says their plan – based on independent modelling they commissioned – will be cheaper).
Ayres says gas is the most expensive form of electricity, and while it’s essential in the electricity system, there shouldn’t be more of it in the system (as the Coalition is suggesting)
Gas is an expensive form of electricity… it is utterly appropriate for peaking capacity, like you need it in the system just the right amount to make sure that when renewables generation capability isn’t there, we’ve got something to keep the system moving along. Storage, utterly important too.
I just say Peter Dutton’s gas measures – the devil is in the detail, [and] there is no detail. Gas industry is already out there saying this will deter future investment in gas mining capability.
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Australia pledges another $11m in aid for Gaza civilians
In the meantime … Australia will send another $11m in humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza, with foreign minister Penny Wong repeating long-held calls for more assistance to people in the Palestinian territory.
Labor will also send $15m for assistance to humanitarian crises in Myanmar and Afghanistan.
“The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire, and Australia reiterates calls for sustained, unimpeded aid to those who desperately need it,” Wong said in a statement.
Australia is engaging diplomatically as part of the international call for all parties to return to the ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza. We continue to press for the protection of civilians, the release of hostages and unimpeded and sustained humanitarian aid.
The government says $7m will go to food assistance for Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar for Bangladesh, $3m for food and health on the Thai-Myanmar border, and $5m for United Nations partners to help Afghan women and girls.
“Helping others in crisis reflects Australian values, but also supports our interests in a peaceful, stable world. Australia’s contribution will provide lifesaving assistance to people enduring immense suffering,” the foreign minister said.
Humanitarian needs have increased twenty-fold since the Myanmar coup. We call on the military regime to prioritise civilian safety and immediately cease violence and ensure unhindered and safe humanitarian access across the country.
Australia is steadfast in its support for Afghan women and girls, who have shown incredible courage in the face of the Taliban’s systematic human rights violations and abuses.
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Everyone’s talking about how tight the election will be (and it’s particularly exciting for the minor parties and independents – see Adam Bandt’s comments below)
But to see where the election will be won and lost and where some of the closest margins will be, take a look at my colleague Sarah Basford-Canales’ excellent explainer here:
We’re standing by to hear from Peter Dutton this morning.
He snuck out of Canberra (either late last night or on a red-eye this morning) and will be fronting the cameras around 11.15am AEDT from Brisbane.
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Dutton says slashing public service jobs will lead to ‘productivity increase’
Circling back to Dutton’s interview on 4BC earlier this morning: what about the 41,000 public servants the Coalition has promised to sack?
Peter Fegan asked whether Dutton is comfortable for tens of thousands of people to lose their jobs, saying: “They were hired to do a job, it’s not their fault.”
Dutton counters that those workers will be able to find jobs elsewhere.
These are Canberra-based bureaucrat jobs that we’re talking about. The public service does a great job, but we need to have an efficient public service. And don’t forget that public servant wages are paid by working Australians…
I want to say to those public servants and to all Australians, we’ve got an economy out there at the moment where, when you speak to a lot of people across different sectors, they can’t find staff. So there’s no doubt in my mind that there’s a productivity increase in this decision.
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Bandt says Aukus paints ‘huge Donald Trump-shaped target’ on Australia’s back
Defence is another big sticking point for the Greens, who have been calling for Australia to leave the Aukus pact with the US and the UK.
Aukus is a bipartisan commitment between Labor and the Coalition (you might remember Dutton standing up to support Albanese’s answer to a crossbench question defending Aukus during yesterday’s question time).
Bandt says now is the wrong time for Australia to be “joined at the hip with Donald Trump” and for Australia’s defence policy to be “contracted out” to Trump.
We are the only ones pushing to cancel the Aukus arrangements and the nuclear submarines.
The point that we’re making about a defence policy is also that you just have to have a look at Ukraine to see that hope – basing your whole defence policy on Donald Trump riding to your rescue is not the way to go. That does not make you safe.
We don’t want Australia to have a huge Donald Trump-shaped target painted on our back by being part of Aukus.
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Gaining a ministry ‘not our priority’ – Bandt
Unlike the agreement between Labor and the Greens in the ACT, where the minor party has held cabinet positions, Bandt says holding a ministerial portfolio is “not our priority”.
(And you can imagine how much heat the Greens and Labor would cop if something like that was announced during the campaign.)
A ministerial position is not our priority. What the Greens want at this election is to keep Peter Dutton out and get Labor to act. This is a real chance by voting Greens to get some real outcomes for people. Like enough of the tinkering around the edges. Tinkering around the edges of the housing and rental crisis still leaves people skipping meals just to pay the rent.
