Dutton says Liberals will ‘get budget in position’ to index tax brackets but offers no timeline or conditions
The opposition leader is tested on his comments to “aspirationally” index tax brackets in the future when a future government could afford it.
We will get the budget in a position where we will index the brackets.
It’s a promise that has no timeline, and no conditions, other than the budget being “in a position” to afford it.
As mentioned earlier, the Hunter is an area that has been earmarked as one of the seven sites that the Coalition would build a nuclear plant. It’s been noted by commentators aplenty that Dutton hasn’t spent a lot of time talking about the nuclear policy, and has focused a lot more on gas.
Today he’s talking energy, but still focusing on gas:
We can get in, put our medium-term strategy in place which is to bring Australian gas into the domestic market, to help Australians bring down the cost of groceries and bring down the cost of electricity because natural gas is a big component in generating electricity. If we can do that we can bring the price pressures down in the economy.
Key events
Measles warning issued for greater Melbourne area
Stepping away from the campaign for a moment, Victoria’s chief health officer has issued a health update, warning of an increased risk of measles in the greater Melbourne area.
Dr Tarun Weeramanthri says a number of new exposure sites have been identified, and a growing number of measles cases have acquired their infection locally in Victoria.
He also says there’s an ongoing risk of measles being imported into the state by travellers returning from overseas or interstate.
You can see the full warning and list of exposure sites in greater Melbourne and Gippsland here.
Australia drops in OECD development assistance rankings
Australia is one of the least generous countries when it comes to aid, Oxfam says, after Australia dropped in the rankings of OECD development assistance.
The OECD ranks aid from 33 countries in the development assistance committee by the amount of money spent and money spent as a proportion of GNI (gross national income).
International aid from official donors fell in 2024 for the first time in five years, data showed, by 7.1% in real terms. In 2023, Australia ranked 14th on total aid, providing US$3.25bn, and ranked 27th in proportions spending only 0.19% of GNI.
The latest data shows Australia’s ranking remains 14th, providing US$3.32bn, but fell two places to 29th with a proportion of 0.19%.
Oxfam Australia’s acting chief executive, Dr Chrisanta Muli, called on the government to keep pace with other countries, and said Australia “continues to lag behind on aid” in a world of “increased and growing need”:
Australia continues to be among the least generous countries when it comes to aid and has in fact fallen two places in a ranking of OECD countries. Outside of the OECD, Australia trails behind countries like Malta and Croatia who give more as a proportion of their economies.
We are calling for the next Australian government to lift its aid contribution from 0.65% to 1% of overall spending so we can meet the challenges we are facing both in the region and beyond.
As a comparison, in 2024, Norway spent 1.02% of GNI on official development aid, while the US was ranked first on overall spend, providing US$63.3bn in aid that year. (This, of course, is prior to Donald Trump’s sweeping aid cuts in early 2025).
Today on the campaign trail, through the lens
You never know what might happen in a public place on the election trail, but it seems like there were all smiles at the Paddo, a pub in Brisbane where Albanese and Chalmers made a stopover this afternoon.
But like this ball, the election is still up in the air for both parties (sorry, not sorry).
Meanwhile, in the Hunter, Peter Dutton is fuelling up again (a truck, that is) at another petrol station. I’ve lost count now of how many he’s visited!
It’s been a long week (which if you’re getting the Easter weekend off, is now mostly over) and a fair bit has happened over the last few days of the campaign.
If you haven’t been following every second of the campaign – or need to relive it – James Colley has done the hard yards for you and has all the key moments from the week. You can watch it here:
Josh Taylor
Labor matches Coalition pledge of $6m to the Alannah and Madeline foundation for student digital literacy
Labor has announced a reelected Albanese government will fund digital literacy for school children with $6m to be provided to the Alannah and Madeline foundation.
The eSmart program, which 100,000 students have already been through to receive a digital licence, is for children aged 10 to 14 to teach digital literacy skills like being respectful online, using social media and protecting their privacy.
It’s unclear if the program will need to change as the children in the age group covered by the program are facing being banned from using social media under the federal government’s policy by December this year.
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, said:
Keeping children safe online is a priority of the Albanese government and we are continuing to invest in the tried-and-tested tools.
Digital and media literacy are critical skills for all students and this funding ensures schools have the resources to empower young people to stay safe online.
No parent and no school should have to pay to get access to the evidence-based resources needed to keep children safe. This is why we have supported the eSmart initiative in 2022, and why we are proud to continue to do so.
