Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Amy Remeikis

Morrison uses Indi visit to warn against independents – as it happened

PM meets first homeowners Andy and Caitlin in the electorate of Indi during the campaign.
PM meets first homeowners Andy and Caitlin in the electorate of Indi during the campaign. Photograph: Pool/Getty Images

And on that note, it is beddie-byes for the blog.

But we will be back early tomorrow morning.

Josh Frydenberg will have his costings moment tomorrow. That is at least a two flagger.

The leaders will deliver their final speeches of the campaign. Expect the aspiration count to be Off. The. Charts.

Scott Morrison was pretty excited about the final days of the campaign when talking to Melbourne radio 3AW today:

I’m well past my second wind now, but I’m totally pumped. It’s like going well into deep in the last quarter now. Well into the last five minutes and in my case, this is something that you know I’m excited about.

I’m aspirational about it and I’m exhilarated by it because the people that I see every day just pump me up. I mean the last few days in particular, meeting young people buying their first home and the look on their face, it’s … it is aspiration right there in front of you realised. That can only just fire you up, because that’s what I’m trying to do, help them realise their aspirations.

That brought today’s Morrison ‘aspiration’ count to at least 15 (he said it 12 times in the one press conference, again today) so I can’t even imagine what the next 48 hours will bring us.

But all those pleasures, and more, await us tomorrow.

Thank you to everyone who joined us today, and for the comments, emails and tweets. We appreciate it, even if we don’t always agree.

We’ll see you back bright and early tomorrow morning. As always – take care of you.

Updated

Bill Shorten will be on his way to Sydney for his Blacktown speech tomorrow.

Scott Morrison is in Sydney, at an event in Chinatown. He’ll be heading to Canberra tomorrow for his National Press Club address.

This is still doing the rounds today:

The interview was about 12 days ago. Warren Mundine put it on Soundcloud and Twitter yesterday – and here we are.

Updated

I forgot to put this in this morning:

Updated

'Scott Morrison brought religion in,' says Albo

Patricia Karvelas: Should politics and religion be kept separate?

Anthony Albanese:

Well, I certainly am of the view that people’s religion is a personal issue for them.

What is important is what people do with their political representation. And Scott Morrison, of course, was the person who brought religion in.

No one smuggled a camera in to his church service in the first days of the campaign. That was a decision that he made. I’m not quite sure why he did that but that was a decision frankly for him.

The issue here with regard to marriage equality and Scott Morrison, despite the fact they said they would respect the voluntary postal survey that we argued wasn’t necessary – it cost $120m of taxpayers’ money to do it – and then Scott Morrison, like Tony Abbott and a few others, walked out.

Didn’t vote in the parliament when that issue came before the House of Representatives. And it is perfectly legitimate for Scott Morrison to be held to account.

I notice in your introduction you were speaking about the alienation of young people from the Coalition and how Scott Morrison was trying to connect.

I’ll give him the big hint. One way that he can connect is acknowledging that for most young people they wondered what it was all about, who someone loves was an issue that they got a say in and as a result of that, of course, what happened was that literally over half a million people got on the roll.

That’s something that the advocates of the voluntary postal survey might regret after Saturday night because it mobilised them. And the fact is that on climate change, marriage equality, on all these issues where young people have a modern approach, the fact that the Coalition is stuck in the past is a problem but the bigger problem is they wanted the rest of Australia to go back there just to keep them company.

Updated

Back to Anthony Albanese on Afternoon Briefing. He’s asked about the independent candidates.

PK: There’s growing talk about the possibility of a hung parliament. Do you agree with Scott Morrison that independent candidates should say now which major party they’d back if there was a hung parliament scenario?

AA: Well, what I think Scott Morrison should do, forget about the independent speaking, Scott Morrison should say what he’ll back of Clive Palmer. Clive Palmer doesn’t get preferences on the promise of nothing.

PK: That’s not the question. That’s not the question I asked.

AA: But that’s the important one. Because I’m worried about Scott Morrison not declaring what the deal is he has with Clive Palmer, what the LNP deal is with Pauline Hanson in Queensland, and Scott Morrison said the Liberal party would put Pauline Hanson below Labor but that isn’t happening in the key seats in Queensland. And as for the independents, they’re independents, they can speak for themselves.

PK: Do you think they should – you can have a view on what they do. Should they declare who they support?

AA: They can speak for themselves. What I’m doing is running for the Labor party against Scott Morrison and the Coalition government. And the only reason these independents are prominent in seats like Warringah, Indi, Farrar, Wentworth, Mayo, Curtin and others, is because Scott Morrison is a part of this shift to the right that we’re seeing amongst the Coalition parties. So that a whole lot of people who saw themselves as Malcolm Turnbull Liberals see themselves as not being represented by the modern Liberal party as some of them call themselves.

PK: So you said if you win government you’ll consider yourselves to have a popular mandate for major changes you want to make. Would you still claim that mandate in the event of a hung parliament?

AA: We’re campaigning for majority government. That’s our objective. It’s to get 76 seats-plus on Saturday. That’s the only scenario that we’re thinking about.

PK: If you don’t get that scenario, because we’ve seen it before?

AA: That’s the only scenario. We’re not war gaming anything else. We’re war gaming trying to secure a majority and I hope that people in seats that are contestable between Labor and the Coalition vote for Labor candidates and that we secure a majority. I think that would be very much in the interests of...

PK: Do you think you’re on track to secure that majority, Anthony Albanese?

AA: Well, I’ll wait and see. I don’t take any vote for granted. Today I’ve been in Melbourne, I’ve been in Geelong. I’m back in Sydney. We’ve had major policy launches on tourism and our cities policies. We have put forward, I think, a coherent argument for what we would do in government and we’re putting forward a cohesive team. A team that has been consistent. The same leader, deputy leader, shadow treasurer, shadow health minister, shadow infrastructure minister, same Senate leader, our team have been in place for a long time.

Updated

Christopher Pyne and Anthony Albanese did their final Two Tribes segment on Adelaide radio 5AA this morning.

This was an interesting exchange (per the transcript):

HOST: Just on the future for both of you. We know that you’re leaving politics obviously Chris. But if Bill Shorten falls short on Saturday night Albo, will you put your hand up for the leadership?

ALBANESE: I intend to be a minister in a Shorten Labor government, and I’m working every day to do that. That’s my priority. I’ve had too long in opposition. I don’t want another day after Saturday in opposition. And I’ve just landed in Melbourne. I’m off to Corangamite now this morning, and I’ll be working hard up until Saturday night.

PYNE: So if you lose you’ll retire and cause a byelection Anthony, on the basis of what you’ve just said?

ALBANESE: Well, me and you Christopher might go into, I don’t know, media perhaps. Perhaps we can take over.

HOST: Oh yeah – we can bring it back as Yesterday’s Tribes. Breakfast with Chris and Albo – it’s got a nice ring to it.

ALBANESE: We could be on – I reckon we need to be on an FM station though.

PYNE: Yeah – bit too trendy.

HOST: Play some tunes.

