The federal election campaign sees Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese march in a Labour Day Parade in Brisbane while Prime Minister Scott Morrison attends an Eid service in Sydney.
Look back on all of Monday's updates as they happened in our blog.
Key events
- If the Reserve Bank raises interest rates tomorrow, 'it is not about me', Morrison says
- Labor promises to match the Coalition's plan to expand the seniors health card
- What are your thoughts on where the major parties stand on housing?
- Could the Northern Territory decide the election? What about Western Australia?
- Second leaders' debate to take place on free-to-air television this Sunday
- What's the Prime Minister up to this morning?
- Coalition says it is not concerned about prospect of interest rate rise during election
- Anne Ruston asked about Four Corners investigation
Live updates
By Jessica Riga
We'll wrap up our live coverage here
Thank you for reading along with us today, especially those of you who submitted your thoughts on where the major parties stand on housing.
While we can't post every comment submitted, it's great to get so many different perspectives on the issue. We'll continue to open up the lines and have more discussions on the blog soon.
We'll be back tomorrow with more daily coverage of the election campaign. In the meantime, you can stay up to date here on the Australia Votes website.
See you tomorrow!
By Jessica Riga
By Jessica Riga
And here's our last question of the press conference
Q: You campaigning parameter as a superior economic manager. Are voters supposed to believe that you will separate yourself from what happens tomorrow and claim you have no response ability for the conditions?
Here's Scott Morrison's reply:
"I think I have set up the position pretty clearly about the macroeconomic environment that is impacting on rates in Australia. I think I’ve been very clear. I also didn’t claim credit [when rates dropped]. These are driven by macro economic factors but also the alignment of fiscal and monetary policy in this country to take a through the pandemic.
"I don’t see all about through a political lens. What I do see is the need to ensure that we have a strong economic plan that deals with the real pressures, the pressures on interest rates I think highlight just as we got the pressures on cost of living, highlight just why the economy is so important in this election."
And that's where the press conference ends.
By Jessica Riga
If the Reserve Bank raises interest rates tomorrow, 'it is not about me', Morrison says
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says "it's not about politics," before telling political reporters they "always see things through a totally political lens."
"You know what, it is not about politics. It is not about politics.
"What happens tomorrow deals with what people pay on their mortgages. That is what I am concerned about. It is not about what it means for politics.
"I mean, sometimes you guys always see things through a totally political lens. I don't. And Australians don't. Australians are focused on what they are paying for and who they think is going to be best able to manage an economy and manage the finances so they are in the best possible position to realise their aspirations. Australians know that there are pressures on interest rates.
"That is why many of them, so many of them have been switching to fixed rates. That is why many of them have been trying to get ahead of their mortgages to ensure they are protected. And we have help them do that so they can be in that position because they understand, there are many pressures on our economy. What tomorrow's decision is about, we have cash rates, at least I know what it is, the cash rate, we know what it is and we know it is at as Doric low and it has been there since November 2020.
"We note the Reserve Bank in monetary policy and the Federal Government through fiscal policy have been pulling in the same direction to ensure we could come through this pandemic. It has been important that a line of perspective that has helped Australia to be one of the most successful advanced economies in the world today coming out of the pandemic.
"So tomorrow, it is not about me. It is not about Mr Albanese. It is not about the Treasurer or the Shadow Treasurer. It is about Australians themselves and the decisions they are making and understanding the pressures on the economy and who they think is going to be better able to manage those pressures into the future."
By Jessica Riga
Morrison on pensioners
Q: Many pensioners would like to work more. Obviously, pensioners are out there struggling at the moment and cost of living is increasing and things are getting tough. Many pensioners would like to add more but they can only earn roughly an extra $300 a fortnight and keep their pension. Why isn't the Government trying to make it easier for pensioners to fill those skills shortages when it they would like to earn more but they currently can't?
"This is something we have been looking at carefully and it is something that we are talking to older Australians about," Morrison says.
"We have had programs, particularly during the pandemic, where we didn't ease those restrictions and the take-up wasn't that great. Those who have worked hard all their life and are on a pension or a self-funded retirees don't necessarily want to be forced back to work.
"And that's why, and when they do, and earn, certainly what they are earning far outweighs what they get in their pension. That is why they would choose to do that. But equally, we are encouraging the skills training that enables people over the course of their life to move between different jobs and take those opportunities are when they get to their retirement they can have their retirement.
"They can have their time like they are having here. The solution to our economic challenges is not to stand retirees, also back into work. That is not my plan. I am not looking to pause pensioners or self-funded retirees back to work. What I am seeking to do is ensure that in their retirement that they have worked hard for that they can have life a little bit easier through the sorts of things that I am announcing right here today."
By Jessica Riga
What happens if the interest rates rise tomorrow?
Q: Hundreds of thousands of Australians may go into mortgage stress if the Reserve Bank increases rates tomorrow. If that happens, will you take personal responsibility for the financial pain they may feel?
Morrison: Explained to me the numbers. You said hundreds of thousands of people will go into mortgage stress... What are these reports?
