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News.com.au
25-04-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Australian election 2025: Albanese, Dutton campaigning on day 30 of May 3 election
The Prime Minister and Opposition Leader will ramp on their campaigns on Saturday, after taking a break on Friday to mark Anzac Day. The May 3 election is now entering the final stretch with just seven days of campaigning to go, with a new opinion poll showing Labor is still ahead in key marginal seats – but the outcome is not a done deal, The latest RedBridge-Accent tracking poll of 20 marginal seats, published in News Corp mastheads on Saturday, has found that after weeks of falling, the Coalition vote has stabilised. While the Albanese government remains in an election-winning lead of 54.5 per cent, more of those who have indicated they'll vote Labor could still flip before polling day than Coalition voters. Labor's primary vote remained static on 35 per cent as did the Coalition with 34 per cent with the Greens on 14 and the per cent and other minor parties and independents on 17 per cent. RedBridge director Tony Barry said the large number of undecided voters meant the result was still uncertain. 'The continued large soft vote segment means the Coalition can't be counted out of the fight but the issues performance numbers in this poll indicates that all of Labor's messages are landing, particularly their Mediscare 2.0 campaign,' he said. More than one million Australians have already voted and many pre-poll site are open again on Saturday for early voting. Peter Dutton said the race was not over, with a lot of seats still up for grabs. 'There are literally millions of Australians who are still undecided and I think the next week will allow them to decide whether they want to continue with three more years under Labor,' the Opposition Leader told Nine's Today show on Saturday. 'I think there is a big difference in the mood out there and what silent Australians are thinking as they vote right now and every day until next Saturday. 'I think there is a lot up for grabs, and I think there are a lot of seats still to be decided over the course of the next week.' Anthony Albanese is starting the day in Melbourne, where Labor needs to win or retain its seats, while Mr Dutton is in Cairns, where the Coalition is trying to retain its seat of Leichhardt following the retirement of popular long serving MP, Warren Entsch. 'Unite under one flag': Dutton's call on Welcome to Country Peter Dutton has been asked whether he still supports the Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander flags being dropped in political backdrops after the Welcome to Country was booed in Melbourne. 'In relation to a Welcome to Country, if an organizer of a particular event decides that there's a Welcome to Country, then people can respect that decision,' Mr Dutton said. 'That's an issue for individual events and and people should respect that. 'In relation to the flag, the point I've made about as prime minister, my policy to stand behind one flag is because I want our country to be united under one flag. 'I want our country to be as good as it can be, and we can't be as good as it can be if we're separating people into different groupings. 'Every Australian, whether you came here as a migrant from Greece or from Asia or any part of the world in the 1800s or you came here in 2018 or if you can trace your family tree back 60,000 years, we are all equal Australians, and we can respect the Indigenous flag and the Torres Strait Island flag, but we unite under one flag as every other developed country, comparable country, does, and that's how we can help close the gap. 'It's how we get better outcomes for Australians. The Prime Minister divided our country in relation to the Voice and I don't think the people in Leichardt will forget the fact that the Prime Minister spent $450m on the Voice.' Mr Dutton was also asked about whether he supported former senator Linda Reynolds in her decision to sue the Commonwealth over the Brittany Higgins compensation payment. 'Well that's a decision for her,' he said before abruptly walking out. LNP's controversial 'MAGA' candidate walks back Trump support A controversial LNP candidate whose volunteers were spotted donning MAGA – 'Make Albanese Go Away' – hats at his campaign launch has walked back his praise for US President Donald Trump. Leichhardt candidate Jeremy Neal, who also blamed Mr Trump's 2020 election loss on feminists (before later apologising), said the Republican President's tarrifs had 'really left a sour taste in my mouth'. 'We've got some very good industry up here, particularly in beef and aluminum,' he said. 'The tariffs that have been placed on this recently – I know there's been some changes recently – they have detrimental to our area. 'I obviously support Far North Queensland and making sure these industries can still thrive. 'Those views are very long time ago, and they were deleted a very long time ago, and what matters here at the moment is, when I'm out on the ground, cost of living, the energy crisis going up, is that it's the way of life in Far North Queensland.' Asked if he still supported Mr Trump, Mr Neal added: 'The tarrifs really left a sour taste in my mouth. 'We are obviously have to look look at how we can support our local industries.' Dutton dodges questions about 'MAGA' candidate Peter Dutton has refused to say whether a controversial Queensland LNP candidate's vocal support for Donald Trump would be 'a problem', after he blamed 'feminists' for the Republican President's 2020 election loss. Liberal National Party candidate for Leichardt Jeremy Neal was forced to apologise earlier this month after comments resurfaced about the US election, and in which he called China a 'grub of a country' and criticised Covid measures. Standing next to Mr Neal, the Opposition Leader was asked what he thought of those comments. 