ALBANESE: Play some music, you know …

PYNE: Bit too trendy.

HOST: Do a bit of your deejaying. Hey guys, we just want to …

PYNE: Well, you have heard it here this morning, first actually, that Anthony will resign if the Labor party loses. It’s not a bad story.

ALBANESE: Exclusive.

HOST: You heard it here first. Hey guys …

ALBANESE: That’s it – I’ve had it. I’m out.

HOST: Can we just …

ALBANESE: Maybe I can do it live.

Updated

Question: Lisa Singh campaigned for herself.

Albanese:

No. You didn’t have people who were Labor party members handing out how-to-votes like you’re having here. Bear in mind this, this is happening in the seat held by the former PM who was elected during – it seems like a long time ago – but in the life of this current Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government, Tony Abbott was the first cab off the rank.

And he’s under siege in his own seat because he is out of touch on issues like climate change and marriage equality and any of the future agenda that people are concerned about in his electorate, and here you have this distraction where some of his lieutenants who have backed him in and been part of his rightwing push in the Liberal party are out there handing out how-to-votes, backing in Jim Molan to do over the National party candidate, who is number three on the Coalition ticket.

And in return the National party, led by the former deputy PM, and their former leader as well, saying that they’re going to have a separate how-to-vote as well that also breaks the ticket. So if they can’t agree between themselves on who people should vote for, then maybe people shouldn’t vote for any of them because quite clearly they just don’t have their act together.

Updated

Scott Morrison is in Sydney, meeting with members of the Chinese Australian community.

David Coleman and John Alexander are also there, as is the Reid candidate Fiona Martin.

Updated

The memes are still coming:

Updated

Anthony Albanese is chatting to Patricia Karvelas on Afternoon Briefing. He’s asked how the final days of the campaign are going.

Albanese:

Well, what we’re confident of is that we have put forward a coherent vision for the nation. A coherent vision that’s about closing tax loopholes that are the source of a reduction in revenue from just a few, they be individuals or big multinationals, and using that new to fund better schools, better hospitals, better public infrastructure.

That we have a united team and on the other side we’ve seen today an explosion about Tony Abbott’s forces, blaming sabotage for people handing out how to votes for Jim Molan below the line, and confusing voters.

And then Barnaby Joyce of all people, of all people, saying there will be absolute chaos and calling for the National party to hand out how-to-votes that are also contrary to the agreed ticket and encouraging people to vote below the line.

So if this is the state of the Coalition, just a few days out from polling day, I mean, goodness knows what they’ll be like if somehow they limp across the line, in partnership with Clive Palmer and Pauline Hanson.

All we know is that as bad as the last six years have been, the next six weeks, if they go across the line, will be really something else, because they just hate each other frankly. And they’re quite clearly not capable of governing in any coherent way.

And the reason why Scott Morrison has to re-announce the same policy day after day that he announced on Sunday, that we matched, is because they really haven’t got much else to offer about the future.

Updated

For anyone wondering how the former Liberal Lyons candidate Jessica Whelan’s referral to the AFP was going, over the social media posts she said were not hers, we asked for an update:

The AFP can confirm it has received a referral in relation to this matter.

While it is being assessed, it would not be appropriate to comment further.

Whelan is still actively campaigning as an independent candidate.

Updated

The Australian Council of Trade Unions’ Change the Rules campaign is ruffling Greens feathers with how-to-vote cards which appear to recommend in Capricornia voters go 1 Labor, 2 Katter’s Australian Party, 3 Democratic Labor Party and 4 the Greens:


ACTU secretary Sally McManus defended the how-to-vote cards, apparently believing the objection was that the Liberal-National Party is not last:

But as the former NSW Greens candidate Kym Chapple has noted, putting the Greens below in the middle of the ticket is contentious:

Updated

Labor is enjoying the New South Wales Coalition partners having a public sparring match over the Senate ticket, less than three days out from the election.

From Jim Chalmers:

This is the final proof that the Liberals and Nationals are a dumpster fire of disunity and dysfunction.

In their own words they are a dog’s breakfast, a cluster, and completely and utterly chaotic.

They need to lose an election to learn their lesson – that it’s not about them, it’s about the Australian people.

A vote for the Liberals and Nationals is a vote for the same old circus, the same old chaos.

A Morrison Government means Abbott, Joyce, Palmer and Hanson will be running the show for three more years.

Updated

'Save the Great Australian Bight': the Greens' five-point plan

Don’t underestimate how big an issue this is in South Australia.

The Greens have released their plan to ‘save the Great Australian Bight’. From the party statement:

Greens leader Richard Di Natale joined Senator Sarah Hanson-Young in South Australia today to announce The Greens’ five-point plan to protect the Great Australian Bight.

The fossil fuel era is coming to an end. This means companies are chasing the last oil and gas into deeper and more dangerous waters than ever. The Greens are the only party with a comprehensive way forward to protecting the Great Australian Bight,” Australian Greens Leader Dr Richard Di Natale.

“More oil and gas will fuel the climate emergency. We need to stop new offshore oil and gas projects and revoke existing permits to protect the Bight. A climate trigger that assesses projects like the Bight and Adani will be assessed on their carbon pollution before they get off the ground.

“Without a commitment to no new coal, oil or gas, no government can be taken seriously on climate action. Returning Sarah Hanson-Young to the Senate will ensure SA has a strong advocate for protecting the Great Australian Bight.”

The Greens’ five-point plan to protect the Bight:

  • World Heritage Protection
  • Stop new offshore oil and gas
  • A climate trigger that assesses large projects on their carbon pollution before given approval
  • Revoke existing permits in the Great Australian Bight
  • Ban seismic testing

Updated

The campaigns have gone a bit quiet – tomorrow is another big day.

There will be the coalition’s costings (for the promises and commitments it has made since the budget was handed down) and Scott Morrison’s address to the National Press Club.

Bill Shorten will deliver his campaign final set piece speech in Blacktown tomorrow, where Gough Whitlam delivered the ‘it’s time’ speech.

Updated

Cory Bernardi would like to get rid of mandatory voting.

From his ‘weekly dose of common sense’:

If so many people don’t understand or don’t care to understand our electoral system, why are they forced to vote?

Pedants will claim that no-one is forced to vote but they are required to have their name marked off the roll every election. Ignoring this sophistry, forcing people to participate is something that I am opposed to. If you don’t want to participate in an election, if you don’t want to vote for any candidates or if you simply can’t be bothered then that is your right. You shouldn’t be forced to.

Once again, this would impact the major parties who would have to actually inspire people to get out to vote. It would mean a more responsive electoral cycle with grassroots campaigns coming to the fore.

In countries with voluntary voting, it is often less than half of those eligible who choose to vote and critics claim this is unrepresentative. The reality is, if the political parties want to change that figure they need to do a better job of connecting with the people they serve.

No system is perfect but a system that virtually entrenches the two-party duopoly isn’t delivering the results our nation needs.

Updated

Today the high court has released its full reasons for its decision in the case brought by the former Liberal National Queensland president Gary Spence to challenge Queensland’s developer donation ban. Orders were delivered in April upholding Queensland’s ban, closing a loophole that would have allowed developers to donate to candidates in the federal election campaign.

