Australia election 2025 live: Dutton claims veterans don’t want welcome to country at Anzac Day dawn services | Australia news

Dan Jervis-Bardy

Australia’s Voice candidate accuses Albanese of Gaza genocide complicity

Albanese is not wasting a minute on the hustings today.

He spent all of five minutes at an Eastwood early poll station with the Bennelong MP, Jerome Laxale, before the campaign caravan moved on.

Next stop is another polling station, this time in the suburb of Padstow in the seat of Banks.

As Albanese greeted voters, he was heckled by Emanie Darwiche, a NSW senate candidate for Australia’s Voice – the party founded by ex-Labor senator Fatima Payman.

Darwiche said the government was “complicit” in the genocide in Gaza.

“You are a hypocrite to the Australian Labor party,” she said.

Payman had a spectacular falling out with Labor after crossing the floor to support a Greens motion calling for Palestinian recognition.

The seat of Banks is held by the shadow foreign minister, David Coleman, on a margin of 2.6%.

Labor’s candidate is former diplomat Zhi Soon.

Bandt says ‘only non negotiable’ for the Greens in case of minority government is not supporting Dutton

Adam Bandt has been asked about whether the Greens’ support for reforms to negative gearing laws to assist with housing affordability were a “non-negotiable” in discussions it might have with a Labor minority government.

“The only non negotiable thing for us is that we’re not going to support Peter Dutton,” Bandt said on Seven News. “He would be worse.”

Bandt said the Greens would negotiate in “good faith”, but would push to “see how far we can get and have the discussion” around reforming negative gearing, citing the Greens success with getting dental for children on Medicare through the parliament during the last minority Labor government.

“We’d go into any discussions in good faith, right? We know what the problem is,” said Bandt, who called the housing policies put forward during the campaign by the two big parties as a “dumpster fire of bad ideas that are going to push up house prices”.

Bandt said the Greens would look to protect people who had one investment property in addition to their family home, but that tax breaks for people with multiple investment properties should be reformed.

We’ve got first home buyers, younger generations, turning up at an auction, trying to bid with their life savings and next to them is someone who’s got five properties, who’s got a big cheque in their pocket from Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton. If we could wind that back even a bit, it would make a big difference to first home buyers …

What we did last time, for example, where there was a minority parliament, we went in there – we want to get dental into Medicare for everyone – we got it in for kids. That was a good start. Similarly with this, we know there’s people in government, even in the opposition, who know that these tax handouts for property investors aren’t working … So we’ll go in and see how far we can get and have the discussion.

Bandt says he won’t take lectures from Dutton, after opposition leader calls Greens a ‘Jew-hating party’

Adam Bandt has responded to comments from opposition leader Peter Dutton who called the Greens an “antisemitic, Jew-hating party” at a press conference just an hour ago, saying he will not “take lectures from someone who has made a career out of punching down”.

In reference to Labor’s preferencing of the Greens across many electorates, Dutton told reporters:

This is an antisemitic, Jew-hating party. They have been involved in all sorts of horrible doxing and comments online that are repugnant but not repudiated by the prime minister

Asked about those comments in an interview on Seven News, Bandt, the Greens leader, said:

I’m not going to take lectures from someone who has made a career out of punching down and hurting marginalised communities in an attempt to win votes, because that’s what Peter Dutton has done, and he continues to do it to this day. We have been crystal clear. Australia is a multicultural society. We have always opposed antisemitism, Islamophobia, any form of racism. But we’ve also said clearly, look, armies have got to stop killing children. We are seeing a slaughter in Gaza. And we’re just saying really, really simply that the bombing has to stop.

Dutton won’t say if Fowler candidate should be disendorsed, calls ACT’s Barr ‘incompetent’

Asked again by another reporter about whether the Liberal candidate in Fowler, Vivek Singha, should be told to stand down or be disendorsed, Dutton won’t say.

I answered that question earlier.

However, he hasn’t said if the candidate should be stood down. Reporters had asked whether he was still an appropriate candidate, but Dutton only said that Singha had apologised, “and so he should have”.

Another reporter asks about ACT chief minister Andrew Barr’s comments that the Coalition’s public servants policy would put the territory into a recession.

Dutton again won’t address the question, and accuses Barr of being, “one of the most incompetent economic managers that Labor has produced.”

Dutton calls the Greens an ‘antisemitic, Jew-hating party’

Earlier on in the press conference, Dutton accused the Greens of being an “antisemitic, Jew-hating party”.

In reference to Labor’s preferencing of the Greens across many electorates, Dutton said:

This is an antisemitic, Jew-hating party. They have been involved in all sorts of horrible doxing and comments online that are repugnant but not repudiated by the prime minister

Dutton is then asked whether Anzac dawn ceremonies are “significant” enough to hold welcome to country ceremonies.

Dutton says “no”.

No. It is ultimately for the organisers of the events, and they can make the decision based on their membership and what their board wants to do …

Anzac Day is about our veterans, about 103,000 Australians who have died in the service of our country. I think if you are listening to their sentiment, and we are respectful of that sentiment on Anzac Day, I think the majority view would be that they don’t want it on that day.

