2 weeks Ago By Daniel Lo Surdo
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek was on Sunrise just a moment ago, where she defended the signature election policies revealed by Albanese at the Labor Party campaign launch on Sunday. Among those was a one-off tax deduction worth $1000, which Plibersek said would make life “a bit simpler” for Australians at tax time. “We know that people need help with the cost of living,” Plibersek said.
Albanese goes for the shake while Plibersek goes for a hug at Labor’s campaign launch on Sunday. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen “If you don’t want to keep your shoebox full of receipts from under the bed, or scroll through your electronic banking and your tax deductions for the year, you can claim a one-off $1,000.” Plibersek appeared alongside Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, who spruiked the Coalition’s proposed measure to allow first home buyers to claim a tax break on their mortgage interest.
“That is something we hope assists [first home buyers] in making the payments - everybody else doesn’t get it, so it shouldn’t have a major effect on the price of housing stock,” Joyce said. “What we say quite clearly is the Labor Party’s plan, although well-intentioned, just hasn’t worked. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have a housing crisis .
.. what we have to do is once more make sure we have a fundamental change in how the economy works.
” Plibersek also addressed an awkward moment between her and Albanese at Labor’s campaign launch on Sunday, where Plibersek looked to greet the PM with a hug, while Albanese motioned for a handshake. Plibersek took the blame for the encounter, jokingly saying “we should still all be elbow-bumping during an election campaign”. The Australian sharemarket is expected to lift on opening after Wall Street rallied last week despite consumers becoming more worried about rising prices than they have in decades.
Market traders are predicting a slight 0.23 per cent jump in the local bourse after all three major US indexes rallied last Friday and posted their strongest weekly gains in years . Bloomberg Former defence minister turned lobbyist Christopher Pyne has said the AUKUS pact faces greater uncertainty under US President Donald Trump, but said that “naysayers” and a lethargic defence establishment represented a bigger threat to the security partnership than the new administration.
The $368 billion program has been backed in-principle by US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, though concerns remain as the administration grows nervous amid lagging production and growing threats to American interests. Former Australian defence minister Christopher Pyne in Washington DC on April 11. “When he speaks to journalists about AUKUS you can tell that he’s uncomfortable about AUKUS if it means that the Americans in any way have to give anything up to anybody,” Pyne said in an interview in Washington.
“There was a sense during the previous administration that it was more of a collaboration between three allies,” Pyne said. “[Now] it feels more like a commercial transaction and a favour to the Australian government and the UK from one great power to two allies ..
. but still, it’s early days.” Read more from North America correspondent Michael Koziol here.
In case you missed it, Labor and the Coalition’s respective campaign launches on Sunday were marked by combined pledges totalling more than $24 billion. Albanese promised a blanket $1000 tax deduction for millions of workers, and expanded a scheme to allow first home buyers to take on a mortgage with as little as a 5 per cent deposit, while Dutton shared plans for first home buyers to claim a tax break on their mortgage interest. The announcements have escalated the contest between the major parties on housing, and is likely to dominate media coverage over the coming week as leaders face questions about their respective policies.
Both Albanese and Dutton have faced initial criticism for the pledges, with economists warning of a surge in house prices as the policies drive demand without doing enough for supply. You can read more from David Crowe, Shane Wright and Paul Sakkal here. Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage for the 2025 federal election campaign.
My name is Daniel Lo Surdo , and I’ll be helming the live blog this morning. We’ve now entered the third week of campaigning, with Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton both expected to spend the next week selling the signature policies revealed at their respective campaign launches on Sunday. We’ll keep you up to speed with Albanese and Dutton’s latest movements, and provide news and analysis from our reporters on the campaign trail and those based in Canberra.
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