The Coalition also announced $6m for the foundation yesterday.
Turnbull: ‘negative gearing is examined by every government’
The former PM (and well-known lover of weighing in on political issues) Malcolm Turnbull has weighed into the issue of how the government received advice on negative gearing and capital gains tax.
The opposition has accused the prime minister of lying over advice that the Treasury department provided to the government on negative gearing. The PM last night denied the government had done modelling, and Chalmers said today he “sought a view” from his department on issues that were in “the public domain” around September last year.
Turnbull has gone to X (formerly Twitter) to say that “negative gearing is examined by every government”:
OK, to save time – negative gearing is examined by every government. It is a major tax concession and always contentious and so it is always looked at – what does it cost? What would particular changes mean in terms of revenue and housing affordability[?]
There are many pages in my memoir describing the detailed consideration of negative gearing that went on in my government in which Peter Dutton was a cabinet minister.
Okay to save time – negative gearing is examined by every government. It is a major tax concession and always contentious and so it is always looked at – what does it cost? What would particular changes mean in terms of revenue and housing affordability. There are many pages in…
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) April 17, 2025
Sarah Basford Canales
Price calls media ‘obsessed’ with Trump
Nampijinpa Price also turned her sights on the media, who she accused of being “obsessed” with Trump over the weekend.
Although the media asked me whether my comments were an endorsement of Trumpian policy, they didn’t want to know the answer. Because despite my unequivocal answer that the Coalition would govern Australia for Australians, those comments didn’t make the headlines because they didn’t fit the separatist narrative.”
In her opinion piece, the senator claimed the media was “dumbing down” the comment she made by linking it to Trump’s rally cry.
Guardian Australia revealed on Sunday Nampijinpa Price had posted an image wearing a “make America great again” Christmas hat with her partner in December 2024, while holding a mini Trump tree decoration. Nampijinpa Price clarified the items had been gifts.
As an aside, the media also bears the burden of having made gifts I got at Christmas somehow more important than the cost-of-living crisis.
You can read more on that story here:
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price doubles down on ‘Make Australia Great Again’ slogan
Sarah Basford Canales
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has doubled down on her “make Australia great again” comment made over the weekend – echoing the slogan Donald Trump popularised in his presidential election campaigns.
In an opinion piece in The Australia earlier today, the outspoken Northern Territory senator accused the media of a “pile-on” and “dumbing down” the statement by querying its association with the US president.
While the Coalition signalled intentions to enact Trump-like policies – such as slashing “government waste” and diversity and inclusion roles – before the election was called, Peter Dutton and his frontbench have sought to distance themselves from comparisons in the wake of the US administration’s unpopular decision to place tariffs on Australian exports.
On Saturday, Nampijinpa Price told a party rally she wanted to “make Australia great again” before finishing with the Coalition’s actual campaign slogan to “get Australia back on track”.
The opposition’s Indigenous affairs spokesperson wrote today “what I meant by that was exactly what I said” and “I want our country’s trajectory to begin to point true north again … dare I say it, greatness”.
Dutton says ‘I won’t be able to meet every Australian’ and claims coal necessary to ‘keep the lights on’
While Dutton is an area that’s been slated for a nuclear site, he hasn’t actually visited the coal-fired power station that would be replaced under the Coalition’s plan.
A reporter asks why he hasn’t visited one, and whether he’ll meet residents in those areas who are concerned about earthquakes as well as what will happen to those areas between coal plants shutting down and nuclear coming online.
He says he can’t meet everyone.
I want to be clear about that. I won’t be able to meet every Australian.
Dutton cites other countries like France, Canada and the UK who all generate nuclear power and says there will be opportunities through nuclear to create new jobs.
He also says Labor have been forced to keep coal-fired power stations going to keep the lights on:
You have seen Labor extending the life of coal-fired power stations and will see … the government extending [them] more because they know that if they don’t, the lights are going out. This is the problem.
Those who work in the coal sector know that there is almost 80% transfer of those skills into the construction and operating phase [of nuclear].
Dutton rules out changes to GST
Dutton is asked whether he would consider any other tax reform like changes to the goods and services tax.
The opposition leader says “no”.
No in relation to GST is the answer… The indexation of tax brackets is … a fundamental change in the system but it is not replacing the income tax system with a new system.
