Natasha May
Nurses, midwives and educators criticise Coalition’s last-minute decision to scrap prac payments for students
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) has added its voice expressing “extreme concern” that a Coalition government under Peter Dutton would axe paid prac placements.
From July this year, eligible students including nurses and midwives will receive more than $300 per week while undertaking their mandatory 800 hours of clinical placement training.
The ANMF federal secretary, Annie Butler, said Dutton’s announcement that a Coalition government, would axe paid prac placements, as well as university-loan debts and fee-free Tafe, which would combine to have a devastating impact on the predominantly-female nursing and midwifery workforce:
We know that placement poverty is a real issue for students who lose income from their regular paid jobs and then have to pay for a whole range of everyday costs, like finding an affordable rental property, parking, tolls, childcare, uniforms and other clinical tools while they’re training.
It’s certainly impacted our ability to build the nursing and midwifery workforce, with students forced to quit their courses and abandon their chosen profession.
That’s why the commonwealth prac placement, which will be implemented by the Albanese government, is so welcome as it will help alleviate the financial burden experienced by students as they complete their essential clinical training and, in turn, will encourage a generation of new students into nursing and midwifery.
The ANMF has experienced a government with Peter Dutton as health minister, which didn’t go well for nurses, midwives and care-workers. We’re concerned that a government led by Peter Dutton wouldn’t be any different. The ANMF has been asking Peter Dutton and the Coalition if they’re supporting nurses and midwives this election – now we know the answer.
Our professions can’t risk a government led by Peter Dutton.
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Labor leads the Coalition 51.5-48.5 on a two-party preferred basis in the latest average. The two-party preferred vote share has been trending for several weeks towards a repeat of the last election.
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You can find more granular breakdowns of the polling, including by demography, on our tracking page.
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Off the back of Taylor’s interview, finance minister Katy Gallagher joins RN Breakfast and absolutely rips into the shadow treasurer.
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At the end of Taylor’s interview, he was asked about comments from ACT chief minister Andrew Barr, who says cutting the public service by 41,000 will leave the territory economy in crisis, which Taylor called an “insult” to anyone who doesn’t work in the public sector.
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Gallagher says cutting 75% of the Australian public service workforce will have an impact.
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I think we just had 10 minutes there of Angus Taylor demonstrating why he shouldn’t be treasurer of this country and why you can’t take a risk on Peter Dutton. He was all over the shop.
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You can’t sack 75% of the commonwealth APS in Canberra and not affect the economy. I mean, you just can’t.
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Following the prime minister, Peter Dutton joins ABC AM to deliver his final pitch to voters.
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Sabra Lane asks where the Coalition’s campaign has gone wrong, when polling shows the party and Dutton have been losing support.
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Dutton says he’s hopeful of a 2019 result (when Liberal prime minister Scott Morrison achieved what he called a “miracle win” against Labor’s Bill Shorten).
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I think we’re seeing a 2019 situation, where you’ve got a lot of interesting contests playing on the ground, where we’ve had a very significant effort by great candidates. And I think there’ll be some big surprises on election night, because people have had enough.
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The prime minister says the “apparent appearance” of an adviser from the US campaign advising the Liberal party is “interesting”.
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Yesterday, Tom McIlroy reported that one of the architects of Donald Trump’s 2024 victory claims he made an unpublicised visit to Australia to advise the Liberal party about “structural issues” related to Peter Dutton ahead of the federal election.
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Sabra Lane asks Albanese whether the Trump factor has assisted Labor. The PM says:
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Well, it is interesting the apparent appearance of one of the advisers to the American campaign from last year boasting about coming to Australia – indeed, arriving on the day of the budget reply, for just a three day visit.
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Lane asks how quickly Albanese will visit the Trump administration if he wins government on Saturday.
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Albanese won’t give a timeline but says:
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At some stage I will, but I will act in a responsible way.
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Anthony Albanese says he has “a mountain to climb” – a line he’s used a lot recently – and implored Australians to vote for stability in a time of uncertainty.
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This morning Peter Dutton has said he believes tomorrow’s result could be a miracle for the Liberal party, like the 2019 election.
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Speaking to ABC AM Sabra Lane, Albanese is asked whether he’s worried this election could deliver a surprise result for the opposition. Albanese says he “certainly take[s] nothing for granted”.
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I think 2019 shows the folly of pretending that you know the outcome of an election before the ballots are counted.
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Albanese alongside Labor’s candidate for Longman in Queensland, Rhiannyn Douglas (right), at a Medicare urgent care clinic in Morayfield this morning”,”caption”:”Anthony Albanese alongside Labor’s candidate for Longman in Queensland, Rhiannyn Douglas (right), at a Medicare urgent care clinic in Morayfield this morning.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
While both parties have been saying voters will be better off under their respective parties, neither will promise people will be better off in three years from now.