The first thing to note is that Spence did not come close to winning on the point of whether the ban impermissibly burdens the implied freedom of political communication.

On that point, it was 6-1 in favour of Queensland, with only Justice Geoffrey Nettle dissenting, as he did in the precedent case of McCloy upholding the developer donation ban in New South Wales.

Nettle has some interesting observations that property developers are not unique in wanting political favours in return for donations – citing corporations and unions as other examples. He also rejects the idea of “undue” influence on the political system, noting that some would consider fossil fuel or sugar producers, or private health insurers, exercise undue influence. Others would not – the point is, it’s subjective.

But on the point of whether the commonwealth’s attempted takeover of donations law was constitutional, it was a much messier 4-3 split.

The majority (chief justice Susan Kiefel, justices Virginia Bell, Stephen Gageler and Patrick Keane) had their way on that point – deciding that the changes made to the Electoral Act by the Coalition to override state donation laws were invalid.

The majority said the purpose of the commonwealth law was “to protect a source of funds which might, but need not, be deployed by a political entity in a federal electoral process”.

The connection to the federal political process was “insubstantial, tenuous and distant”, they said, noting once allowed by commonwealth laws developer donations could be used “to defray overheads, to fund policy development, to reduce existing indebtedness, to hold an annual conference, to finance acquisition of new party premises ... or to pay for advertising which promotes the party’s views on an issue of concern to it but which does not bear on a particular election”.

The majority held that the offending provision could not be severed, and since the federal government had overreached into donations that may or may not be used for commonwealth electoral purposes, the law was invalid.

Updated

Scott Morrison ‘aspiration’ count:

14 May – 21 times

Corangamite press conference – 12 times

Bass press conference – 1 time

Boothby press conference – 5 times

Ray Hadley interview – 3 times

13 May – 27 times

Cowan press conference – 9 times

Lindsay press conference – 12 times

Today interview – 5 times

Sunrise interview – 1 time

12 May – 6 times

Liberal party launch – 6 times

Updated

Question: People in the regions have voted already. Do you think that pre-polling has gone on for too long?

Morrison:

These are matters that are looked at after every election and I’m happy for the consultation to be done.

I’ve never had a real problem with it. I think that people do it for a whole range of reasons – most of it convenience.

So if that’s how people want to do it, good for them. But the point about this is every time someone is voting here in Indi, they are making a choice.

Not just to have a great local member who I know that Steve can be here, but they’re making a choice about who is going to be running the country. This election is going to be making a choice about who should be prime minister.

So when you look at the ballot here, you’ll see Steve Martin’s name there and you’ll see Liberal and what I want you to think of is right next to that name is Scott Morrison Liberal.

And if you see an independent name there, then right next to that name, Bill Shorten Labor.

Because if you vote for an independent, you’re likely to get Bill Shorten as prime minister. If you vote for Steve Martin, you’ll get me as prime minister.

Scott Morrison on the campaign trail in Wangaratta, in the Victorian electorate of Indi
Scott Morrison on the campaign trail in Wangaratta, in the Victorian electorate of Indi. Photograph: Dominic Lorrimer/SMH Pool/AAP

Updated

Question: When was the last time that a prime minister visited Wangaratta?

Morrison: I couldn’t tell you. It was actually a week ago – it was me.

Question: To Wangaratta?

Morrison:

I was in Wangaratta not too long ago. It was probably a few years ago now. But I’m very pleased to be here and I’m very pleased to be here supporting Steve Martin. Steve’s family and life experience.

His experience in business here, in rural Victoria. It’s exactly the sort of insight that I need. I need that insight in my team that supports the decisions that we’re seeking to make for rural and regional Victoria.

I was really thrilled when Steve put his hand up. I remember texting him. A mate of his sent me a video of him skateboarding with his kids and I thought: this is the bloke I want. This is the bloke that I want.

Someone who is a great family person, who understands what families are looking for, right across Indi, and what more could you want for a young family than what we’re standing in here today? This is aspiration in bricks and mortar.

That’s what this is and this is what I’m backing through the first home loan deposit scheme, for the first home super saver account. I’ve cut the taxes for people to save for their first home.

On Sunday, Bill Shorten will want to increase taxes for those saving for the first home. Abolishing the first home super saver scheme; $373m in just four years in higher taxes on young Australians saving for their first home.

And, on Sunday, I want the people to be able to go ahead and start getting access, as we build this new first home loan deposit scheme, congratulations to you guys for getting there, particularly without the deposit scheme.

But there are so many young families who want to get into the housing market and get their first foot on the first rung of the ladder. So it’s great to be here with you Steve.

Scott Morrison and Liberal candidate for Indi Steve Martin visit first homeowners Andy and Caitlin at their new home in Wangaratta, Victoria
Scott Morrison and Liberal candidate for Indi Steve Martin visit first homeowners Andy and Caitlin at their new home in Wangaratta, Victoria. Photograph: Dominic Lorrimer/SMH Pool/AAP

Updated

Scott Morrison uses Indi visit to warn against independents

Question: The independent for this seat said on Q&A on Monday night she would be looking for a phone call from you [if she won the seat]. Would you do that?

Scott Morrison:

On Monday morning, I would be giving Steve Martin a call and welcoming him into being a part of a re-elected government.

That’s what we’re working towards. And only by having that as the outcome can people in Indi be certain.

There’s been a lot of talk here about the independents and a lot of people are asking questions. What will they do? It’s a fair question. Because I’ve been around the parliament a while. Every time I’ve seen independents come into the parliament, you never know what you’re going to get. And the locals never know what they’re going to get.

And what we need at the moment is that certainty and that’s why voting for Steve Martin in Indi you can get that certainty on the economy, on services, on keeping Australians safe and the borders secure, and ensuring that towns like Wangaratta and right across the electorate can go forward with confidence about their jobs and the value of their home.

Labor’s higher taxes, Labor’s retiree tax – you can’t count on the independents to stop these things. You can only count on Steve Martin, the Liberal candidate here.

Updated

Scott Morrison is in Wangaratta, which is the electorate of Indi.

Updated

I do think we can close the gap - Bill Shorten

Question: Today you received an endorsement from Bob Hawke. He said his biggest regret as prime minister is not delivering a treaty for the Indigenous Australians. Is this unfinished business for Labor? And will you be the prime minister that finally closes the gap?

Shorten:

For a lot of people, the plight of our First Australians doesn’t worry them. But for a lot of other people, it does. I’m one of the latter.

We have people who share our country with us who have got 60,000 years’ continuous connection. The last 250 years hasn’t been great for them. Let’s be honest. Having said that, I do think that we can close the gap.

I’m not going to be so arrogant as to say that I will close the gap or achieve a particular outcome, but I do think that the First Australians should be referred to in our constitution.

For example, if we were writing the Constitution today, which, of course, we can’t, but if we were, we would talk about our First Australians, wouldn’t we?

So I think that it is an important issue. We want to have truth telling. I’m open to a voice. I’m open to a process which would see proper reconciliation in this country.