'If you have a look at candidates that we've got on offer at this election in Cairns here in Leichhardt, we've got somebody, a paramedic, who served his country for his state and his local community for 15 years as a paramedic,' Mr Dutton said of Mr Neal. 'In Dickson, you've got a candidate who the Prime Minister's endorsed in terms of the neo-nazi pictures and other vile posts that she's supported. 'So, I'm hardly going to take a lecture from the Prime Minister in relation to these matters. 'Ultimately, the contest here in Leichhardt is between a Labor candidate, who's promising to increase the cost of power, promising to increase the cost of groceries, promising to lock young Australians out of housing because they bought a million people in over two years, a 70 per cent increase on any two year period in our country's history. 'And, you've got Jeremy, who has a deep understanding of his local community and has the ability to represent this local community.' Dutton fights for key seat Peter Dutton joined supporters at a breakfast in sunny Cairns on Saturday morning, alongside embattled Coalition candidate Jeremy Neal. The LNP candidate for Leichhardt came under fire earlier in the campaign after volunteers were spotted donning MAGA hats – 'Make Albanese Go Away' – at his campaign launch. Mr Neal was also forced to apologise when old comments resurfaced, in which he called China a 'grub of a country' and blamed feminists for Donald Trump's 2022 election loss. Mr Neal was chosen to succeed outgoing long-term Liberal MP Warren Entsch, who served with only a single interlude from 1996 before retiring, and will go up against Labor's Matt Smith. Mr Dutton was greeted by Mr Neal at a cafe outside the Bar Street Markets in Earlville, where the pair received a warm welcome from supporters. 'There are our boys,' one supporter said. Mr Dutton is hoping to hold onto the marginal tropical Far North Queensland seat, shaking hands as Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up played on an overheard video screen. Speaking to supporters, Mr Dutton admitted it would be a 'tight race' in Leichhardt, calling it a 'powerhouse of tourism and small business enterprise'. On Mr Neal, Mr Dutton told volunteers: 'you have the opportunity to have somebody who will work hard, somebody who will fight hard for this local community, and when you go to pre-poll today, please support your great, wonderful Liberal National Party candidate.' Mr Dutton said the Coalition was also going to make announcements about training and housing. And, for those who are curious, the wannabe next prime minister's cafe order? English breakfast tea with no milk. Black. Albo visits Chinese language school Anthony Albanese has started his day with a visit to a Chinese language school in its must-keep seat of Chisholm in Melbourne's outer suburbs. Carina Garland won the seat in 2022 and holds it on a 3.3 per cent margin. Home Affairs Minister Tony Bourke, Multicultural Affairs Minister Julian Hill and Labor candidate for the neighbouring seat of Menzies Gabriel Ng accompanied the Prime Minister on the visit. Albanese hints at Defence spending boost The Prime Minister has suggested he is open to increasing the Defence budget to go above the target of 2.3 per cent of GDP to be reached over the next decade. The Coalition has gone further, this week announcing its intention to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent, while Australia's richest woman Gina Rinehart entered the debate calling for spending to be 5 per cent. Australia's AUKUS partner, US President Donald Trump, has demanded allies spend 3 per cent or above on defence. In an exclusive interview with The Weekend Australian, Anthony Albanese said any defence spending decisions would be taken in Australia's 'sovereign interest'. 'Australia determines our own position as a sovereign nation,' Mr Albanese said. 'That's our response, and we more than punch above our weight, and have done so, including with our American friends and our allies. 'We have been good allies, loyal allies and good partners, and we expect to be treated as such.' Mr Albanese said if necessary, he would increase the defence budget. 'If we need to invest, it will be based upon, not based upon a magic number, but what are the assets that we need? That's the right question.' Dutton dodges question on Gina's defence call Peter Dutton has avoided directly responding to Gina Rinehart's call to nearly double defence funding to 5 per cent of GDP. Australia's richest woman made the call at an Anzac Day eve event in Sydney on Thursday. Mr Dutton said '(Former Labor leader) Kim Beazley's called for it to be 3 per cent, so there'll be different views out there,' Mr Dutton told the Today Show. Mr Dutton earlier this week announced under Coalition defence policy it would increase the spend to 2.5 per cent of GDP and boost spending by $21bn over the next five years. 'What we know for sure is that Labor's ripped $80bn out of defence, even though the PM says that we live in the most precarious period since the end of the Second World War,' he said. 'So for us, we have to accept the advice and that is that we have to invest into defence to keep us safe and not just for our generation, but for our kids and grandkids as well. 'And that's why we've announced an increase of $21bn over the next five years, which will help acquire the capability and support our men and women in uniform.'