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Lane asks whether Albanese will “guarantee” Australians will be better off by 2028. Albanese says:
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As we speak today, Sabra, we have inflation down to 2.4%, we have wages increasing, we have unemployment low, and interest rates have started to fall. Every one of the key economic indicators is improving. Under the former government, we inherited interest rates going up, inflation with the six in front of it, wages going backwards…
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Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with some of the best overnight stories before Krishani Dhanji will take you through the last full day of campaigning.
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It seems like political tensions have boiled over in some areas with New South Wales police launching multiple investigations in the last week into alleged violence, intimidation, harassment and antisocial behaviour related to the election. This has included the smearing of poo across a truck carrying an ad for the Liberal party. More coming up.
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A Liberal-aligned thinktank running last-minute anti-Greens advertisements targeting young voters received more than $600,000 from the coal industry during last year’s Queensland election, disclosures show. At the same time, Labor and the Coalition have been accused of going to the election on a “unity ticket” to protect fossil fuels.
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In what might well be the last poll before the one that really counts, Labor has a two-point lead over the Coalition on a two-party preferred basis. The Fin Review/Freshwater Strategy poll shows that Labor is on 51.5% to the Coalition’s 48.5%. If replicated tomorrow that puts Labor on track for a minority government. More campaign reaction coming up.
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Key events
This morning, you might remember, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor told RN Breakfast that under the Coalition’s policy to cut 41,000 public servants, some could be “migrated”:
Natural attrition happens everywhere, but we’ll move people around appropriately to meet the needs of regional areas and frontline services …
We will migrate people around to make sure that we keep our numbers where they are in regional areas.
Dana Daniel asks Dutton whether the Coalition has modelled the cost of moving public servants. She says when the pesticides regulator moved to Armidale, workers were given payouts an average of $60,000.
Dutton says the costings have been done:
Look, we have worked with the PBO in relation to all those costings and Angus has presented that. What it shows is we’re $40bn less in debt under a Coalition Government.
Dutton defends Liberal budget costings
Dutton defends his party’s costings, released yesterday, that show a Coalition government would increase the nation’s deficit in the first two years compared with Labor.
A journalist points out that $8.3bn of the $21bn promised to defence hasn’t been included in the costings, and that the regional Australia future fund is off-budget.
Dutton repeats the line that the costings show the bottom line will be better off after four years by $40bn.
We’ll have $40bn less debt than Labor, that means less pressure on interest rates.
Asked if the costings are missing “quite a lot of money”, Dutton says, “no”.
Dutton: Curtin MP Kate Chaney in ‘lock-step’ with Labor and Greens
On to questions, and Peter Dutton is asked how he defends his party’s preference swap with One Nation – and whether he’s using the minor party to get his Liberal candidate into the teal-held seat of Curtin.
Dutton doesn’t mention One Nation in his answer, but attacks Labor’s decision to preference the Greens.
He also attacks Kate Chaney, who now holds Curtin.
The last thing Australians want is to have a Green-Labor government and, don’t forget that the teal Kate Chaney is working in lock-step with the Labor Party. The Labor party is running soft in Curtin to support somebody they know is a fellow traveller and Kate Chaney would support a Labor-Greens Government and that would be bad for WA.
Dutton reminds voters of Albanese 2012 promise that life would be cheaper under Labor
Peter Dutton is speaking to reporters in the Perth seat of Tangey, which the Liberals lost at the last election.
He has brought along a prop – a print out of a newspaper from 2022 that show that Labor had promised life would be cheaper under its government.
Now, it’s 12 months to the day and you’d remember this headline because this was the prime minister’s main pitch going into the last election. Life will be cheaper under me – he said. I haven’t found one Australian who can say they’re paying less for their power.
WikiLeaks founder endorses Anthony Albanese for PM
Julian Assange has endorsed Anthony Albanese, praising the PM’s efforts to release him from jail.
Assange was detained for more than five years in London, charged with espionage and computer hacking, for publishing classified US military documents on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
In a statement, he said Albanese “has the backbone to stand up for Australians on other tough issues”.
The truth is, in what became an impressive field of advocates, Albo did more to secure my freedom than any other politician or public figure, even more than the late Pope, whose support was both moving and significant.
Against all expectations for an Australian politician, once elected, he kept his word.
Albanese lobbied former US president Joe Biden at several meetings, pushing for Assange’s release.
The WikiLeaks founder was released, and returned to Australia after agreeing to a plea deal in June.
Get yourself a democracy sausage and don’t forget to vote – it’s compulsory!
The AEC is reminding everyone (as am I!) that voting is compulsory.
More than 7 million people have already voted, meaning there’s about 11 million of you yet to get to the ballot box.