Q: There are reports in the paper today that if mortgage rates go up then it pressures on it because they have maxed out their mortgages. Will you take responsibility if rates go up?
Morrison goes on to say that Australian's "know what's going on."
"When I became Prime Minister the cash rate was 1.5%. It is 0.5%. We are talking about the average discount of around 3.6 but many people will be on a lower mortgages than that. We have got people that have moved from 20% fixed rates to 40% fixed rates, and you know what that tells me? Australians know what is going on.
"They know there are pressures that are coming from outside of Australia on interest rates. I mean, 0.1 has been an historically unconventionally low rates and it has been there since November of 2020. So, these rates are very low, and Australians know that there is pressure on at these rates and they know that over time, how we manage the economy, how we manage the Government's finances will impact, potentially, and what happens to rates, and they could go higher than they might otherwise go."
By Jessica Riga
Will Morrison commit to a referendum for a Indigenous Voice to Parliament if re-elected?
"I have already answered that," Morrison says.
"It's not our policy to have a referendum on the voice, so why would I be doing that?"
By Jessica Riga
What's changed for Morrison to slam Labor's new housing policy?
Here's the reporter's quesrion in full for context:
Q: You had a similar idea of a government or a private equity scheme in 2008. What has changed between now and then for you to be slamming Labor's policy?
"I had no plan for the government to own people's homes," Morrison says.
"Shared equity schemes have been around for a long time and some people choose to do them in at the private sector. During the global financial crisis there was a squeeze and there was a focus on a Bendigo Bank because of the lack of liquidity in the debt market that was enabling them to provide the products they wanted to provide and the people by providing and seeking. So, that was a very different set of issues."
Q: Five years ago you said the Victorian Government doing a similar government scheme was a good idea, so what has changed?
"There is a scheme like this in Western Australia. There is a scheme like this in South Australia and the take-up of the schemes are very limited and one of the reasons for that is people want to own their own home. They don't want the government to own their home. If people want to go into a shared equity mortgage, those products have been around for a long time. The private sector provides those products and what I was referring to in 2011, I think it was, was in the middle of a global financial crisis when there was a squeeze on credit so I was proffering sensible interventions that would enable the private sector to give people more choices.
"If people want to take the stresses up, that is up to them, but in terms of the Federal government effectively becoming an owner of your home — and there are questions about this. So, what happens if you decide to renovate your home? I mean, what Labor have been very clear about is that they have a share in your home, and so, as your home value increases, they are making money off you."
By Jessica Riga
Is the great Australian dream of owning your own home dead?
"Absolutely not," Scott Morrison says.
"It is hard to own your first home but last year, 164,000 Australians did. They bought their first home.
"We have ensured that 200,000 Australians over the last three years have been able to get into their first home, or into their own home, at a time when it has been hard to do so.
"So, no. About two-thirds or thereabouts, it moves around, about two-thirds of Australians either own their home outright or paying it off through their mortgage. It is always hard.
"It has always been hard and it is hard particularly today but what the figures show is that 164,000 Australians last year got into their first home."
By Jessica Riga
The PM is finally up
Standby for updates.
Scott Morrison is speaking from Geelong about the Coalition's newest election pitch to get more self-funded retirees access cheaper health care and medication.
By Jessica Riga
Afghan woman pleads for Scott Morrison to rescue her family, as PM campaigns in Parramatta
A desperate Afghan woman has pleaded with Scott Morrison for help to get her family to Australia, as he attended morning Eid prayers in Western Sydney.
A tearful Hijara Taufiq approached the Prime Minister in Parramatta, fearful her family's lives were at risk under the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan, unable to flee because they did not have visas or passports.
"We're bringing thousands and thousands of people from Afghanistan — 16,500 we'll be bringing, and we'll do everything we can," Mr Morrison responded.
He then brought the Liberal's candidate for Parramatta, Maria Kovacic, into the conversation and said she would help push the case.
Others at the event said it was not an isolated case.
"It's the same issue all over with every Afghan in Australia — everybody's concerned about the family, because there is issues of security, there's issues about money, because there's no jobs," local business owner Roya Soltani told SBS News.
"So it's very difficult at the moment.
"[Eid is a] happy day to celebrate, but underlying, everybody's thinking about their families back home."
By Jessica Riga
More thoughts on where the major parties stand on housing
I'm disabled (but not enough for the disability pension), can't work more than 25 hours a week. That barely gets me enough money for rent (in one of the cheapest suburbs in my city). Centrelink pays barely anything because my income is too high. There's literally no possibile path to buying a house, let alone renting something better, for people like me.
-Jules
Thank you for sharing your perspective with us, Jules.
By Jessica Riga
PM due to speak very soon
We can see the press conference being set up so we should be hearing from Scott Morrison very shortly.
By Jessica Riga
Dan Tehan visits Gilmore, Andrew Constance criticises Labor's bushfire ads
Trade Minister Dan Tehan was in the marginal NSW seat of Gilmore this morning, supporting Liberal candidate Andrew Constance.
With two polls today showing the Labor Party is in a winning position, Mr Constance said he was not hearing any concerns about Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
"Certainly, when people weigh up Albo verse Scomo it becomes a pretty interesting question," he said.