We’ve tried everything else with our First Australians. We’ve tried telling them what to do. We’ve tried taking their kids away from them. We’ve tried chucking them into jail. We’ve tried interventions. We’ve tried paternalism. I’ve got a new plan. I’ll try partnership.

Bill Shorten speaks to the media on the campaign trail in Perth
Bill Shorten speaks to the media on the campaign trail in Perth. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Question: You said that you’ll bring together if you’re elected, you’ll bring together business groups, employer groups and unions for a meeting here in Perth to talk workplace relations.

Shorten: Yeah.

Question: We know that the ACTU change the rules campaign is vastly different to what business groups want. What can you realistically achieve? What do you want to achieve with such a meeting?

Shorten:

Well, it’s all that’s wrong with Australia at the moment is that you’ve got people in different rooms yelling at each other. That’s what people hate.

When they see on the nightly news and watch your very well informed broadcasts, they say there’s Labor saying one thing and Liberal saying another and the unions saying something else.

You know what a lot of people think about the leadership of this nation? Can’t you people work it out.

Don’t come to us with your problems. Come to us with the answers.

This is the sort of prime minister I will be. I will bring business into the same room as unions.

I’ll bring the small businesses, too, because not all small businesses love big businesses.

I’d like to hear from the farmer because they’re getting done over by some of the processors and some of the big supermarket chains.

I understand that this country works best when we’re all in the same room. We need to get productivity going.

I’ll have my key economic spokesperson there, Chris Bowen, talking about the measures to enhance productivity.

I’ll have state governments there. Because if we can improve the productivity of the nation and how long it takes people to get from A to B, how long the trucks and trains take, that all means that the nation is working together.

I don’t expect everyone to agree with everyone else. We don’t. We don’t even agree with each other in a press conference. But the point is – we do better when we work things out together.

I saw that John Howard had a swipe at me. Fair enough, he’s the last Liberal prime minister standing, just about, on their team turning up. But the point is that he said something about me and Bob Hawke. I actually think that Bob Hawke and Paul Keating were right when they brought people together.

This country is unstoppable, when we were all going in the same direction. But if we’re fracturing, that’s the wrong way to go.

Question: What is the common ground there?

Shorten:

I’ll tell you the common ground in this country: we want our kids to get the best quality education.

We want our pensioner grandparents to be able to get dental care when they need it. Common ground is we don’t think that black 18-year-old men should be going to jail more likely than going to university.

Common ground is we’d like to see us all a bit more civil to each other. Common ground is we’d like people to be safe in their community.

Common ground is that we don’t want people waiting 24 hours to be admitted to emergency. Common ground is we’d like to see these apprentices get a job.

Common ground is that we want to make sure that people have got good pay.

Common ground is that a small business with a good idea doesn’t get strangled by a large company not paying them on time.

Common ground is that we want to make sure that we have quality NBN. Common ground in this country is that we take real action on climate change, and I suspect, but we’ll anticipate, find out on Saturday, that there’s a lot more common ground for change to end the chaos.

Updated

Question: Just on the issue of wages. We know that Labor is unhappy with the wage growth figures we’ve seen for this quarter. You continually say that wages will be better off under a Labor government.

Shorten: That’s true.

Question: You’re not putting a figure on it and not telling voters how much better off they would be. Can you give them any indication of how much better they would be, and how can they take you seriously if you’re not prepared to put any benchmark on that one?

Shorten:

Let’s go to that last bit there. The cheekiness in the question – let’s deal with that first. Take us seriously? We’re the only game in town on a wages policy. You could send out search parties from here to Christmas and you won’t find the Liberal wages policy, except for Mathias Cormann who said that low wages is a design feature of their economy.

So we are the only ones in town when it comes to a wages policy. You’re a student of the industrial relations system.

You know that if there’s to be a minimum wage, living wage, that will be ultimately decided by the umpire.

That will be after evidence is given from workers, unions, businesses and companies. But what I can say if you want some specific numbers is we’re going to reverse the penalty rate cuts.

Did you know that as a result of the penalty rate cuts, people have lost up to $77 a week? They’ll get that back.

Did you know that major retail chains,spend tens of millions of dollars which companies haven’t had to pay workers in penalty rates? So there are some specific numbers there.

Did you know that in wages theft, by our small claims tribunal, that’s tens of millions of dollars going back to the workers?

I’ll give you another number. Clive Palmer owes his workers $67m.

The commonwealth taxpayers had to pay for that. If we’re going to talk about wages, I know, it’s significant issues, we’ve got the numbers to answer it. Let’s go to the general point behind it.

The government seems to think that what’s happening now is good enough. It’s simply not. This is why we want modest but meaningful improvements. The government seems to think that it is good enough now that Australian households have to dip into savings just to maintain their standard of living.

We need vision in this country. Australians are very proud of this country. When you get off the plane from Tullamarine or Mascot or Perth, you always know you’re back home in a great country.

But the Australian dream is not quite what it once was. It’s under a bit of pressure and decay. Families should be moving forward ahead every year. We shouldn’t have working women in Australia going to work to pay the childcare so that they can go to work.

So these are some of the propositions around wages and fairness and cost of living which make us the best reason to vote on Saturday.

Bill Shorten’s wife Chloe moves his tie as he lays a brick during a visit to a Tafe college in Perth
Bill Shorten’s wife Chloe moves his tie as he lays a brick during a visit to a Tafe college in Perth. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Question: On the wages announcement, could casual workers pursue claims of unpaid annual leave here? And if you are, what’s your message to small business owners who may have paid casual loading and may face a backlog of claims?

Shorten:

Let’s not scare people. What we’ll do is have a small claims tribunal, which the Business Council of Australia has backed. They don’t always back everything that we say, but it’s good that they support it. That should allay concerns.

All you’ll be able to do in a small claims tribunal is pursue matters that you’re legally entitled to. If the casual worker wasn’t legally entitled to a right because they’re a casual, they’re not going to be able to pursue a breach of contract.

But the problem that we’re solving is that for a lot of our fellow Australians they’re getting ripped off.

We know that when we buy the coffee in the takeaway shop, some of the big brands and some of the big chains, we didn’t realise that those people were getting systematically ripped off.

That’s not good enough. You can’t have a business model in this country which means ripping off people by systemic wages theft.

What we want is a one-stop shop. Let’s get the matters sorted, powers clearly, there has been an, despite how hard the Fair Work Ombudsman works, to get to the bottom of every matter. So what Labor is doing is resolving disputes before they become big disputes.

Rather than going to the courts, speedy remediation, in my experience, often stops small conflicts becoming big conflicts and I welcome the ACTU and the BCA saying that this looks like the right way to go.

Updated

Scott Morrison got almost this exact same question: We have a situation where the Pentagon is planning on sending 100,000 troops to Iran in case of an incident there. In recent days, there has been growing concern over the relationship between China and the United States over trade disputes. How would you, as prime minister, handle those delicate relationships? And why do you think that you would be best placed to handle those relationships?