The AEC says there are more than 7,000 polling places, which you can search for here.
Polling centres will be open from 8am to 6pm tomorrow, and if you’re in the line at 6pm tomorrow you will still be able to cast your vote.
We love democracy!
Albanese and Dutton crisscross the country in last minute election dash
Both leaders have travelled halfway across the country already today. From Brisbane, Anthony Albanese is now in Tasmania, in the seat of Braddon.
Braddon is held by the Liberals on a safe margin, but with incumbent MP Gavin Pearce retiring, senator Anne Urquhart has made the switch to become a lower house candidate to try to win the seat for Labor.
Albanese’s been out patting the dogs too.
Meanwhile, Peter Dutton has travelled all the way to Perth where the Liberals are hoping to gain ground. They lost several heartland seats in the west back in 2022.
Tom McIlroy
Some public servants may have to move from Canberra to regional areas under Coalition
On the last day of campaigning, the Coalition has again amended its policy on cutting the public service, raising the prospect of staff being “migrated” across the country to fill roles in regional areas.
We told you early about Angus Taylor’s interview on ABC radio. It included a new element of the Coalition’s plan, which includes plans to cut 41,000 federal jobs.
Taylor said a Peter Dutton government would “migrate” workers and confirmed the Coalition’s cuts would be “focused on Canberra”.
Natural attrition happens everywhere, but we’ll move people around appropriately to meet the needs of regional areas and frontline services …
We will migrate people around to make sure that we keep our numbers where they are in regional areas.
The suggestion of moving jobs out of Canberra is reminiscent of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government’s decentralisation agenda, when a National party push saw public service jobs and agencies, including the agricultural and veterinary chemical regulator, relocated to regional areas.
Earlier this month, Barnaby Joyce said the Coalition should restart decentralisation efforts if it won the election.
Asked about whether attrition from jobs in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide would fit into the Coalition’s current plan, Taylor said services would be maintained “outside Canberra”.
You can read the full story here:
Luca Ittimani
Building materials prices fall in March quarter, first fall since 2012
Prices for materials for house construction fell in the March quarter for the first time since 2012, easing one of the pressure points the building industry has faced in recent years.
Input costs for home builders had soared post-pandemic, as much as 17% in the financial year 2021-22, but that’s slowed to just over 1% in the year to March, helped by lower steel and timber prices.
Analysts at the Australian Bureau of Statistics said house construction cost growth had slowed as builders and suppliers offered bigger discounts to keep the customers coming:
The construction industry is still hamstrung by a shortage of workers and slow and complex planning processes and struggles as customers put off spending big on new homes, but slower price rises for materials will be some relief for builders.
Production costs in the economy at large are rising slower than they were a year ago for most businesses, up 0.9% in the March quarter and 3.7% over the year, according to the ABS’s final demand measure.
Manufacturing was the exception, with the final demand measure for manufacturing prices rising at its fastest clip since September 2022. Imported inputs grew more expensive after the Australian dollar lost purchasing power overseas, sliding from 64 to 59 on the trade-weighted index against other currencies from July to January.
Albanese looks confident of election win but still says he has ‘a mountain to climb’
With the campaign almost at an end, Anthony Albanese is looking confident, but he’s trying hard to ensure he and his party aren’t complacent.
“We have a mountain to climb” he’s been saying all week.
So what has the last week looked like for Anthony Albanese?
Dan Jervis-Bardy’s been on the trail with the PM, and describes his movements, and how he’s feeling:
On the election stage there are plenty of political props
The props are front and centre today – Albanese had a giant Medicare card when he visited a campaign office in the seat of Dickson, while Adam Bandt has brought his own card and his giant toothbrush to a Melbourne polling booth.
The red toothbrush has been with Bandt since the beginning of the campaign, and no points for guessing it’s because of the Greens’ push to get dental into Medicare.
Bandt has also joined the millions of other Australians voting early – heading to a pre-poll centre today.
Natasha May
Helicopter crashes in Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula
Moving away from the election campaign for a moment.
A helicopter has crashed in Victoria’s Bellarine Peninsula this morning, with its three passengers managing to make it to shore before being taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Police say it’s believed the chopper was seen crashing into water off Point Lonsdale just after 10am.
All three people managed to make it to shore and were located by passersby who contacted emergency services.
A man and woman were airlifted to hospital with serious injuries, while another man with serious injuries was taken via road, according to police who say none have been formally identified.
The exact circumstances surrounding the incident are yet to be determined, police say. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau will investigate the crash with assistance from police.
Natasha May
Nurses, midwives and educators criticise Coalition’s last-minute decision to scrap prac payments for students
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) has added its voice expressing “extreme concern” that a Coalition government under Peter Dutton would axe paid prac placements.