Dutton avoids questions over migration and staffing levels in aged and disability care
The Coalition has promised to cut permanent migration levels and Dutton is asked about whether there will also be a cut in aged care and NDIS workers from overseas. There have been calls to expand programs to get more care workers into the country to deal with staff shortages.
Dutton doesn’t exactly answer the question, and says that he sat down with the government to support “sensible reforms”.
He says the Coalition wants to have a “well-managed migration program to prioritise the workers who are required for a system”, and adds that the Coalition has also promised to cut international students to deal with the housing crisis.
Dutton claims tech companies like Apple and Microsoft willing to spend billions on nuclear-powered data centres
Dutton says companies like Apple and Microsoft are willing to spend billions of dollars on data centres that can be attached to nuclear plants. He says the plants can “rejuvenate” areas where coal fired power stations are being retired.
He cites data centres in the US where those tech companies are having conversations with nuclear power providers:
The beauty of an investment like nuclear into the Hunter region for example is you can attract the data centres which is exactly what is happening in the US. Apple and Oracle and Microsoft, or these companies are willing to spend tens of billions of dollars but they are only having conversations with nuclear power providers.
Dutton on Labor’s legislated tax cuts
Dutton is asked whether the Coalition will still repeal the tax cut top-ups that were legislated during budget week, that will come into effect in 2026. Dutton repeats the line that the cuts only save 70 cents a day for taxpayers.
He plugs the fuel excise cut and $1,200 one-off tax offset that the Coalition has promised as better options.
Dutton asserts he would be able to get a deal with Trump
Where would we be without some questions on Donald Trump?
Picking up on Dutton’s comments from last night that he doesn’t know Donald Trump, but would still be able to secure a better deal for Australia, Dutton is asked whether he “trusts” the US president.
Dutton won’t say either way if he trusts Trump, and reiterates that he’ll “work with whoever is in the oval office”:
I demonstrated my capacity to work with the Obama administration, we worked closely with the Biden administration… [there’s] a lot we have done in the defence and security space as I did as defence minister when negotiating the Aukus deal underpinning the security for the next century and we will work with the Trump Administration.
He turns back to criticising the US ambassador, Kevin Rudd, calling him a “persona non grata” with the Trump administration. He adds: “I suspect in that relationship there is very little trust.”
Asked again why he’d be able to get a deal if he doesn’t know Trump, Dutton says it’s because the Coalition did it last time – of course last time several countries got tariff exemptions, and this time not one country has.
There is a lot we can sell into the United States and I think the prime minister last night [did] not have even the basics about what critical minerals would look like as part of the relationship.
Dutton steers clear of gender question
The opposition leader is asked about a ruling by the British supreme court, defining a woman as a biological female. He’s asked if thats the “right call”.
Dutton, perhaps deterred by previous debates on the issue at the last election, won’t bite.
That is a matter before the British courts, I’ve not seen the detail of the case and not something front of mind at this election. This election is about who do you trust to manage the economy…
Dutton again claims public cannot trust PM on negative gearing
Again, in response to a question on whether indexing tax brackets is a clear commitment, Dutton says “it is an aspiration”.
But there’s no more clarity on when this could happen, when the budget has forecast deficits for the next decade.
Dutton says he wants to “clear up the mess of Labor” to then change the tax system:
It is an aspiration. I want to clear up the mess of Labor and pay down the debt of Labor and get ourselves into a position where we can have a tax system fit for purpose.
He then turns to negative gearing and capital gains tax, and the Treasury’s advice on changing those.
To recap, Chalmers had said that work had been done, but the prime minister first denied that and then said it hadn’t been commissioned by the government. Dutton says:
The Australian public cannot trust this prime minister because he does not tell the truth… his department and the Department of Treasury have commissioned work to abolish negative gearing and abolish the capital gains discount, that would devastate the housing industry even more.
Dutton: ‘I believe in climate change and that is a reality’
Dutton is asked next about his comments on climate change and why he won’t say himself that climate change is happening and getting worse. He says he believes in climate change:
I believe in climate change and that is a reality, it is widely adopted, our position in relation to net zero by 2050.
He now brings up nuclear power as part of the Coalition’s plan to get to net zero by 2050:
We are a party that wants to deliver reliable power … cheaper power and meet our emission reductions. And that is demonstrated in our policy around nuclear.
He doesn’t say any more about the impacts of climate change and natural disasters in Australia.
You might have missed his less forthright comments last night – here they are.