Bill Shorten:

One of the reasons why I’m best placed is the person standing next to me in this press conference. She’s called Penny Wong.

What I will do before I pass to Penny is go to a couple of the issues. On Australia, America and China – what I won’t do is call China our customers.

I won’t adopt a simplistic approach. An approach which only views our relations in north Asia and other Asian societies as – what can they do for us? I have said previously at press conferences that America and our security umbrella with America is bedrock for Labor. It’s bedrock business.

But we want to have foreign policy with an Australian accent. So we will be reaching out to different Asian countries, including and especially China, to make sure that they understand where we’re coming from, as a nation, and that, of course, we don’t surprise them and they don’t surprise us. I might get Penny here. She’s been thinking about these questions for a significant period of time.

Penny Wong:

The only thing that I wanted to add is on the trade dispute. Obviously, that is... We have a view, as a trading nation, as a substantial power that has an interest in open fair trading arrangements, we do have a view that the multilateral system is important.

And we consistently have said nobody wins from a trade war. Nobody wins from a trade war. I would say on this issue, there is one issue where there has been bipartisanship and the Coalition has reflected that and we have a different approach to the issue of multilateral trade.

I would say that we would encourage both China and the United States to come to a resolution because not even the great economies of the world win from a trade conflict.

Shorten:

I should also just say that it would be my intention should we form a government that at the earliest possible stage I would be sending our new foreign minister to visit a series of capitals to let them know that there’s a new government and we tend to be active participants in the relationship throughout Asia.

Updated

Question: If the Senate won’t pass your savings measures, are you committed to the spending promises and how will you pay for it?

Bill Shorten:

I want to say for people in the Western Australian media, this is the booklet of policies for people in Western Australia.

So before I get to the heart of the answer, this is the only set of policies for Western Australia. The Liberals haven’t bothered printing one. They haven’t got a set of policies, so I say to West Australians watching the news tonight – only one party respects you enough to come up with a set of fully funded policies.

Now, in terms of the Senate, the best way to avoid having a crazy rightwing nest of extremists in the Senate is – don’t vote for them.

Vote Labor in the Reps and vote Labor in the Senate. I’m not like Mr Morrison. He has formed a deal with Mr Palmer. He is relying, no doubt, on the votes of One Nation to elect some of his team across the line in other states of Australia.

So, first of all, I’m optimistic that Labor will get more votes than your question implies.

Secondly, if we form a government, we will have a mandate. Now, this word “mandate” gets used a lot in politics, doesn’t it, but I think it’s a lot more meaningful when an opposition presents its policies to the people of Australia. And then, we can argue to the Senate whatever gets elected, that this is what we took to the people.

So, if this rightwing Senate, if it forms, as you imagine, or as your question assumes, which I don’t, we’ll fight them on reversing the penalty rates cuts. We will fight them on providing the funding so that 2.6 million pensioners get some care for their teeth. We will fight the Senate when it comes to making sure that nearly one million Australian households get a subsidy of $2,000 per child, per year in childcare.

We’re up for the fight. If the Senate don’t want to fix the waiting lists in Tasmania on health, if they don’t want to see young apprentices in Western Australia get some support, if they don’t want to see us build Cross River Rail in Queensland, and don’t want to see the South Road in Adelaide, we will fight them.

But the point about it is – in this election, what Australians are telling me wherever they go is, “For goodness sake, Bill, end the chaos. End the chaos.”

They want real action on climate change. They want to end the chaos. The best way to end the chaos is vote Labor in the House of Representatives and vote Labor in the Senate.

Updated

Asked about the Liberals’ latest attack on Labor’s negative gearing policy, Chris Bowen says:

Happy to deal with that, but could I just deal with two very brief issues before I get to your question.

Firstly, of course, wages growth out today. Very disappointing figures, yet again.

The government says they want higher growth but oppose every plan that we come up with to get wages growth going. And most concerning for the people of Western Australia is the lowest growth here in Western Australia at 1.6%.

And why doesn’t the government get it? Because they’ve got members, like Kevin Hogan in Page, who says that cutting penalty rates is great news for young people. I mean, how out of touch is this government?

The deputy prime minister says that one of the biggest problems facing the nation is that there’s too many young voters, and we’ve got a member saying that cutting young people’s wages, not just young people work on Sundays, but lots of young people do – is great news for them, when we know that there’s been no increase in employment under the penalty rates cut.

Just very briefly, the treasurer has this morning confirmed he’ll release his costings tomorrow. Tomorrow. I mean, pathetic.

Almost a week after the Labor party. The earliest any opposition has release the costings, ever.

Costings which led Paul Kelly, not always praiseworthy of the Labor party, to say these figures show that Labor is ready for government. And you’ve got Josh Frydenberg releasing his figures 36 hours before people vote.

Last time they did that was 2013, and of course, the real cuts came in the 2014 budget. I mean, absolutely pathetic on their behalf.

To deal with the latest lies from Scott Morrison. I mean, these guys just make it up when it comes to negative gearing. It’s all they’ve got.

They’ve claimed that house prices will crash. They’ve claimed that house prices will rise. They’ve claimed that rents will soar. They make it up.

And the big problem for the prime minister is that report that he refers to shows rents going up under his government as well.

It shows rents going up under a Liberal government with no policy change. Just like climate change, where he picks the figures to suit him, he does it on negative gearing. As we draw to the final stage of this election campaign, here’s Bill and Labor outlining it, but they finish there with lies and fear.

Updated

Bill Shorten press conference

Bill Shorten has begun his press conference – he is in Clarkson, which is in Christian Porter’s electorate of Pearce.

Updated

If you are just tuning in to the election now, in the last 72 hours as an undecided voter, the messages from the parties are pretty clear.

Labor is focused on the “chaos” another term of a Coalition government could bring, particularly mentioning Clive Palmer and Pauline Hanson, and the role they could play.

The Liberal party though, are making it all about tax, tax, tax, with senior government figures linking Labor’s tax reforms to almost every topic.

Here is Josh Frydenberg talking about wages growth:

In real terms, after taking into account inflation, wages are growing at nearly twice the historical average.

Wages and labour market competition is particularly strong in some sectors like education and health, and social services.

But we’ve seen wages growth at just 2% in the construction sector, which is important because it underlines that this is the worst possible time for Labor’s housing tax.

A housing tax which the Master Builders Association have said would lead to 32,000 fewer jobs and 42,000 fewer homes being built. 2.3%, when we saw that recently, it was the highest jump in three years, and you can only take the advice of the Reserve Bank governor who says that wages growth in states across the country and in most sectors is now faster than it was a year ago.

Updated

Bill Shorten should hold his press conference soon.

Updated

SQM Research has issued a clarification after the New Daily reported that research analyst Louis Christopher had contradicted Scott Morrison on the effect of Labor’s negative gearing changes.

The dispute centres on the fact Morrison quoted an SQM Research study about projected rent rises – but did not make clear that the entire projected rise was not attributable to Labor’s changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax.