Bandt reiterates the priority is to get dental into Medicare, build more public and social housing and tax mining corporations more.
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Bandt says ‘minority government is coming’
Greens leader Adam Bandt is at parliament offering up the Greens’ pitch to voters.
Minority government is coming. And with the major parties offering about as attractive as a dead fish, you can see why. Labor wants to give you 73 cents a day in a year. The Liberals are offering about the same to some people but only for the a year, and the Greens want to save you thousands of dollars a year every year by getting dental into Medicare, making it free to see the GP, capping rent increases and wiping student debt.
He says the Greens will get major corporations to pay for their promises through increased tax.
(These are all policies the Greens have been pushing the government for, for a while.)
Bandt believes this election is an “incredible opportunity” for a minority government.
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Dutton hedges on lower household power bills
Peter Dutton has spoken to 4BC radio this morning, spruiking his gas reservation policy and plan to fast-track new gas projects.
The Coalition has said this would bring down prices from around $14 a gigajoule down to about $10.
But will Dutton guarantee the policy will reduce household bills?
I’m not going to do the $275 lie that the prime minister did before the election – I think that he promised to 97 occasions, and on each occasion he knew that he wasn’t telling the truth.
But what I do know is that the Liberal party will always manage the economy more effectively, and if we bring on significantly more supply of gas into the market, and if we reduce the prices, you say, from $14 down to $10, then you can expect that there will be reduced power prices and across the economy.
So not exactly an airtight guarantee.
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Opposition’s video starts on gloomy note
The Coalition’s campaign video is hot off the press, released on social media this morning after the prime minister made his way over to see the governor general.
The video begins on a more negative tone, pointing towards the rising cost of living.
Dutton says the country is at a “turning point” – which is interesting, because it’s something Labor has also been saying (though they’re promising the turning point is for the better under their government).
He says the election is about who can manage the economy better. You can see the full video here:
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Labor keeps tone upbeat in greatest hits campaign online
The slick new campaign videos are out and being disseminated across social media.
Labor’s slogan is “building Australia’s future together” and features a greatest hits list – starting with the tax cuts announced in the budget, energy bill relief and Medicare funding.
The tone is positive – and similar to what Albanese conveyed during his address earlier this morning to announce the election.
There’s also a plug for free Tafe courses and Labor’s housing plan, as well as wages going up and inflation coming down.
Albanese says it’s not a time for “cutting” and “wrecking” (no doubt words you’ll hear a lot during the campaign) but a time to build together.
You can see the whole video here:
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You can watch back on Anthony Albanese announcing the election for 3 May here:
Cannons? What cannons?
A bit of context for those wondering why literal cannons were fired off at the front of parliament.
The cannons get wheeled out to the front of parliament for very special occasions, like when the queen or the king visits, and when the parliament is formed or dissolved.
So after the PM went to visit the governor general to dissolve the House of Representatives, the official secretary (who is not attached to a political party) reads the proclamation from the front of Parliament House, then the clerk of the house posts a copy of the proclamation at the door of the house chamber.
THEN we get the cannons (which went off right near the end of Albanese’s press conference).
There are a different number of bangs for different occasions but I believe this morning we heard 19.
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PM says he and Trump have ‘constructive relationship’
Before the cannons begin at the front of the House to mark the dissolution of parliament, Albanese is asked about his relationship with Trump and whether the Coalition could do better as they’ve been claiming:
I’ve had two constructive discussions with President Trump. The way that international diplomacy works is that people have discussions at the diplomatic level and then people come together when there is a solution and a resolution going forward. We have a constructive relationship.
Asked whether Dutton will receive briefings of ongoing discussions on trade tariffs (the next round of which are due to come into effect about 2 April), Albanese says:
It would be nice if Peter Dutton accepted the offer of briefings. In recent times there’s been a few he’s missed which has enabled him to continue to not talk about facts.
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PM wants ‘a campaign about policy substance and about hope’
There’s no doubt this will be a tight campaign, and we already know a lot of the battleground issues this will be fought on.
We’ve also seen plenty of personal attacks levelled up against both sides – so does Anthony Albanese believe this will be a clean campaign or a big scare campaign?
He immediately says Dutton’s budget reply was “all about fear”, but then pivots to say he wants a campaign about “hope and optimism”.
Peter Dutton last night gave a budget reply that was all about fear. It was all about fear. What I want is a campaign about policy substance and about hope and optimism for our country.
The greatest honour of my life is being here in Australia but it’s also when I walk into a G20 meeting, I know that Australia has that fair ethos of looking after each other…
Look at the relationships that we’ve been able to repair and compare it to what it was when I came to office, when we were in the naughty corner in global meetings in our region, in Asean.