Perth Now
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Shock new poll as campaigns ramp up
The Prime Minister and Opposition Leader will ramp on their campaigns on Saturday, after taking a break on Friday to mark Anzac Day. The May 3 election is now entering the final stretch with just seven days of campaigning to go, with a new opinion poll showing Labor is still ahead in key marginal seats – but the outcome is not a done deal, The latest RedBridge-Accent tracking poll of 20 marginal seats, published in News Corp mastheads on Saturday, has found that after weeks of falling, the Coalition vote has stabilised. While Labor remains an election-winning lead of 54.5 per cent, its vote remains much softer than the Coalition's. Anthony Albanese will resume campaigning in Melbourne on Saturday. Mark Stewart / NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia A new poll shows a number of voters are still undecided, but Peter Dutton and the Coalition are behind. Richard Dobson / NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia Labor's primary vote remained static on 35 per cent as did the Coalition with 34 per cent with the Greens on 14 and the per cent and other minor parties and independents on 17 per cent. RedBridge director Tony Barry said the large number of undecided voters meant the result was still uncertain. 'The continued large soft vote segment means the Coalition can't be counted out of the fight but the issues performance numbers in this poll indicates that all of Labor's messages are landing, particularly their Mediscare 2.0 campaign,' he said. More than one million Australians have already voted and many pre-poll site are open again on Saturday for early voting. NED-13123 Key seats Anthony Albanese is starting the day in Melbourne, where Labor needs to win or retain its seats, while Peter Dutton is in Cairns, where the Coalition is trying to retain its seat of Leichhardt following the retirement of popular long serving MP, Warren Entsch. Dutton fights for key seat Peter Dutton will join supporters at a breakfast in sunny Cairns on Saturday morning, alongside embattled Coalition candidate Jeremy Neal. The LNP candidate for Leichhardt came under fire earlier in the campaign after volunteers were spotted donning MAGA hats – 'Make Albanese Go Away' – at his campaign launch. NED-13123 QLD Federal election key seats Mr Neal was also forced to apologise when old comments resurfaced, in which he called China a 'grub of a country' and blamed feminists for Donald Trump's 2022 election loss. Mr Neal was chosen to succeed outgoing long-term Liberal MP Warren Entsch, who served with only a single interlude from 1996 before retiring, and will go up against Labor's Matt Smith. Mr Dutton was greeted by Mr Neal at a cafe outside the Bar Street Markets in Earlville, where the pair received a warm welcome from supporters. 'There are our boys,' one supporter said. Mr Dutton is hoping to hold onto the marginal tropical Far North Queensland seat, shaking hands as Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up played on an overheard video screen. Speaking to supporters, Mr Dutton admitted it would be a 'tight race' in Leichhardt, calling it a 'powerhouse of tourism and small business enterprise'. On Mr Neal, Mr Dutton told volunteers: 'you have the opportunity to have somebody who will work hard, somebody who will fight hard for this local community, and when you go to pre-poll today, please support your great, wonderful Liberal National Party candidate.' Mr Dutton said the Coalition was also going to make announcements about training and housing. And, for those who are curious, the wannabe next prime minister's cafe order? English breakfast tea with no milk. Black. More to come
West Australian
25-04-2025
- Politics
- West Australian
Australian election 2025: Albanese, Dutton campaigning on day 30 of May 3 election
The Prime Minister and Opposition Leader will ramp on their campaigns on Saturday, after taking a break on Friday to mark Anzac Day. The May 3 election is now entering the final stretch with just seven days of campaigning to go, with a new opinion poll showing Labor is still ahead in key marginal seats – but the outcome is not a done deal, The latest RedBridge-Accent tracking poll of 20 marginal seats, published in News Corp mastheads on Saturday, has found that after weeks of falling, the Coalition vote has stabilised. While Labor remains an election-winning lead of 54.5 per cent, its vote remains much softer than the Coalition's. Labor's primary vote remained static on 35 per cent as did the Coalition with 34 per cent with the Greens on 14 and the per cent and other minor parties and independents on 17 per cent. RedBridge director Tony Barry said the large number of undecided voters meant the result was still uncertain. 