From July this year, eligible students including nurses and midwives will receive more than $300 per week while undertaking their mandatory 800 hours of clinical placement training.
The ANMF federal secretary, Annie Butler, said Dutton’s announcement that a Coalition government, would axe paid prac placements, as well as university-loan debts and fee-free Tafe, which would combine to have a devastating impact on the predominantly-female nursing and midwifery workforce:
We know that placement poverty is a real issue for students who lose income from their regular paid jobs and then have to pay for a whole range of everyday costs, like finding an affordable rental property, parking, tolls, childcare, uniforms and other clinical tools while they’re training.
It’s certainly impacted our ability to build the nursing and midwifery workforce, with students forced to quit their courses and abandon their chosen profession.
That’s why the commonwealth prac placement, which will be implemented by the Albanese government, is so welcome as it will help alleviate the financial burden experienced by students as they complete their essential clinical training and, in turn, will encourage a generation of new students into nursing and midwifery.
The ANMF has experienced a government with Peter Dutton as health minister, which didn’t go well for nurses, midwives and care-workers. We’re concerned that a government led by Peter Dutton wouldn’t be any different. The ANMF has been asking Peter Dutton and the Coalition if they’re supporting nurses and midwives this election – now we know the answer.
Our professions can’t risk a government led by Peter Dutton.
Bandt says Greens will ‘keep Dutton out and push Labor to act’
The Greens have also been making their final pitch to voters to “keep pushing” Labor and to “keep Dutton out”. Leader Adam Bandt told reporters in Melbourne:
If you’re concerned about the housing and rental crisis, we can’t keep voting for the same two parties and expecting a different result at this election.
Greens will keep Peter Dutton out and, in becoming a minority parliament, push Labor to act.
The Greens have centred their campaign on reforming housing and rental policy, climate action and getting dental into Medicare.
And they have centred a lot of their attention on winning from Labor the seat of Wills, which is in inner-city Melbourne and on a 4.6% margin.
Bandt says voters are moving away from the major parties in large numbers and he expects the major parties will need to have discussions with the growing crossbench after the election.
People are shifting away from the major parties in droves, because the major parties are just offering Band-Aid answers, right, and just tinkering around the edges while the big problems, like the housing crisis, the cost-of-living crisis and the climate crisis get worse.
Now I expect that there will be discussions after the election, because there’s going to have to be, because with more voices in a diverse parliament we’re going to have to work together.
While Albanese’s been donning the green and gold card, Peter Dutton has been donning the fluoro hi-vis, visiting a produce market in Adelaide this morning.
Makin is a Labor held seat, on a pretty safe margin of 10.8% at the 2022 election. It’s been held by Labor since 2007.
False claim made in Labor ads on Coalition cuts – report
A Labor ad campaign targeting battleground seats is falsely claiming that Peter Dutton has said he’ll cut $350bn in spending if the Coalition wins government, AAP reports.
AAP FactCheck has identified thousands of dollars of funding for federal election advertisements in seats including Gorton and Hawke in Melbourne’s west and Lyons in Tasmania.
The ads claim that Dutton has cut billions from hospitals, before claiming he has said he’ll “cut $350bn more” over an image of a person lying in a medical crash cart.
Labor says the ads don’t claim Dutton will cut billions from hospitals specifically and instead refer to Coalition plans to wind back other Labor programs such as free Tafe.
Labor also pointed to various statements Dutton has made about wasteful spending and claims that Labor has lifted spending by nearly $350bn since coming to power in 2022.
But Dutton has never said the Coalition will cut $350bn.
The opposition leader has also pledged to match Labor’s funding for essential frontline services like hospitals.
Labor aren’t the only ones making some false claims ahead of polling day this weekend.
Experts told AAP FactCheck Dutton’s claim that Labor took $80bn out of defence is wrong.
Instead, they say, the Albanese government has increased defence spending.
Union condemns Coalition’s ‘hidden’ vow to ditch student prac payments
The tertiary education union has slammed the Coalition for promising to strip “prac payments” for student midwives, nurses, social workers and teachers.
The Labor government introduced the payments to support students who have to do practical work to finish their studies, often with no pay, and sometimes in remote locations.
Yesterday’s costings from the Coalition show they’ll cut $556m out of the payments.
Dr Alison Barnes, president of the National Tertiary Education Union, says Dutton should “look [students] in the eyes and say it, not hide it in an 11th-hour document that’s been dumped to reporters within 48 hours of the poll”.
When undertaking pracs they aren’t able to earn a living wage, and these prac payments give them a stipend to cover their accommodations and food costs.
This is just the latest example of where Peter Dutton is targeting students and our universities and Tafes. Now, however, he has silently committed to taking money out of students’ back pockets.