On Wednesday, Christopher said:

There is nothing I have read from the prime minister or the treasurer on our report that appears to be contradictory to the findings in our report. If negative gearing is changed in the manner the Labor party wishes to put through, rents are likely to rise between 2020 and 2022, over and above our forecasts for the status quo scenario (scenario three) as covered in the report.

So SQM Research is siding with the Coalition – negative gearing will raise rents.

Perhaps if the prime minister wants to avoid this confusion, he could quote the amount of the projected increase that is attributable to Labor’s changes in context rather than implying Labor’s policies are causing the whole increase – caused by other factors like supply constraints.

And, of course, other experts like Brendan Coates at the Grattan Institute think there will not be a rent rise.

Updated

Is this inspiration, aspiration or perspiration tax?

Things seem to be going great between the Liberals and Nationals in New South Wales at the moment.

The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age report the NSW Nats have sent out an email to members, asking them to vote for Nationals senators below the line to counter the Save Jim Molan campaign.

From the SMH report:

Supporters of Liberal senator Jim Molan have taken it upon themselves to campaign for a ‘below the line’ vote, which in our view, breaks the Coalition Agreement and seriously harms the chances of a Nationals senator being elected,” the email said.

“We are not taking this extraordinary step lightly ... this is not something we want to do, but we need every one of our members to vote below the line for Perin Davey and Sam Farraway, and to encourage everyone they know to do the same.”

Updated

Do you get dividend imputation on inspirational tax?

I need more information on this policy.

The Labor senator Kristina Keneally is having a bit of fun with the possibility that the Liberals’ candidate in McEwen, Phillip Fusco, may be a US citizen.

Keneally just tweeted her own renunciation documents:

We reported this morning that Fusco claims he does not hold US citizenship – despite his father being born in America – because his birth in Australia was not registered with the US government. US government advice to Fusco states that a consular report of birth abroad is “evidence of US citizenship” which establishes a claim.

But registration is not a requirement that appears in the relevant US law and the full name of the document – the consular report of birth abroad of a citizen of the US – suggests it may be merely evidence of the pre-existing legal fact of US citizenship rather than an application to become a citizen.

A Liberal spokesman said Fusco had “received confirmation from the United States government that he has no claim to American citizenship”.

Updated

I want to know if aspiration and inspiration taxes are progressive or not.

How do we quantify aspiration and inspiration, for tax purposes? Will the government wring out my gym clothes to work out how much I need to pay, or is it a PAYG kind of thing?

Josh Frydenberg actually just said these words, in this order.

“Labor will tax your aspiration, they’ll tax your inspiration, they’ll tax your perspiration.”

Twice.

Like, he repeated it.

Paul Karp has taken a look at what Labor’s negative gearing policy will do, if anything:

There is then a rapid-fire question round.

It … goes places.

Q: If you could be one former prime minister, who would you be?

Bill Shorten: Curtin.

Q: Favourite movie?

Shorten: Gladiator/Master and Commander. Going through a Russell Crowe phase at the moment. That answer may change though.

Q: Least favourite place in Australia?

Shorten: Canberra when it’s really cold.

Q: Most annoying habit.

Shorten: Yours or mine?

Q: We are asking you the questions.

Shorten: That would be it. No, no, no, perhaps talking too much and not listening enough to my wife.

Q: Have you ever googled yourself.

Shorten: I stopped doing that years ago.

Q: Most disgusting food you’ve eaten.

Shorten: One time I was backpacking in … I am not going to name the restaurant, but if you are ever in western China and you are eating in a little soup kitchen in 1992 ... I don’t know, it was straight out of one of the canals, but that was a long time ago. I love Sichuan cooking now, that is not an international incident – I just can’t believe that restaurant is still open.

Q: Have you ever eaten a raw onion?

Shorten: Not like Abbott, no. I did eat a raw brussels sprout the other day – it didn’t seem to cause as much excitement, for some very good reasons.

Q: Speedos or boardies.

Shorten: Boardies.

Q: Hot chips or dessert.

Shorten: Hot chips.

Q: Favourite singer.

Shorten: My wife.

Q: You can invite any historically significant person alive or dead to dinner, who do you invite?

Shorten: I’d love to talk to Martin Luther King.

Q: Beer or whisky?

Shorten: Depends on the time of evening.

Q: Kirribilli House or the Lodge.

Shorten: I love Moonee Ponds, I’d have to work out that question later.

Updated

Question: What would you like to see house prices do: go up or remain the same?

Shorten: Maintain their value.

Question: So stay the same?

Shorten: Everyone likes to see prices go up over time. Anyone who says otherwise is not right. But what I want to see is I am more than a one-trick pony. I don’t look at the value of my cottage in Moonee Ponds.

I have kids, how will they be able to afford to get into the housing market? Why are we rewarding people making their fifth and sixth property investment to make a loss and yet how will our kids afford to get into the market?

As a result, it is harder for our young people to enter the market. They have to live further away.

Some people might say that is the way of the world but I am a moderate, I love the idea of as many Australians as possible having their own mortgage, having their own home. For me it is a question what sort of country we want to be. I believe in a country where the middle class grow, the working class can get out of the working class into the middle class. If you can do better than that, good luck to you.

Poor John Howard is running around saying it is class warfare. I think it is class warfare if kids are overcrowded in school.

It is class warfare if you’re waiting for a long time to get knee surgery or cataracts?

It is class warfare when an Aboriginal kid is more likely to go to jail than university?

It is class warfare if pensioners can’t afford to get their teeth attended to or when we don’t have the proper support in our Tafe to train apprentices of the future?

Updated

Question: There is questions coming through from the audience in relation to housing. Do you want to see house prices reduce, go up or stay the same under your government?

Bill Shorten: I want to see peoples’ house prices reman a source of value. In terms of the issue about what’s happened under the current government, under this government you would be well aware that housing prices have fallen and fallen.

This is a government who lives in a blame-free world. If you ask them if anything is going wrong in the economy, it was Labor before 2013 or Labor after 2019. It is almost like the last six years hasn’t happened.

In terms of the housing policy, the real issue is we are reforming negative gearing. There may be people here who have invested under the current negative gearing laws, the changes are not retrospective. They are not retrospective.

What they will be, from 1 January 2020 is you won’t be able to buy an existing house, claim a loss and get a taxpayer subsidy. If you buy new houses, negative gearing still exists.

The capital gains discount concession is going from 50% to 25%. That means capital is still a good bet. The reality is, our first home buyers aren’t getting the same start. It is dishonest of this government to be running a scare campaign. They have sent bogus rent notices out to people, saying: “Your rent is going up.”

Spare me and some real estate chains are backing in their own vested interests. Our negative gearing changes won’t have an impact on the rental market.

What we want to do is – we’re simply saying can we keep giving $32bn over 10 years in subsidy to people buying existing houses making a loss?

Is there something else we can do better with that $32bn of expenditure? Put more special needs teachers in schools, pay for more aged care support, perhaps? Maybe we could help 2.5 million pensioners struggling with their teeth and help them. Maybe we could build more social housing so people who have no prospect of getting into permanent housing?