This debate was sparked by hecklers booing the welcome to country ceremony at the Anzac day dawn ceremony in Melbourne on Friday.

All political leaders condemned the booing, but there’s been a pretty big difference in the responses about whether that ceremony should still take place during an Anzac day service.

Albanese was asked about it on 2GB and said the ceremony was “a matter of respect”.

Dutton: welcome to country OK for ‘significant’ events, not for landing of Qantas planes

Last night, Peter Dutton called welcome to country ceremonies “overdone”. This morning he is asked when it’s appropriate to have those ceremonies.

Dutton says a “significant event” like the opening of parliament would warrant a ceremony, and hammers his point that he only wants to stand in front of one flag.

I want to provide support to practical reconciliation. The prime minister’s policy is to please inner-city greens, which is not something we signed up to.

Dutton is later pushed on whether Qantas, whose staff announce an acknowledgment of country when their planes land, is an example of “overdoing it”.

Dutton says:

I think that is over the top. I have been very clear about that.

Should Qantas abandon the acknowledgment?

I think it should be reserved for significant events of our country

Dutton says Coalition not planning road user charges for EVs

Dutton is asked about whether the Coalition is considering a road user charge on electric vehicles.

He says there are no plans to do that:

No, we don’t have plans in relation to that. Labor has spoken about it at a state level and maybe there is some policy that the government has got.

This debate has been going on for a long period of time in other parts of the world as well. We don’t have any proposal in relation to the tax.

Yesterday Bridget McKenzie wouldn’t rule it out, and neither would shadow energy minister Ted O’Brien this morning, who told ABC RN Breakfast, “We’ve made no decision on that. It’s certainly one of the big challenges for the next government”.

But shadow finance minister Jane Hume who was also on morning media, said the Coalition had no plans to change those road user charge rules.

Dutton doesn’t detail migration cuts but won’t ‘prioritise yoga teachers’

Our reporter Josh Butler follows up on that earlier question about where the Coalition’s migration cuts will come from.

Dutton says Albanese hadn’t spoken about his “big Australia policy” before the election.

We will cut the migration program, the permanent program by 25% and we will provide the settings once we have the economic advice in government. We have said we want to prioritise tradesmen and women who bring skills in to help build the houses. We won’t prioritise yoga teachers.

Where will the Coalition’s cuts to migration come from?

So far, the Coalition has left some holes in its policy for where exactly they’ll cut migration numbers.

They’ve promised permanent migration will drop by 25% next year under a Coalition government, and have said they’ll reduce international student numbers.

Dutton has said in the last week that he won’t touch partner visas, but other areas of temporary migration include visas for working holiday makers which Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie said yesterday, wouldn’t be cut.

Dutton today says:

We have been clear in relation to migration…

We are going to reduce permanent migration by 25%. We are going to reduce the figure by 100,000 relative to where Labor’s is. We will take advice from the department of Treasury and finance and the central agencies about the settings within the economy and what we need to do.

Dutton questioned about offensive comments made by Liberal candidate for Fowler

Political reporter for the ABC Pablo Vinales asks Peter Dutton about a story by the public broadcaster about the Liberal candidate for Fowler in western Sydney using derogatory terms to refer to Indigenous Australians and making offensive remarks about Tanya Plibersek’s family, in social media posts.

Dutton says the candidate, Vivek Singha, has apologised.

Dutton then attacks the PM for preferencing the Greens across Australia and in his own seat.

[Singha] has apologised for the comments and so he should have. They were inappropriate and shouldn’t have been made. He has apologised for them. I won’t take a lecture from the prime minister who has a relationship with the Greens, [who] is accepting preferences from the Greens in his own seat.

Vinales tries to push back, asking whether the standard of candidates is acceptable.

Dutton ignores him, saying reporters are only getting “one question each”.

Dutton sidesteps question about the price of free-range eggs

On to questions, Dutton is asked whether it’s “bad” he doesn’t know how much eggs cost when he keeps talking about the rising cost of living.

He doesn’t engage on the personal element of that question, and repeats his line that the cost of “everything has gone up”.

To recap – last night both leaders were asked how much a dozen free range eggs cost.

Dutton said $4.20, while Albanese guessed $7, and added that was if you could find them on supermarket shelves.

Both were wrong according to Channel 7, who said the eggs they had cost more than $8.

Dutton: Labor’s renewable energy policy ‘a wrecking ball’

Peter Dutton is now standing up – he’s in the NSW Hunter region this morning.

He’s talking about the cost of energy and the cost of living, having just toured a food distribution centre.

The cost of everything is up. The renewables-only energy policy is a wrecking ball. It is driving up the cost of food and the cost of everything when you go to the supermarket.

Dutton then pivots to tax – and accuses Labor of planning to introduce a tax on unrealised capital gains.