'The continued large soft vote segment means the Coalition can't be counted out of the fight but the issues performance numbers in this poll indicates that all of Labor's messages are landing, particularly their Mediscare 2.0 campaign,' he said. More than one million Australians have already voted and many pre-poll site are open again on Saturday for early voting. NED-13123 Key seats Anthony Albanese is starting the day in Melbourne, where Labor needs to win or retain its seats, while Peter Dutton is in Cairns, where the Coalition is trying to retain its seat of Leichhardt following the retirement of popular long serving MP, Warren Entsch. Dutton fights for key seat Peter Dutton will join supporters at a breakfast in sunny Cairns on Saturday morning, alongside embattled Coalition candidate Jeremy Neal. The LNP candidate for Leichhardt came under fire earlier in the campaign after volunteers were spotted donning MAGA hats – 'Make Albanese Go Away' – at his campaign launch. NED-13123 QLD Federal election key seats Mr Neal was also forced to apologise when old comments resurfaced, in which he called China a 'grub of a country' and blamed feminists for Donald Trump's 2022 election loss. Mr Neal was chosen to succeed outgoing long-term Liberal MP Warren Entsch, who served with only a single interlude from 1996 before retiring, and will go up against Labor's Matt Smith. Mr Dutton was greeted by Mr Neal at a cafe outside the Bar Street Markets in Earlville, where the pair received a warm welcome from supporters. 'There are our boys,' one supporter said. Mr Dutton is hoping to hold onto the marginal tropical Far North Queensland seat, shaking hands as Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up played on an overheard video screen. Speaking to supporters, Mr Dutton admitted it would be a 'tight race' in Leichhardt, calling it a 'powerhouse of tourism and small business enterprise'. On Mr Neal, Mr Dutton told volunteers: 'you have the opportunity to have somebody who will work hard, somebody who will fight hard for this local community, and when you go to pre-poll today, please support your great, wonderful Liberal National Party candidate.' Mr Dutton said the Coalition was also going to make announcements about training and housing. And, for those who are curious, the wannabe next prime minister's cafe order? English breakfast tea with no milk. Black. More to come
West Australian
22-04-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Federal election 2025 leaders' debate three: Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton make it personal in fiery clash
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have clashed on healthcare and who has plans for cuts but avoided questions over serious structural budget repair in a lively debate as voters head to the polls. The leaders were pushed on the state of the budget and Australia's economic future but neither could articulate a long-term plan for dealing with the sky-high debt or forecast years of deficits. This was the third time the pair have come together to debate and the toll of the campaign was showing, with each getting under the other's skin with increasingly personal attacks. Although the host said she didn't want to see a regurgitation of talking points, there were still plenty aired. Both leaders also ignored questions they didn't want to answer, and accusations of lies continued to be tossed around like confetti. An opportunity to debunk the biggest lie their opponent was telling showed where each leader's sensitive spots were. 'Just one?' Mr Dutton asked. He started with Labor's claim nuclear power would cost $600 billion – although his awkwardly worded answer almost avoided saying 'nuclear' – and shifted across to the Mediscare 2.0 campaign the Liberals have been complaining about. Notably, Mr Albanese didn't repeat the $600 billion figure later in the debate when the questioning turned to energy policy. 'There have been a lot of lies told by Labor over the course of this campaign, but I don't think Australians are stupid. I think they see through it,' Mr Dutton said. The Prime Minister immediately picked up on Mr Dutton's accusation that bulk-billing rates were in free-fall, saying that was the case under years of frozen rebates instituted by the Coalition but things were turning around. This prompted a lively exchange over healthcare, the same point the leaders have clashed over in their other two debates. Mr Dutton put in a stronger performance than in the previous two bouts. He had a sharper response this time to the accusation that he cut $50 billion from hospitals as health minister, insisting that the funding still increased every year. 