Updated

Bill Shorten is speaking to a Perth business community breakfast. Asked about whether or not he will let unions influence policy, he says:

Bob has very signed a letter of endorsement today. He hasn’t been well but he and Blanche are hanging on to watch election night. They are great Australians. Paul has been out. The reality is that my model of inspiration, what sort of Government actually starts with a West Australian, John Curtin. I don’t know how John Curtin, after the tumultuous life he had and he was a union official, so I’m not sure it makes him acceptable to some. He was prime minister in world war two. He was a pacifist in world war one. He battled the demon of addiction.

He had to make a choice, bring home the Australian divisions from the Middle East when he thought the Japanese invasion was coming through, and it was a very hard decision. He made the decision to look to the United States, not to rely on the strings of the apron of mother England.

The reason why I’m talking about this great West Australian is that the sort of leader I’ll be, which John Howard is sneering at, is I will have a little bit of Curtin in that I believe in an independent foreign policy.

I will always put the national interest ahead. I like Chifley’s nation-building. That is why we will have the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and advanced manufacturing Future Fund. We want to get on a build a high speed rail. That is why we will build public transport systems which are 21st century, just good enough for the people who use them in the citizens in the states they live. I believe in Whitlam’s scope of the Australian identity.

Question: Mr Shorten, that doesn’t answer the question. Will you rule the unions ...

Shorten: You gave John Howard a long cricket run-up and I answered your question actually straightaway. I said I will work with all but I’ll only work for the Australian people. That is my answer to that question.

But I don’t often get a chance to talk to West Australian business leaders and they want to say, “Who is this Bill Shorten fellow and why should we vote for him, what drives him?” Whitlam had a scope of Australian identity. But Hawke and Keating brought people together. I want to make an announcement here today …

If we are – if we win, my intention is that we will – I want to get business, unions, small business, all the points of view on productivity and work place in the same room at the same time. It won’t be an accord but, in my experience, you’re better of getting people of all different points of view in the same year.

This goes to the point that Mr Howard was mumbling: division …

We will do this in Perth. I intend to convene my first business, economic employee relations gathering, we want to do it by early June.

I will get my skates on if we get elected. We will do it here in Perth and make sure the west is included as part of the national calendar of what we do I ... though John Howard’s worried I am Robin Hood to his sheriff of Nottingham novel, I think John Howard has something to do for the nation. We have to be better about our former politicians than pushing them on the scrap heap. That will help us be a less toxic and less partisan nation.

Updated

Unions are agitated that the Nationals MP Kevin Hogan – who holds the NSW marginal seat of Page – has given a thumbs up to penalty rate cuts in comments to ABC Radio this morning.

Hogan said:

Young people are saying to me that they want more jobs. The people that are saying that this is a good idea are the small family biz, the small cafes who say at the moment they have to pay more than the big chains for workers on a Sunday and as these rates come down they’ll employ more people and open on a Sunday, and that’s great for our youth.

That’s the traditional conservative line on penalty rates – but it’s a little bit harder to run since the Council of Small Business Australia chief executive, Peter Strong, said in April that penalty rate cuts have not created jobs because they’ve coincided with increases in the minimum wage.

Strong said:

There’s no extra jobs on a Sunday ... There’s been no extra hours. Certainly, I don’t know anyone [who gave workers extra hours]. It’s been just a waste of time.

Maybe the solution, according to the small business sector, is to pair penalty rate cuts with minimum wage freezes – but the Fair Work Commission are sticklers for actual evidence this would increase employment, so that’s the reason it’s never happened.

We haven’t heard much about industrial relations in this campaign – it’s one of the issues the Coalition in particular has been very quiet on.

There are problems brewing for Labor if it is elected though – as a number of crossbenchers have said they want to amend a bill to reverse penalty rate cuts with a ban on big companies using enterprise agreements to trade away penalty rates.

Updated

Question: Who would be the Indigenous affairs minister if you were re-elected?

Morrison: I will make that decision after the election, should we be elected. I’m not taking anything for granted at this election. What I’m focused on at this election, and I will end the conference where I started it: we are standing on the ground of a first homeowner.

This speaks of the aspirations of Australians. The aspirations of Australians that drive people to get a job, drives people to buy a first home, drives people to start a small business, 250 small businesses.

We will see open we believe over the next five years because of our economic plan. One and a quarter million new jobs, paying down the debt by keeping the budget that we have brought back into surplus*, investing at record levels in hospitals and schools and in roads to ensure that we make that life that little bit easier, busting congestion in the cities making our rural roads safer. Under our government, as is always the case, keeping Australians safe and keeping our borders secure

* The budget is still in deficit – it is forecast to be in surplus next year.

Updated

Question: You’ve committed $7m to pursue an Indigenous voice to the parliament but you have barely mentioned it during this campaign. Labor has made Closing the Gap a priority, why isn’t it for you?

Morrison: I’ve made it a priority. I focused in the parliament on the issues addressing youth education in Indigenous communities and ensuring we get kids in school and keep them there in the significant policy I’ve announced on youth suicide. One of the key focuses of that policy is addressing Indigenous youth suicide.

When it comes to addressing Indigenous issues, we’re pursuing the recommendations of the select committee which seeks to build up the voice from the ground up and that is the model we’re pursuing and following as a result of the recommendations.

The thing that focuses my mind most, when it comes to Indigenous issues, is I want young girls to stop killing themselves in regional, remote communities. I can’t tell you a more important Indigenous policy issue than that.

It grieves my soul that young girls are killing themselves in remote Indigenous communities and I will do everything I can to stop that.

Updated

Question: Kerryn Phelps says she’s referred some emails to your office and to the AFP and she’s referred it to the local police because she was unhappy with the response. Did your office offer assistance to her in that regard and should there be more ...

Morrison: All those matters should be followed up by the appropriate agencies and I certainly hope that was the case.

Updated

Question: You’ve confirmed Linda Reynolds and Melissa Price will still be in their current roles after the election if you’re re-elected. What about other ministries – including IR, women, human services – who will be those ministers?

Morrison: What I made sure of, because of the retirements going into the election and I’ve commented on that before, what Australians need to know is in the key portfolios. Treasury, Josh Frydenberg; defence, Linda Reynolds; home affairs, Peter Dutton; Foreign affairs, Marise Payne. These are the critical portfolios, together with the prime minister, and of course finance with Mathias Cormann.

These are the critical portfolios that sit at the central agencies of government. There are many other important portfolios. Greg Hunt doing a fantastic job in health. They will continue to do that job. Same with Dan Tehan in education.

The central agencies, we have just had a question and national security, the security of our region – we don’t even know from Bill Shorten who is stopping the boats on Sunday?

He can’t tell us who it is. It is bad enough that Labor’s record on border protection is as woeful and as appalling as it is but to go to this election on Saturday and not even tell Australians who’s responsible for keeping the boats stopped on Sunday, I think, is an abrogation.

He hasn’t been able to tell people who his home affairs minister is ever since we appointed one. He either doesn’t know or he won’t tell you.

