Dutton defends Liberal party’s vetting process
Emily Wind
Asked if there is “anything wrong with the Liberal party’s vetting process”, Peter Dutton defends it:
If you look at the standard of candidates we have selected across the board, I think we have selected some amazing people. Manny Cicchiello [candidate for Aston] is someone who is been a teacher for 25 years, providing support to young Victorians as they grow and I want to make sure that we can select good candidates so we can get rid of the bad candidate.
Another reporter asks about a candidate in the Labor held seat of Wills.
Dutton refuses to answer the question, despite other reporters pushing him to. He instead tries to turn the heat on to Albanese.
I think Anthony Albanese has been deceiving as many people for the last three years he has lied about the $275.
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Updated at 22.24 EDT
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Treasurer Jim Chalmers and finance minister Katy Gallagher have said the Coalition’s proposed future funds will lead to more gross debt, not less.
They’ve also claimed the opposition could use the funds to “rort” money into politically aligned projects.
Chalmers and Gallagher argue their budgets have returned around 70% of tax upgrades to the budget, compared to the previous Liberal government that they say banked about 40%.
In a statement, they wrote:
This is a recipe for bigger deficits and more gross debt, not less. These new funds will mean that future revenue won’t be used to directly improve the bottom line or pay down debt.
Instead, taxpayers money will be parked in new funds that we know will be rorted.
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No further details provided on costings for Coalitions public service plan
Peter Dutton has still refused to release the costings for his public service plan, which would see the sector shrink by 41,000 staff over five years.
The Coalition clarified on Monday that the cuts would only happen through hiring freezes and natural attrition, but promised that all had been costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office, and there was no change to the savings they’d been promising from the measure.
Dutton pins some blame on the government for not releasing some of their own costings, and says his numbers will be released during the campaign.
The government have not released their costings in relation to their promises on the campaign and parties release costings in accordance with the rules. We will do that. We said that. We’ve had ongoing discussions with the Parliamentary Budget Office.
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Updated at 22.32 EDT
Would the Coalition “join hands” with China, as its ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian is suggesting?
Dutton says Australia should have a “strong trading relationship with China”, to secure jobs and investment.
But at the same time, he says Australia needs to have a “rock solid” relationship with the US and UK through Aukus and Anzus.
I believe that we can work very closely with China on building our trading relationship and have a respectful relationship with China. As a country, we have to stand up for our interests and we can’t do that with a weak prime minister.
He accuses Labor of having taken out $80bn in defence funding (though Labor says it’s added $50bn to the defence budget over the next decade).
Dutton also says Albanese is having his “strings pulled by a junior coalition partner in Adam Bandt”, who has repeatedly called for the end of Aukus.
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Updated at 22.22 EDT
Dutton addresses comparisons between proposed public service policy and Doge
The comparisons between the Liberal’s public service policy and Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Doge keep coming.
Dutton is asked about his shadow assistant treasurer who said in a Facebook post that if the Coalition wins government, then Doge will be implemented and senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price will be the minister in charge.
Dutton says that Nampijinpa Price’s role will be heading a process similar to what the Howard government did with an expenditure review process.
Where I find waste in the federal budget, I will make sure we can cut it so we can support Australian workers and that we can support frontline workers and that we can support the doctors and nurses and the medics and the police officers.
Earlier, the PM was asked about the comparison, and whether he agrees with his treasurer that Dutton is “Doge-y”. Albanese wouldn’t say the word, but told voters to look at the opposition’s words.
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Updated at 22.20 EDT
Dutton defends Liberal party’s vetting process
Emily Wind
Asked if there is “anything wrong with the Liberal party’s vetting process”, Peter Dutton defends it:
If you look at the standard of candidates we have selected across the board, I think we have selected some amazing people. Manny Cicchiello [candidate for Aston] is someone who is been a teacher for 25 years, providing support to young Victorians as they grow and I want to make sure that we can select good candidates so we can get rid of the bad candidate.
Another reporter asks about a candidate in the Labor held seat of Wills.
Dutton refuses to answer the question, despite other reporters pushing him to. He instead tries to turn the heat on to Albanese.