When the government introduces its unrealised capital gains tax, Australians should know that means when the value of your shares go up or the value of your property goes up, you are going to pay tax on the gain before you sell the shares or before you sell the house.

Labor tried to introduce legislation to increase the tax on unrealised gains in superannuation balances above $3m. It had to abandon that policy because of a lack of support in the Senate.

Patrick Commins

S&P: election spending commitments could put Australia’s debt rating at risk

Big spending election commitments risk further undermining Australia’s fiscal position and could put our treasured “AAA” debt rating at risk, S&P Global Ratings says. In its report, the New York-based agency says:

The budget is already regressing to moderate deficits as public spending hits postwar highs, global trade tensions intensify, and growth slows.

How the elected government funds its campaign pledges and rising spending will be crucial for maintaining the rating.

While Labor and the Coalition trade blows on which side is more profligate, S&P pointed to spending commitments by all parties on cost of living, health, education, energy and housing, and by all parties.

The final design, costings, and funding arrangements of election commitments will be subject to negotiations …

These commitments, however, will need to be funded at a time when the government is grappling with rising international trade tensions, economic uncertainty, and fast-growing structural spending in areas such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme, defense, health, aged care, and interest on government debt.”

Australia can boast of being one of only nine countries to be rated AAA by all three big credit rating agencies.

It’s a source of great pride among politicians and officials, but also has real effects. International investors use the debt ratings when determining the price at which they will lend to different countries.

Essentially, the better the rating, the lower the borrowing rate is likely to be.

Which means a potential downgrade would be a blow politically and financially.

Albanese can afford to increase welfare payments but ‘prefers not to’, Antipoverty Centre says

The Antipoverty Centre says Anthony Albanese’s refusal to commit to increasing the jobseeker payment shows the government hasn’t “earned the respect of anyone who cares about people in poverty.”

Earlier during his presser, Dan Jervis-Bardy asked the PM if he would increase the payments.

Spokesperson for the Centre, Jay Coonan, said in a statement that the government can afford to lift all Centrelink payments now, but “it just prefers not to”.

A lot of poor people believed Labor when they said ‘no one left behind’, and that broken promise has caused a lot of pain.

Many of us are feeling worse off financially now than we did three years ago and the government has shown no signs that they care to address that …

The government can afford to lift all Centrelink payments to ensure no one is in poverty, it just prefers not to.

Dan Jervis-Bardy

Albanese visits Sydney marginal seat of Bennelong

The prime minister’s next stop is in the ultra-marginal seat of Bennelong in Sydney’s north-western suburbs.

The Labor MP Jerome Laxale holds the seat but will need a positive swing to retain it after a boundary redraw turned it notionally Liberal.

Albanese is joining Laxale at a busy pre-poll station in Eastwood, where volunteers are handing out how-to-vote cards to people casting an early vote.

The prime minister’s choice of electorates to start the campaign’s final week is an early sign Labor is on the defensive, focused on holding – rather than gaining – seats.

Voting 101: above or below the line?

With just a handful of days to go (five to be precise, but who’s counting) to vote, the all important question of whether to number above or below the line on the Senate ballot arises.

Why vote above or below? What difference does it actually make?

Matilda Boseley has the answers for you:

Henry Belot

Where will the Coalition’s 41,000 APS job cuts come from?

The Coalition has made it clear that its plans to slash the size of the federal public service by 41,000 positions by the end of the decade will only impact Canberra based roles.

According to government figures released at the end of 2024, there are 19 government agencies with 100% of staff based in Canberra. These include national cultural institutions, the emergency management agency and the war memorial.

Some of these agencies relate to national security and intelligence and will likely be excluded from any natural attrition or voluntary redundancy scheme under the Coalition. But this list gives a sense of the workforce in Canberra:

• The office of the inspector general of intelligence and security (47 jobs)

• The clean energy regulator (442 jobs)

• The Australian Research Council (137 jobs)

• Safe work Australia (110 jobs)

• The independent parliamentary expenses authority (61 jobs)

• Parliamentary workplace services (68 jobs)

• The Australian centre for international agriculture research (52 jobs)

• The national blood authority (95 jobs)

• The national health funding body (35 jobs)

• Professional services review (43 jobs)

• The national emergency management agency (426 jobs)

• The national capital authority (70 jobs)

• The National Library of Australia (461 jobs)

• The National Museum of Australia (295 jobs)

• The National Portrait Gallery of Australia (65 jobs)

• Old Parliament House (156 jobs)

• The Australian audit office (475 jobs)

• The Office of National Intelligence (425 jobs)

• The Australian War Memorial (375 jobs)

Josh Butler

Dutton arrives to campaign in Paterson

Peter Dutton’s campaign has landed in Paterson, on the NSW Central Coast. He will tour a food distribution centre, and hold a press conference here in the next 30 to 45 minutes.

It’s Dutton’s third visit to Paterson this campaign, and his sixth in the last 18 months.

The Liberal campaign believes they have a strong shot of pinching the seat from Labor, who hold Paterson courtesy of Meryl Swanson.