Mr Constance warned the Labor Party's election attack advertisements focused on the Prime Minister's handling of the Black Summer bushfires were triggering mental health concerns.
The TV ads feature images of Mr Morrison trying to force an exhausted firefighter to shake his hand, as well as pictures of him on holiday in Hawaii during the fires.
Mr Constance, who has previously revealed he was diagnosed with PTSD as a result of trauma from the bushfires, stopped short of calling for the ads to be pulled, but said "they are terrible".
"I just want everyone to be mindful of politics at this point in time – in terms of fire recovery we have to be very sensitive.
"It should be bipartisan. There shouldn't be any arguments certainly in terms of those who are suffering at this moment, some of them still working through paperwork with insurance companies and builders.
"They are living this every day – I just want it to be sensitive to be honest."
Mr Tehan and Mr Constance also announced a re-elected Morrison government would provide $5.5 million to rebuild the local Gerringong Surf Life Saving Clubhouse.
The money would come from the Building Better Regions Club, with Surf Life Saving NSW expected to kick in another $500,000.
Mr Constance said the new build would be a community hub for the whole region.
Reporting by Kelly Fuller from ABC Wollongong
By Jessica Riga
Labor promises to match the Coalition's plan to expand the seniors health card
More self-funded retirees would be able to access cheaper health care and medication under a multi-million-dollar Coalition election promise to tackle cost-of-living pressures for tens of thousands of older Australians.
If elected in the May poll, the Coalition is promising to spend $70 million over four years giving an extra 50,000 older Australians access to the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (CSHC).
The card is currently issued to about 436,000 Australians over 67 who do not qualify for the age pension because the value of their assets is too high and gives them access to some cheaper Medicare services and prescription medicines.
It comes with a singles income test of just under $58,000 a year, but the Coalition is proposing to expand eligibility for the card by increasing that to $90,000 from July 1.
The couples' threshold would also rise from just over $92,000 to $144,000.
Labor says it will match the pledge, with campaign spokesman Jason Clare telling Channel Seven it is a good idea.
By Jessica Riga
We're expecting to hear from Prime Minister Scott Morrison soon
You can tune into the press conference by watching the live stream at the top of the blog.
As always, key updates will be here in the blog.
By Jessica Riga
More thoughts on where the major parties stand on housing
I'm happy the ALP seems to be doing more than the coalition, but neither side wants to upset vested interests who made and make a lot of money on homes they bought. At the end of the day we need to see property as a human need rather than an investment where money can be made on it.
-Bonnieprince
By Jessica Riga
A young person's perspective on where the major parties stand on housing
On housing - as a young person relying on casual work to support myself (while renting at ridiculous prices) I constantly feel like I'm never going to be able to afford to buy a home and I already struggle affording rent.
I feel as if a mix of all the policies could be implemented would be smart, allowing better access to housing for first home buyers especially but due to the lack of increase in wages, social/public housing also needs to be prioritised.
No one seems to have an efficient way of making homes affordable, and even less so for trying to relieve rental stress within the market
-Bambi
Keep submitting your thoughts on where the major parties stand on housing, it'd be great to get as many perspectives in the blog as possible.
If you're just joining us now, earlier I posted a quick guide to where the major parties stand on the topic of housing. You can check out our guide here, and submit your thoughts using the blue button above.
By Jessica Riga
Monique Ryan criticises Josh Frydenberg for bringing family into campaign after mother-in-law quip
I posted a clip of Monique Ryan's News Breakfast interview this morning where she was asked about this, but here's some more details.
Kooyong independent candidate Monique Ryan has criticised Josh Frydenberg for involving family in the battle for the marginal inner-Melbourne seat, after the Treasurer shared an anecdote about her mother-in-law at his campaign launch.
She said that, by telling the anecdote, Mr Frydenberg had "made fun of someone who hasn't bought into this".
Mr Frydenberg defended the anecdote, saying he recalled the interaction "word-for-word".
"I was recently approached by a nice lady on the street in Hawthorn who said she will be voting for me," he said.
"I said: 'Thank you', to which she replied: 'I'm Monique Ryan's mother-in-law'.
"I asked, [her], 'Why are you supporting me?' And her response was, 'Because you know what you're doing and you're a nice person'.
"This is word-for-word what she said," Mr Frydenberg said.
The only time he mentioned Dr Ryan by name at his launch was to recall that interaction.
Dr Ryan said she was disappointed that the Treasurer had brought family into the campaign.
"At the start of this process, I took a pledge, where I said I would not attack my opponent personally, and I wouldn't involve their family in the campaign," she said.
"I think families should be left out of the conversation."
By Jessica Riga
More of your thoughts on where the parties stand on housing
Being middle income, social housing and public housing will not help me. Nor do I want the government having a stake in my home. I want real change in regards to the price of houses, and real estate, and to make it easier for ME to buy, not the government. The coalitions plan is the only one which gives me that hope of owning my own home, completely. And not to be stuck in government run and owned housing for the rest of my life.
-M G
Keep sending in your thoughts using the comment button above, I'd love to share them here.