I think Anthony Albanese has been deceiving as many people for the last three years he has lied about the $275.
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Updated at 22.24 EDT
Emily Wind
Dutton asked if Liberal candidates ‘borrowing Trump tactics’
A reporter asked Peter Dutton about whether any of his candidates are “borrowing Trump tactics” and if this is damaging the Liberal brand?
Dutton responded:
Jeremy Neal [the candidate for Leichhardt] is somebody who served as a paramedic and he’s made statements in relation to the matters that you raise. But what he’s about in Leichhardt is continuing the great work of Warren Entsch. If there is a Labor member elected in Leichhardt, that means that Anthony Albanese forms government with Adam Bandt.
(Again, this is something the PM has ruled out repeatedly.)
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Updated at 22.03 EDT
Emily Wind
Dutton addressing reporters in Melbourne
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is speaking to reporters from Bayswater in Melbourne.
He is continuing to criticise a potential Labor-Greens alliance – even though this is something the PM has repeatedly ruled out – and said:
If the prime minister and Adam Bandt introduced changes to the way in which negative gearing [works] in this country, that is a big asset class for people who are on the cusp of retirement or have retirement plans based on rental incomes, that will be a disaster for our economy.
It is reminiscent of what Bill Shorten was promising a few years ago. It demonstrates what the Labor party and Greens have in mind in the election. Australians cannot afford three more years of a Labor government.
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Updated at 22.01 EDT
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Teal independent calling for review of Aukus deal amid ‘growing uncertainty’ of US
The teal independent Zoe Daniel has called for a review of the Aukus deal amid concerns about cost, delivery risks and the “growing uncertainty” of the US as a reliable defence partner since Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The Goldstein MP said a probe of the trilateral security pact with the US and UK should be among the “first orders of businesses” for the next parliament.
The comments are noteworthy given the prospects of a hung parliament in which crossbenchers such as Daniel could hold significant sway. Daniel said:
Strategic autonomy isn’t just about submarines. It’s about having choices. Right now, Australia has only one plan – and it’s Aukus. That’s not good enough.
If we’re serious about national security, we must be honest with Australians about what it will cost – and how we’re going to pay for it.
The Teal independent for Goldstein, Zoe Daniel. Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 21.50 EDT
Natasha May
Security at western Sydney hospital allegedly threatening doctors in relation to industrial action
Security personnel at a western Sydney hospital have been threatening doctors and instructing them to remove badges and posters related to their industrial action, according to the doctor’s union.
Today is the third and final day of the NSW public sector doctor’s strike which will end at 10PM this evening, which has seen services reduced to public holiday levels while emergency and critical care remain safely staffed.
The Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation say they condemned these reports of “union-busting behaviour” at Westmead hospital by Western Sydney Local Health District management.
A spokesperson for Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) said there has been no directive from the district to security staff to remove items representing the doctor’s strike action.
While WSLHD wants to ensure our hard working ED staff are supported, it’s common practice for security to remove posters from public walls and property.
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Updated at 21.47 EDT
Josh Taylor
WSU subject to ‘persistent and targeted attacks on our network’
Western Sydney University has said there was unauthorised access to its single sign-on systems, with information of up to 10,000 current and former students accessed and a separate incident with personal information of those at the university potentially posted on the dark web.
The university’s vice-chancellor, George Williams, said the WSU had been “the subject of persistent and targeted attacks on our network”.
The university said it expects to notify approximately 10,000 current and former students next week whose information was accessed in January and February this year, with information related to demographic, enrolment and progression information accessed.
The university said as soon as the unauthorised access was detected, cyber experts began working to shut down the access in real time and investigations into the incident are ongoing.
Separately, last month the university said it became aware of a post on the dark web referring to personal information for people at the University. The post was made before the most recent attack on 1 November 2024.
This post is being investigated, but the university said early investigations suggest the information contained in the post “broadly reflects the same types of personal information outlined in previous cyber notifications.”
As is the standard approach to these incidents now, WSU has been granted an interim injunction in the NSW supreme court to prevent access, use, transmission and publication of any data in the post.
