3 days Ago By Olivia Ireland, Sarah McPhee
It is too soon to declare whether Anthony Albanese or Peter Dutton has won the election, but there is no doubt about who has lost the campaign. The opposition leader has fallen badly behind in the final Resolve Political Monitor before the election, and he has very little time to climb back into contention. Victory for the Coalition is not impossible, but it will take a bigger miracle than Scott Morrison gained as prime minister at the 2019 election.
Voters thought Dutton and the Coalition were the best choice to lead the country as recently as February, but everything changed when the formal campaign began at the end of March. His lead evaporated when voters focused on the two options. Read more of David Crowe ’s analysis here .
US President Donald Trump has confirmed he is aware the Australian government has been trying to contact him to discuss trade – and that he is yet to take Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s call. “They are calling, and I will be talking to him, yes,” Trump told this masthead and Nine News on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) when asked whether he would speak to the Australian prime minister. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he leaves the White House.
Credit: AP He made the comments as he departed the White House for the US state of Michigan, where will hold a rally marking his first 100 days back in office . Albanese has been under pressure from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton over his failure to secure another phone call with the US president following their conversation in February . During that call, Trump agreed to consider an exemption on tariffs for Australian steel and aluminium, but ultimately granted no country relief.
Australia was also hit with a 10 per cent universal tariff in April, along with the United Kingdom and many other US allies. Read more from our North America correspondent Michael Koziol here . State governments will be offered $2 billion over the next four years to boost housing supply with the help of federal concessional loans in a Labor pledge to counter Coalition claims that the government will miss a crucial target to build more homes.
Labor will escalate its campaign on housing today by revealing new details of its housing supply plan and promising more social homes after years of attacks from the Greens about help for Australians on low incomes. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Brisbane on Tuesday. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen The Coalition is warning that the government will fall short of its target to build 1.
2 million homes over five years, prompting Labor to blame the Coalition and the Greens for delaying its policies in parliament. The concessional loans would be negotiated with state and territory governments over the coming year if Labor holds office at the election, in the first stage of a broader plan to develop 100,000 homes for first home buyers over eight years. While the loans do not fund all the construction, they are intended to overcome obstacles to new developments that are in planning at state level but need more finance to become viable.
Read more from our chief political correspondent David Crowe here . Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the 2025 federal election, as May 3 nears. I’m Sarah McPhee, and I will be helming the blog into the afternoon.
Saturday’s election is days away for Opposition leader Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Credit: James Brickwood, Alex Ellinghausen.