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Albanese joins Ukraine call overnight with ‘coalition of the willing’
Overnight the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has discussed a possible “reassurance force” in Ukraine, and Albanese reveals he participated in that meeting with the “coalition of the willing”.
He says Labor is “prepared to give consideration to being part of the actions of democratic countries”.
Albanese:
There has been another meeting of coalition of the willing in Paris over the last 24 hours, overnight. Australia participated in that meeting, like I personal participated in the leaders’ meeting held a couple of weeks ago. I want to make it very clear: Australia stands with Ukraine…
What we understand is that the struggle of President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people is not just a struggle for their national sovereignty. It is a struggle for the international rule of law.
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PM questioned on apparent US reference
Earlier during his address, Albanese said:
My fellow Australians, we live in the greatest country on Earth. And we do not need to copy from any other nation to make Australia even better and stronger. We only need to trust in our values and back our people.
What exactly was he referring to there? journalist David Crowe asks. (And we know there’s been a lot of commentary about the Coalition using policies that have been announced in the US under the Trump administration.)
Well, people will make their own judgements of course, but people will have a look at the mass sackings of public servants and wonder how is it - we’ve just been through a flood in Queensland, where in Hervey Bay, where I was, 15 public servants [were] working out of a caravan to make sure that those Australians got the money they were entitled to and deserved. They’re gone under Peter Dutton.
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Albanese on future power prices
The prime minister is asked whether Labor has commissioned modelling on how its policies will impact power prices over the next three years.
Albanese says Labor is focused on “making sure we work on the energy transition”.
There’s not exactly a clear answer to the question on what will happen to power prices – Albanese says the government is implementing its plan to lower emissions and increase energy supply.
On why Labor thinks the east coast gas reserve is a bad idea, Albanese says (as others have said from the government this morning) that their policies have already delivered more gas than what’s being proposed under this scheme.
The code of conduct that we introduced, that was opposed by Peter Dutton, has already delivered six times more petajoules, 644, of domestic gas, than Peter Dutton promised last night. He opposed the cap that we put on gas prices of $12.
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PM says he wants majority government
Albanese is taking some questions.
The first is whether he will make a deal with the crossbench in the event of a minority government. He says he intends to lead a majority government.
On whether he’ll serve out a full term as prime minister if Labor wins a second term, he says:
Yes
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PM: ‘vote Labor so we can keep building Australia’s future together’
Albanese ends his pitch saying being prime minister has been the “greatest honour” of his life.
He says the opposition will be forced to cut services and essentials in order to pay for their nuclear plan, and now is not the time to do that.
The world today is an uncertain place, but I am absolutely certain of this - now is not the time for cutting and wrecking, for aiming low, punching down or looking back. This is a time for building – building on our nation’s strengths, building our security and prosperity for ourselves, building an Australia where no-one is held back and no-one is left behind.
At this election, I’m asking for the support of the Australian people to keep building on the hard work that we have done and the strong foundations that we have laid. I’m asking you to vote Labor so we can keep building Australia’s future together
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PM warns against return to Coalition’s past ‘failures’
The PM is pitching up what he would probably call Labor’s greatest hits of the past three years, and biggest announcements from the budget.
He’s focusing on the “top up” tax cuts, Medicare (and he whips out a Medicare card for good measure), increasing wages, education funding, energy and defence.
The biggest risk to all of this is not what’s happening elsewhere in the world. The biggest risk to Australia’s future [is] going back to the failures of the past, the tax increases, and cuts to services that Peter Dutton and the Liberal party want to lock in. Australians remember what that looks like.
Less than three years ago, the chaotic and dysfunctional [Scott] Morrison government left bulk billing in freefall, aged care in crisis and the NDIS at breaking point. A decade of the Liberals keeping wages low, sending jobs offshore and fighting about climate change left our nation open to the worst global inflation since the 1990s and the biggest global energy crisis since the 1970s.
His pitch is that Labor has built wages up and brought inflation down.
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Albanese says choice is clear and ‘your vote has never been more important’
The prime minister is giving his pitch to the Australian public – shaping up the choice between Labor and the Coalition.
Albanese says Australia is “turning the corner” – a line he and treasurer Jim Chalmers have used since they released the budget on Wednesday.
Over the last few years, the world has thrown a lot at Australia. In uncertain times, we cannot decide the challenges that we will face, but we can determine how we respond. Our government has chosen to face global challenges the Australian way - helping people under cost-of-living pressure while building for the future. Because of the strength and resilience that our people have shown, Australia is turning the corner.