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Updated at 21.42 EDT
Benita Kolovos
Victorian premier addresses record low polling
Staying off the campaign trail for a moment and heading back to Jacinta Allan’s press conference …
Allan is asked about polling in the Herald Sun this morning, which says her personal standing has reach a record low of -35. According to the paper, it’s got her colleagues considering plans to topple her as leader.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan arrives to a door stop at Parkville Station in Melbourne. Photograph: James Ross/AAP
Asked if she accepts she is unpopular, Allan says she will “leave commentary to others”. She goes on:
What I am focused on every single day, is focused on delivering what working people and families need from a Labor government.
Asked if she’s got the support of her colleagues, she says she does:
I know I have the support of my colleagues, because [I’m] talking and working with them every single day, it’s a great privilege. I’ve always found it an honour to sit in the Labor party group as a member … then through roles as minister and now as premier. It was a tremendous privilege to work with a talented group of people who all have the same singular focus, that keen understanding, that keen understanding of why Labor governments matter.
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Updated at 21.45 EDT
Christopher Knaus
US call for release of Australian engineer imprisoned in Iraq
The US government has intervened to call for the release of Robert Pether, an Australian engineer imprisoned in Iraq for four years.
Pether was imprisoned in 2021 after a contractual dispute between his firm CME Consulting and the central bank of Iraq. The bank had engaged Pether’s firm to help build its new Baghdad headquarters.
A United Nations report in 2022 said the case against Pether contravened international law and found he and a colleague, Khalid Radwan, had been subjected to “abusive and coercive” interrogations.
Overnight the US presidential envoy for hostage affairs, an office of the US state department, posted on X about the case, saying:
We stand with our Australian partners in calling for the release of Robert Pether, following the end of his custodial sentence.
We stand with our Australian partners in calling for the release of Robert Pether, following the end of his custodial sentence. We hope to see him reunited with his family as soon as possible. https://t.co/AQwtwR27hF
— Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs (@StateSPEHA) April 9, 2025
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Updated at 21.35 EDT
Sarah Basford Canales
Dutton visiting metalworks facility in seat of Aston
Peter Dutton is visiting a metalworks facility in Melbourne’s Bayswater in the seat of Aston.
The Liberals are hoping to win back the seat, once held by former Coalition minister Alan Tudge, after they lost it to Labor in a byelection in 2023.
Labor’s Mary Doyle holds Aston by a margin of 3.6%.
The opposition leader is joined by his deputy, Sussan Ley, and shadow education minister, Sarah Henderson.
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Updated at 21.35 EDT
What are the Coalition’s new future fund proposals?
So to recap exactly what this future fund policy is”: the Coalition is promising to set up two new future funds.
Australia already has seven future funds, including the main future fund that was set up under John Howard’s government in 2006 and has around $225bn in it (as of mid 2024). It’s managed by a board who can invest the money and grow the pot.
The housing Australia future fund – another, more recent fund – was set up under Albanese and invests its money specifically into social and affordable homes. It has a pool of $10bn in it and can invest up to $500m a year, from some of that pool or from interest that it earns.
The two new funds being promised today – the Future Generations Fund and Regional Australia Future Fund – will be grown using 80% of any “positive windfall receipts variations each year”.
In every budget there’s a the difference between what treasury budgeted that the government would get from mining revenue and what they actually delivered, because Treasury has historically underestimated the price of commodities. The Coalition says they’ll put that difference (“windfall revenue”) into these funds.
The future generations fund will help to pay down debt. The regional Australia future fund will grow up to $20bn and spend up to $1bn per year on projects.
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Updated at 21.27 EDT
Liberals introduce new future fund proposals on national debt and regional infrastructure
Angus Taylor and Jane Hume are announcing their two new future fund proposals, to pay down debt, and build regional infrastructure.
Taylor says Australia’s mining windfalls will be “turned into national assets” under the funds and will help stop future generations being saddled with debt. Hume, the shadow finance minister, says the fund will act as a “fiscal guardrail” to stop more spending.
I want all young Australians to hear this message very clearly. The Coalition will stop future governments putting your future on AfterPay.
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Updated at 21.03 EDT
