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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.
āReady to go?ā he asks and when asked in return if heās ready, Albanese says: āYou bet. Born ready.ā
Key events
The slick new campaign videos are out and being disseminated across social media.
Laborās slogan is ābuilding Australiaās future togetherā, and features a greatest hits list ā starting with the tax cuts announced in the budget, energy bill relief and medicare funding.
The tone is positive ā and similar to what Albanese conveyed during his address earlier this morning to announce the election.
Thereās also a plug for free Tafe courses, Laborās housing plan, as well as wages going up and inflation coming down.
Albanese says itās not a time for ācuttingā and āwreckingā (no doubt words youāll 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 Albaneseās press conference).
There are a different number of bangs for different occasions but I believe this morning we heard 19.
PM says he and Trump have āconstructive relationshipā
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 theyāve been claiming:
Iāve 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 thereās been a few heās missed which has enabled him to continue to not talk about facts.
PM wants āa campaign about policy substance and about hopeā
Thereās no doubt this will be a tight campaign, and we already know a lot of the battleground issues this will be fought on.
Weāve also seen plenty of personal attacks levelled up against both sides ā so does Anthony Albanese believe this will be a clean campaign or a big scare campaign?
He immediately says Duttonās budget reply was āall about fearā, but then pivots to say he wants a campaign about āhope and optimismā.
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 itās also when I walk into a G20 meeting, I know that Australia has that fair ethos of looking after each otherā¦
Look at the relationships that weāve 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.
Albanese joins Ukraine call overnight with ācoalition of the willingā
Overnight the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has discussed a possible āreassurance forceā in Ukraine, and Albanese reveals he participated in that meeting with the ācoalition of the willingā.
He says Labor is āprepared to give consideration to being part of the actions of democratic countriesā.
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 leadersā meeting held a couple of weeks ago. I want to make it very clear: Australia stands with Ukraineā¦
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.
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 thereās 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 – weāve 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. Theyāre gone under Peter Dutton.
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 āmaking sure we work on the energy transitionā.
Thereās not exactly a clear answer to the question on what will happen to power prices ā 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 whatās 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.
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 heāll serve out a full term as prime minister if Labor wins a second term, he says:
Yes
PM: āvote Labor so we can keep building Australiaās future togetherā
Albanese ends his pitch saying being prime minister has been the āgreatest honourā 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 ā building on our nationās 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, Iām 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. Iām asking you to vote Labor so we can keep building Australiaās future together
PM warns against return to Coalitionās past āfailuresā
The PM is pitching up what he would probably call Laborās greatest hits of the past three years, and biggest announcements from the budget.
Heās focusing on the ātop upā 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 whatās happening elsewhere in the world. The biggest risk to Australiaās 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.
Albanese says choice is clear and āyour vote has never been more importantā
The prime minister is giving his pitch to the Australian public ā shaping up the choice between Labor and the Coalition.
Albanese says Australia is āturning the cornerā ā 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 Laborās plan to keep building or Peter Duttonās promise to cut. That is the choice. That is your choice.
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.
āReady to go?ā he asks and when asked in return if heās ready, Albanese says: āYou bet. Born ready.ā
Analyst casts doubt on Dutton gas plan
The other key element of the Coalitionās gas plan is to bring more gas fields online.
Earlier on RN, the director of Climate Energy Finance, Tim Buckley, said thereās not really much new gas to tap intoā¦
He [Dutton] also says the only way to drive down power prices quickly is to ramp up domestic gas production. So the idea that weāre just going to somehow have the gas industry find a whole lot of new gas production to ramp up ā there are no new gas fields imminent. So without a very big regulatory stick, the devilās 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 ādisagreesā 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.
McDonald says Coalition gas policy will āpush down priceā
Letās go further into the gas reservation policy ā 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 Coalitionās 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. Thatās 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.
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, āThis is a choice between higher taxes under Peter Dutton or lower taxes under Labor,ā while Ley argues, āThis election is about who can manage the economy better. Who can help Australians to get ahead.ā
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 āmake a correction to the train wreck of a policyā from the government.
But Clare argues their policy is a āconā.
Weāve been able to secure six times as much gas as Peter Dutton was talking about reserving last night. Weāve reduced the cost of gas from 30 bucks a gigajoule to 12 bucks.
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.
Paterson ācomfortableā on government intervention for gas supply
The main announcement from last nightās budget reply is for an east coast gas reservation.
James Paterson is asked whether heās comfortable with the Coalition engaging with that kind of government intervention (something the party has typically rejected).
He tells News Breakfast heās āentirely comfortableā because thereās an important principal ā that gas from Australia should be for āAustralians firstā.
Itās 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 āLabor is the party of lower taxesā as a big dig at the opposition?), Paterson says:
Actually weāre arguing for lower taxes [in] a more targeted and effective way thatās going to make a bigger difference to families who really need it, to Australians who are struggling.
James Paterson says PM āhas decided to shareā 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.
Heās asked whether the election being called has blown Peter Duttonās budget reply āout of the waterā.
Paterson says āperhapsā 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.