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.
“Ready to go?” he asks and when asked in return if he’s ready, Albanese says: “You bet. Born ready.”
Key events
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 Peter 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.
Opposition’s video embraces the gloomy
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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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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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 Albanese’s 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 ‘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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