Now on 3 May, you choose the way forward. Your vote has never been more important. And your choice has never been more clear. This election is a choice between Labor’s plan to keep building or Peter Dutton’s promise to cut. That is the choice. That is your choice.
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PM names 3 May election date
Anthony Albanese has stepped out into the prime ministerial courtyard to address the media after going to governor general Sam Mostyn this morning to dissolve parliament and trigger the election campaign.
“Ready to go?” he asks and when asked in return if he’s ready, Albanese says: “You bet. Born ready.”
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Analyst casts doubt on Dutton gas plan
The other key element of the Coalition’s gas plan is to bring more gas fields online.
Earlier on RN, the director of Climate Energy Finance, Tim Buckley, said there’s not really much new gas to tap into…
He [Dutton] also says the only way to drive down power prices quickly is to ramp up domestic gas production. So the idea that we’re just going to somehow have the gas industry find a whole lot of new gas production to ramp up – there are no new gas fields imminent. So without a very big regulatory stick, the devil’s in the detail, and I think Peter Dutton will be as ineffective in this as minister Bowen has been for the last three years.
Susan McDonald says she “disagrees” with Buckley, and points to projects like the WA North West Shelf which the party has promised to expedite a decision on.
There are a number of projects that are that have worked through their exploration stage. They are now ready to move into production.
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McDonald says Coalition gas policy will ‘push down price’
Let’s go further into the gas reservation policy – shadow resources minister Susan McDonald is on RN Breakfast.
Sally Sara asks how the policy will work to force gas companies to reserve more of their supply for the domestic market, and how it will be different to the current price cap mechanism.
McDonald says the Coalition’s scheme will force gas companies to sell their uncontracted gas to the domestic market:
Most of the gas market has been provided with exemptions that they are not having to work within the price cap mechanism, and they have to offer gas to the market but not sell it to the market. That’s an important distinction. What we are saying is that we are forcing Australian gas, more Australian gas, for Australians to stay onshore. Greater supply will push down price.
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Opposing MPs joust on telly over election
While the PM was with the governor general, education minister Jason Clare and deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley were in combat mode on Sunrise, arguing about the choice voters will face on polling day.
Clare says, “This is a choice between higher taxes under Peter Dutton or lower taxes under Labor,” while Ley argues, “This election is about who can manage the economy better. Who can help Australians to get ahead.”
On why it has taken so long for the Coalition to decide on a gas reservation scheme for the east coast when they were in government for nine years, Ley says her party was forced to “make a correction to the train wreck of a policy” from the government.
But Clare argues their policy is a “con”.
We’ve been able to secure six times as much gas as Peter Dutton was talking about reserving last night. We’ve reduced the cost of gas from 30 bucks a gigajoule to 12 bucks.
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PM leaves Government House and heads to parliament to call election
Seemed to be a pretty quick meeting with GG Sam Mostyn.
T-minus around half an hour now before Anthony Albanese addresses us from parliament to fire the starter gun.
Albanese and Peter Dutton will likely start travelling with buses of journalists today, visiting key seats they need to win and sandbag from the opposition and independents.
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Paterson ‘comfortable’ on government intervention for gas supply
The main announcement from last night’s budget reply is for an east coast gas reservation.
James Paterson is asked whether he’s comfortable with the Coalition engaging with that kind of government intervention (something the party has typically rejected).
He tells News Breakfast he’s “entirely comfortable” because there’s an important principal – that gas from Australia should be for “Australians first”.
It’s policies to drive more gas into the Australian domestic gas market and it is not only through an east coast domestic gas reservation policy but it is also about increasing the supply of gas.
On why the Coalition has promised to repeal the tax cuts, and whether it tarnishes their reputation as the party of lower taxes (remember yesterday when the PM during question time kept saying “Labor is the party of lower taxes” as a big dig at the opposition?), Paterson says:
Actually we’re arguing for lower taxes [in] a more targeted and effective way that’s going to make a bigger difference to families who really need it, to Australians who are struggling.
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James Paterson says PM ‘has decided to share’ media coverage with Peter Dutton
The shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, who will be playing a vocal role for the Coalition during this campaign, is up on ABC News Breakfast.
He’s asked whether the election being called has blown Peter Dutton’s budget reply “out of the water”.
Paterson says “perhaps” but it also means that Albanese is sharing his election call with the budget reply too.
Perhaps the petty Canberra game the prime minister has been trying to play here today, but actually I think the truth is normally prime ministers have the media to themselves on the day they announce an election and instead the prime minister has decided to share that media coverage this morning with Peter Dutton.
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Government to enter caretaker mode
So what does this mean?