'What you're saying is that it should have gone up by a bit more each year, and that's what you describe as a cut,' he said. Mr Albanese responded: 'No, you described it as a cut. The 2014 budget described it as a cut.' Mr Dutton then said the Prime Minister 'couldn't lie straight in bed, honestly; this is unbelievable', prompting his opponent to say that resorting to personal abuse was 'a sign of desperation'. Mr Albanese made multiple definitive promises throughout the hour, which his colleagues will be hoping won't come back to bite him down the track. This included saying couples on average wages would be able to afford homes under his plans, that 'we certainly want people to be better off in three years' time', and that bulk billing rates would rise. On the latter, he repeated the one-word answer he used about real increases to minimum wages in the 2022 campaign. Asked if he would stake his prime ministership on bulk-billing rates rising, Mr Albanese said: 'absolutely.' 'We have a plan … what we've done with the tripling of the bulk-billing incentive for concession card holders, we know that that worked in lifting the rates for concession card holders. When we do that, it will lift the rates right across the board,' he said. He cited the example of the doctor's clinic he visited in Tasmania last week which announced while he was there that it planned to bulk-bill every patient once the new incentives were in place. The leaders also clashed in what was supposed to be a rapid fire round of questions, stalling on what deals Labor may or may not do with the Greens in the event of a hung Parliament. Mr Albanese insisted there wouldn't be any deals with the Greens. Mr Dutton said Labor would 'fall over themselves' to do one. 'It's just an untruth put forward by Peter, who's part of a coalition. The only party that's trying to form government in our own right is the Australian Labor Party,' Mr Albanese retorted. For his part, Mr Dutton said in the event of a hung parliament the Coalition would not deal with the Greens, but it would seek backing from crossbench independents. Both leaders supported four-year terms of Parliament (although Mr Albanese thought Mr Dutton would 'never back a referendum' to make it happen) and protecting children from the harms of social media, and agreed they were punching above their weight in terms of their partners and families. Mr Dutton conceded that his pre-politics career as a policeman had made him 'hardened', saying everyone who entered parliament was shaped by their life experiences. 'I've always been serious in my public life, as a police officer and since I've been in parliament, in protecting people, and I'm very genuine about that,' he said. Mr Albanese said he had repeatedly shown himself capable of making tough decisions. 'Kindness isn't weakness,' he said. 'I've been in public life, like Peter, for a long period of time and you don't get to be Prime Minister and to lead the Labor Party without a toughness. It's a tough forum.' On budget repair, Mr Dutton reiterated that he would have to wait until winning government to get a proper look at the books, saying outlining a full budget was 'not something you can do from opposition' and painting himself in the model of John Howard. He also attacked the two surpluses Labor boasts of, saying they only came about because of persistently high iron ore prices. 'People will have their different trigger points but people know that a Coalition government more effectively manages the economy,' he said. 'If we do that, we can bring inflation down. We can help families get through this godawful period of the last three years and help get their own budgets back on track.' Mr Albanese pointed out the last Coalition government was Tony Abbott's, not Mr Howard's, and accused Mr Dutton of hiding plans to cut with this approach. 'There will be cuts afterwards, he's just confirmed that, but they won't tell you what they are. Now, that's just not being fair dinkum,' he said. Asked about his own plans for structural budget repair, Mr Albanese pointed to the $95 billion in savings Labor has found over the past three years and the way it has lowered debt by $178 billion, saving taxpayers tens of billions in interest payments. 'We have shown our economic responsibility,' he said. 'We didn't promise a surplus, but we've delivered. We'll continue to work on savings, continue to produce value. That's because we understand how important it is.' After all the sledging, the evening ended with kind words after each leader was asked to name three things they admired about their opponent. 'We only ever prepare one,' Mr Dutton quipped, although he managed to think of two.
