Labor would create $1000 instant tax deduction, PM says
Anthony Albanese has announced that a re-elected Labor government will create a new $1000 instant tax deduction.
This will guarantee everyone can opt for an automatic tax deduction of $1000 on their work expenses. No paperwork, no box of receipts, no scrolling through your online banking – just tick the box and your return is ready to go.
The PM said that every year, millions of people miss out on claiming deductions they’re entitled to and pay more than they should – and this reform “fixes that – and it fixes it for ever”.
It takes away the hassle of tracking your expenses, especially if you work from home, and it gives you back more of your own money, faster.
Importantly, if you’re in a job where you spend more than $1000 each year on your uniform or equipment, you can still claim a higher deduction in the usual way.
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Updated at 24.34 EDT
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Planning processes punted to fast-track stadium build
A controversial AFL stadium in Tasmania will get a free kick through laws designed to bypass planning processes and fast-track the development, AAP reports.
The Tasmanian government will introduce the laws to push through the Macquarie Point Urban Renewal Project, which includes the AFL stadium, after concerns were raised about the planning process.
The state premier, Jeremy Rockliff, said delays were impacting the development of the 23,000-seat roofed venue, which was a requirement for the island state to be granted its own AFL team – the Tasmania Devils.
“We cannot afford not to deliver this project, and we cannot afford delays,” he said today.
Rockliff said the delays were undermining confidence in development.
“It’s time we got on building it,” he said.
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Updated at 02.29 EDT
Housing group calls for more ambitious policies from both parties
Everybody’s Home, a national campaign to fix Australia’s housing crisis, has called on both major parties to present more ambitious housing policies ahead of the election.
Spokesperson Maiy Azize said the promises made by Labor and the Coalition “fall well short of what’s needed” to address the housing crisis and warned some elements could make it worse. Azize said:
The Coalition’s proposal to allow mortgage payments to be tax deductible for first home buyers is a form of negative gearing for non-investors, a move that will give more help to people on high incomes and could push home prices even higher.
To make housing more affordable, we need to get rid of tax breaks when it comes to property, not create more.
Labor’s home deposit support for first-home buyers will also add to demand. Building 100,000 homes is a good step, but they aren’t guaranteed to be affordable. Australia doesn’t just need new homes, we need homes that people can actually afford.
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Updated at 01.59 EDT
Master Builders welcomes Coalition tax-deductible mortgage policy
The industry association Master Builders Australia has welcomed the Coalition’s proposal to allow first home buyers to deduct interest payments on up to $650,000 of their mortgage from their taxable income.
Its CEO, Denita Wawn, said:
This is a positive and practical long-term incentive that encourages more Australians to build their first home and supports market-driven construction activity.
However, the organisation warned that support for first home buyers should be matched by reforms to tackle constraints in the planning system it said continued to drive up construction costs.
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Updated at 01.34 EDT
Lisa Cox
Good afternoon everyone, this is Lisa Cox. Thanks to Emily Wind for an epic effort blogging the campaign launches for both major parties. I’ll be here to take you through any more developments this afternoon.
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Updated at 01.23 EDT
Emily Wind
Many thanks for joining me on the blog – I’ll hand over to my colleague Lisa Cox to take you through the rest of today’s news. Take care, and enjoy your Sunday afternoon.
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Anthony Albanese’s campaign launch speech – all the key takeaways
Here are all the key takeaways from the prime minister’s speech at Labor’s campaign launch event in Perth:
Anthony Albanese, partner Jodie Haydon and son Nathan at the Labor party campaign launch. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare
Updated at 01.26 EDT
Peter Dutton’s campaign launch speech – all the key takeaways
Here are all the key takeaways from Peter Dutton’s speech at the Liberal campaign launch in western Sydney:
Peter Dutton and John Howard at the Liberal campaign launch. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/APShare
Updated at 01.22 EDT
Thanks for sticking with us through a mammoth few hours of back-to-back campaign launches. There’s still more to come here on the blog – and in a moment, I’ll wrap up the key takeaways from each leader’s speeches.
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Updated at 24.58 EDT
PM wraps up election pitch at campaign launch
Wrapping up his election pitch, Anthony Albanese told the crowd:
That’s why I’m asking Australians to vote Labor on 3 May, so we can keep building a future that is true to our values and worthy of our people, where no one is denied the chance to be their best, no one left to face uncertainty alone, no one cut off from the opportunities that lie ahead, no one held back, and no one left behind. Everyone of us, building Australia’s future together.
Anthony Albanese finishes his election pitch at the Labor party campaign launch. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare
Updated at 01.07 EDT
Albanese makes election pitch, pointing to Labor’s historical achievements
Anthony Albanese says Australia is not “shackled by old thinking; we are not captive to the habits and fears of the past.”
We are enriched by every faith and tradition on earth, including the world’s continuous culture … We have the courage and the strength to choose our own way, to build a future we want based on the values that we cherish, because Australia didn’t copy the idea of a decent minimum wage from anywhere else in the world; we created it here.
We didn’t steal the idea of universal superannuation from somewhere else; we made it here. We didn’t wait on other countries to strengthen our democracy by ensuring women could vote in elections and stand for parliament; we lead the world. And we certainly didn’t settle for a or second rate health system; we built the best – we built Medicare.
That is the Australian way; that is the Labor way; and that is the choice I’m asking the Australian people to make on the 3rd of May.
Loud cheering can be heard through the crowd before the PM says:
Labor’s vision for this great country, our plan to build Australia’s future, is not borrowing ideologies or copying policies from anywhere else – or anyone else – it’s about building on what has always been our nation’s greatest strength: the Australian people.