The government will now enter caretaker mode, which means it will no longer be able to make really big decisions, and the parliament will be dissolved (which means that the Senate estimates session which was due to happen today no longer will).
We’ll now go into around five weeks of election campaign, so you can expect a big showdown between the major parties on the cost of living – most notably on Labor’s tax cuts versus the Coalition’s fuel excise cut.
Get ready for politicians to be shaking lots of hands, kissing lots of babies and a lot of slogans.
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Prime minister to give election date at 8am
Well, we are finally here, folks, it’s been a huge budget week, and no doubt the election announcement this morning takes some of the wind out of the sails of Peter Dutton’s budget reply last night (which you can recap here).
The PM is now jumping out of the car and walking his way over to the governor general, Sam Mostyn.
He’s due to speak at 8am, where he’ll officially give us the date of the election.
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Albanese on way to Government House to call 2025 federal election
Good morning,
Krishani Dhanji here with you, and the prime minister is on his way to the Government House, and you know what that means – the election is about to be called.
Stay tuned, we’ll bring you all the latest as it comes.
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On the other side of the fence, we have an exclusive interview with Jim Chalmers in which he says that the outcome of the election will be decided in the outer metropolitan seats and that his budget was designed to target those suburban voters.
Hear the full interview at our podcast.
We’re also kicking the tyres on Dutton’s pledge to cut petrol duty, with some economists saying the cut won’t be as much as he’s saying.
Dutton’s public service cuts plan explained
As mentioned already, Peter Dutton has pledged to take the axe to the federal payroll and get rid of all the 41,000 extra public servants he says have been hired since Labor came to power three years ago.
He told MPs last night that the mass sackings would save the budget $7bn a year “once in place”, and more than $10bn over the forward estimates.
However, Labor says Dutton’s plans to slash the public service will mean longer wait times for social service payments, so we have dug into the details with this explainer:
350 Australia says Dutton’s gas plan a ‘handout’ to big companies
Climate group 350 Australia said the Coalition’s plan to spend $1bn of public money on gas was a “handout to big gas companies that will harm communities”.
Senior campaigner Shani Tager said:
More gas means more pollution.
If Peter Dutton and the Coalition actually wanted to lower household energy bills, they’d back the cheapest form of new energy, which is wind and solar. Instead, they’re giving handouts to their mates in the gas industry and throwing communities who are already feeling the impacts of climate change under the bus.
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Energy body says Dutton reply speech a ‘missed opportunity’
An analyst from IEEFA, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said the Coalition’s proposal to fast-track offshore gas projects was unlikely to have an impact on gas supply and prices this decade.
An expansion to the North West Shelf, flagged by Peter Dutton for a fast-track approval, would not come online before 2030, IEEFA lead gas analyst Joshua Runciman said.
He called Dutton’s budget reply speech a “missed opportunity”, saying:
Increased government support for residential and industrial electrification would lower energy bills while reducing gas consumption.
The Coalition’s intent to push gas prices to $10 per gigajoule would also threaten the viability of some onshore gas basins – for example, Beetaloo, which requires higher prices to be worth developing.
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Gas production body says Dutton’s policy will worsen supply challenges
The peak body for the gas production industry says Peter Dutton’s new gas policy will drive away investment and “exacerbate supply challenges”.
The Australian Energy Producers’ chief executive, Samantha McCulloch, said in a statement that it was in favour of Dutton’s plan to fast-track new gas supply and streamline approvals of new gas wells.
But she said Dutton’s plan to “oversupply” the domestic market with a gas reservation scheme would backfire.
This glut of gas will deter investment in new supply and undermine our trading relationships.
It also ignored the reality that pipelines from Queensland to Victoria were already operating at capacity in peak periods, and “even if [gas] could be physically moved south, there is currently nowhere to store it”.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live blog. I’m Martin Farrer with some of the main headlines this morning before Krishani Dhanji takes over to guide you through what promises to be a big day.
Anthony Albanese is expected to soon make the short journey from the Lodge to Government House, where he will ask the governor general, Sam Mostyn, to issue the writ for the holding of a federal election. It is expected that polling day will be in early May, most likely Saturday 3 May. We will have every move as it happens, with the prime minister expected to hold a press conference shortly after that.
Last night Peter Dutton used his budget reply speech to vow to establish a gas reservation scheme that will lower prices, cut the cost of petrol and sack all 41,000 federal public servants hired under Albanese. He billed the coming election as a “sliding doors moment” for the nation with the long-term prosperity of Australians on the line.
But Dutton’s gas plan has already been criticised by energy producers and environmentalists. More on that soon as we wait for the PM’s car to get on the road to Yarralumla.
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