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.
Adam Bandt: the major parties’ offering is ‘about as attractive as a dead fish’. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 19.25 EDT
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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:
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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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Updated at 19.32 EDT
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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Updated at 19.29 EDT
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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Updated at 19.23 EDT
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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Updated at 19.17 EDT
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.
Adam Bandt: the major parties’ offering is ‘about as attractive as a dead fish’. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 19.25 EDT
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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Updated at 18.58 EDT
Opposition’s video embraces the gloom
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 starts 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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Updated at 18.54 EDT
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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Updated at 18.49 EDT
You can watch back on Anthony Albanese announcing the election for 3 May here:
Election 2025: Australian PM Anthony Albanese announces poll date with pitch to voters – videoShare
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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Updated at 18.14 EDT
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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Updated at 18.21 EDT
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.
Anthony Albanese at this morning’s press conference announcing the 3 May election date. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare
Updated at 18.18 EDT
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.
The aftermath of a Russian nighttime drone attack in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Thursday. Photograph: Global Images Ukraine/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 18.20 EDT
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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Updated at 17.31 EDT
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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Updated at 17.46 EDT
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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Updated at 17.21 EDT