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Updated at 24.51 EDT
Albanese says money for Coalition’s nuclear plan ‘has to come from somewhere’
Sticking with the Coalition’s nuclear plan, Anthony Albanese says the money “has to come from somewhere” and the cuts already outlined are “really a drop in the ocean”.
We know they will sack 41,000 people; we know they will increase income tax for 14 million taxpayers, but even those two measures combined is really a drop in the ocean. $600bn represents more than 18 years of Medicare, or 20 years of schools funding. That money has to come from somewhere.
Never forget the last time a Liberal opposition leader promised no cuts to education, and no cuts to health. They ripped $30bn out of schools, and Peter Dutton himself ripped $50bn out of hospitals, and tried to abolish bulk billing altogether.
My message to every Australian is this: if Peter Dutton won’t tell you what cuts he will make before you vote, if he refuses to say where $600bn for his nuclear reactors will come from, then every other promise that he makes is worthless.
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Updated at 24.46 EDT
PM lambasts Coalition’s nuclear policy, says private sector ‘doesn’t want to touch it with a barge pole’
Anthony Albanese says there is something Peter Dutton rarely talks about during his election campaign – his party’s nuclear plan.
Liberals have spent this campaign talking about abolishing everything from the department of education, the department of health, sacking public servants, banning work from home.
My opponent is happy to talk about measuring up the curtains at Kirribilli house, but there is something he very rarely talks about – the N-word, the cost of his nuclear scheme, and the cuts he will make to pay for it.
The PM said that after a “decade of chaos” and “pushing 23 different energy policies without landing one of them”, the Liberals are now trying to sell a nuclear scheme “that will close manufacturing centres, derail new investment in the regions and drive up power bills for everyone”.
And they will charge the lot of it – the whole $600bn – to the taxpayer, because the private sector doesn’t want to touch their nuclear scheme with a barge pole. Our government has a 43% emissions reduction target 2030. We have legislated net zero by 2050. We have one energy policy, and we are delivering it.
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Updated at 24.43 EDT
Albanese lashes former Liberal governments for digging ‘Australia into a hole on housing’
Anthony Albanese said the Liberals “dug Australia into a hole on housing,” criticising the actions of former governments.
Through a decade in government, the Liberals invested less than $5bn in housing, over an entire decade. Labor is now delivering our $43bn homes for Australia plan, eight times bigger and 100 times better.
He announced that Labor would invest $10bn to build 100,000 new homes reserved for first home buyers only. He continued:
This is the biggest home-building program since postwar housing … The right to a roof over your head, and the aspiration to own your own home, doesn’t belong in the pages of history – it is fundamental to Australia’s future as we go forward.
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Updated at 24.39 EDT
Albanese details Labor’s plan for first home buyers
The prime minister is now moving to Labor’s latest housing announcement – $10bn to help build 100,000 new homes for first home buyers nationwide.
Outlining the plan, Anthony Albanese said:
Under a Labor government, you will be able to buy your first home with just a 5% deposit. [Our] plan will be open to every Australian looking to buy their first home, available for homes valued all the way up to the average price in every city and region – and you won’t have to pay a single dollar in mortgage insurance. Our government will cover it …
The median price of a home in Australia is a roundabout $820,000 – 5% of that is $41,000. The last time $41,000 was enough for deposit was more than two decades ago, way back into 2002. This is a generational change that will empower a new generation of first home buyers.
The PM took aim at the Greens and the Liberal party, saying:
Unlike the Green political party, we don’t think people should have to rent for ever. Unlike the Liberals, we don’t think young Australians should have to sacrifice their superannuation to buy their first home.
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Updated at 24.36 EDT
Labor would create $1000 instant tax deduction, PM says
Anthony Albanese has announced that a re-elected Labor government will create a new $1000 instant tax deduction.
This will guarantee everyone can opt for an automatic tax deduction of $1000 on their work expenses. No paperwork, no box of receipts, no scrolling through your online banking – just tick the box and your return is ready to go.
The PM said that every year, millions of people miss out on claiming deductions they’re entitled to and pay more than they should – and this reform “fixes that – and it fixes it for ever”.
It takes away the hassle of tracking your expenses, especially if you work from home, and it gives you back more of your own money, faster.
Importantly, if you’re in a job where you spend more than $1000 each year on your uniform or equipment, you can still claim a higher deduction in the usual way.
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Updated at 24.34 EDT
PM points to stage three tax cut changes
Anthony Albanese said something he is proud of from the past three years is changing the stage three tax cuts:
We had the courage and conviction to change the tax cuts we inherited to make them better and fairer for low and middle income earners.
This was not a one-off, it does not just disappear. It won’t be replaced a year later by higher taxes on everyone, which is what our opponents are actually offering at this election campaign.
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PM says Australia should not ‘mimic’ US
The prime minister is now drawing comparisons between Liberal policies and those of the United States. He said:
Why on earth would we try to mimic anywhere else? We don’t want a wager system where people have to rely on tips to make ends meet. We don’t want Australian students burdened by a lifetime of debt. And we never ever want an American-style health system in this country.
Anthony Albanese pointed to Peter Dutton’s claim he could have achieved a different outcome on tariffs imposed by the US – something no other country achieved – and said:
Australia’s health system, every bit of it, it is not some bargaining chip, not a commodity, it is part of our identity. This card is green and gold for a reason … That does not happen all around the world; we cannot take it for granted, and a vote for Labor means this card carries even more value.
Anthony Albanese holds up a Medicare card at Labor’s campaign launch. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
As he held up a Medicare card, he pointed to Labor’s previous announcement on the healthcare system:
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Updated at 24.58 EDT