He has had plenty of time. Either way, that’s not a reason to vote for Bill Shorten, it is a reason to vote for the certainty of a Liberal National government that always does the right things on national security and on our economy as Australians can trust us to do so.

Updated

Question: On foreign policy, we’re seeing an escalation in the trade war between China and the US and the Pentagon said that they have a force of more than 100,000 in case of emergency with Iran. Where do you see Australia’s place, and why are you best placed to lead us through this?

Morrison: I’ve sat on the national security committee for the last five years in a range of different roles, as immigration minister, as a treasurer, and, of course, as a prime minister. I’ve been engaged with all of these leaders visiting, whether it’s our troops in Iraq or other places, meeting with other international leaders. The new prime minister of Iraq at the time, in fact.

And have been working with our CDF and our senior military advisers and engaged in those senior forums around the region, and have a pretty good handle on where these things are at. You’re very right for it to say that it is a very uncertain time.

It’s an uncertain time, strategically, for Australia, within the Indo-Pacific region and up to north Asia. It’s a serious time for our economy with the tensions between the United States and China, and the escalating trade war.

That’s why I say to the Australians, now is not the time to risk experiments, risk experiments with a Labor party that believes that high taxing, reckless spending is the way to go forward. Now is the time not to turn back, now is the time to ensure we maintain responsible, careful management of our economy, to keep it growing.

Now is the time to ensure we remain a firm hand and a steady hand when it comes to Australia’s national security interests, something our government has displayed from the day we walked in the door and took up our positions around the national security committee, of which I’ve been pleased to play a significant role in over these last past five and a half years.

These are very serious times and it is no time to be taking up experiments at a time like this.

Updated

Question: This week, with your arguments on the first home-buyer’s scheme, you’ve quoted SQM Research to say that Labor’s negative gearing policy will increase rents by 20%. The author of the research, today, has said that that is misrepresenting his research, that he says that the rents are going up anyway and that his modelling has shown that they’ll go up by about 13% but that Labor will increase that elevation. So have you misrepresented this research?

Morrison: No, I haven’t. And I saw the piece that was actually suggesting that. And the author of that research has actually written to us today saying that he was misquoted and taken out of context and the point of the research is an alignment completely with everything that we’ve said.

And that is that rents will be even higher than they would rise anyway as a result of the housing tax measures. And we’re happy to make that letter available.

Question: What about the impact of Labor’s negative gearing ...

Morrison: ... is to drive up rents higher.

Question: That’s not the point. He’s saying that they’re going up. You said 20% and he’s saying that they wouldn’t?

Morrison: What he’s saying is that rents will go up higher, rents will go up higher specifically as a result of Labor’s housing tax and that’s what he’s said and what I have said. And I am happy to release that document that was provided to us today, because he was disappointed that he had been misrepresented and taken out of context by the journalist on this occasion.

Updated

Question: Prime minister, what about plans to set up a new tribunal to help workers claim unpaid wage, if it would cost them less and be faster than going through the courts?

Morrison: I’m always happy to look at issues that can support things like that. But what I do know is this – is that under Bill Shorten’s higher tax, his higher taxes on housing, which will erode the value of people’s homes, that will push up their rents, this is not a plan to make Australia’s economy stronger or lift anybody’s wages. You can’t lift people’s wages by taxing them more.

You can’t support people in their retirement by taking away their franking credit income that they rely on, and particularly here in the electorate of Corangamite, you can’t help small business more to pay their workers more if you’re taxing small business more.

Bill Shorten doesn’t understand that higher taxes hold everybody back. Everybody back. Because they weigh down the economy. He doesn’t have a plan for a stronger economy. He’s just got a plan for the bigger taxes. That’s all he’s offering you this weekend. That’s I’m saying to stop Bill Shorten’s taxes on Saturday, vote Liberal. That’s how you can stop them.

Updated

Question: Prime minister, can I ask a question which goes to the heart of you, as a leader. A lot of people want to ask questions in regards to the same-sex marriage debate and why you didn’t vote in the House on that plebiscite. Why were you a part of a cabinet that wanted to let people have their say, did you decide not to vote?

Morrison: That issue was dealt with last year, the year before, actually. And I’m really pleased it is. That is not what this election is about. This election is about Bill Shorten wanting you to pay more tax because he thinks of big taxing, big spending approach, is the answer to Australia’s future. I don’t agree.

Question: The question, the people want to know if they can trust you?

Morrison: They can. They can trust me to be consistent in my views. They can trust me to always deliver on the things that I promise, to stay focused on the things that matter to them and not be distracted by anything else, and I’m not distracted by this issue at all. I am 100% focused on the issues that Australians are focused on for the future, and I’m pleased that the issue has been settled and put to rest and I’m very pleased that Australians can now move on and plan for their future with confidence.

Updated

Question: Prime minister, on the deposit guarantee. Did the Housing Industry Association pitch this to the government within the past two weeks?

Morrison: Not to me, no.

Question: Any other part of the government, the treasurer or the rreasurer’s office?

Morrison: You’d have to ask them.

Question: Have you had any conversations with that group or any other property groups about this?

Morrison: I haven’t, no.

Question: The Property Council?

Morrison: No.

Question: So this is ... Did any department do any work on this policy before the caretaker government?

Morrison: The treasurer and the finance minister and I have been discussing a series of options around this for weeks, going back to before the budget ...

And the reason I have outlined it now, is the reason I said, and that is because, as we go into this final week of the campaign, I made it the centrepiece of what I had to say on Sunday, because nothing speaks to the aspirations of Australians like buying your own home.

I want Australians to know that when it comes to me keeping the promise of Australia to Australians, I understand what that promise is. I understand that it’s about fuelling and assisting you to realise your aspirations.

See, Labor’s engaged in the politics of envy. I’m engaged in the economics of aspiration.

Because I know, when you really get behind people, like the young families we have here and in other places, and you really energise them to go after their dreams, then Australia is only stronger.

I don’t want to tax them more like Bill Shorten. I don’t want to tax retirees more like Bill Shorten.

I don’t want to tax more business more like Bill Shorten wants to. I don’t want to tax your superannuation more, like Bill Shorten wants to do. Particularly if you’re a woman coming back into the workforce and want to make catch-up contributions or you’re self-employed as a tradie or a home-based business.

I don’t want to tax you more. Bill Shorten wants to tax you more, because he thinks your money is better off in his hands than it is in yours.

I think Australians are the source of the stronger economy. My economic plan is based on supporting Australians to be everything they can be, whether you’re a disabled Australian, whether you’re in a remote Indigenous territory, whether you’re here in a suburb in Geelong or anywhere else around the country. Your goal is my goal.

Updated

Question: For an endorsement of Sarah Henderson, doesn’t it look like the government is trying to buy your seat?

Sarah Henderson: Absolutely not. We’ve seen an example of where the Labor party have absolutely deserted the people of Corangamite and Geelong and, frankly, western Melbourne. This $2bn for fast rail is essential infrastructure. The regional rail link is broken. Now we have a situation where Daniel Andrews has committed to some fast rail business plan, but no money to fix the regional rail link, and we see Bill Shorten and Labor deserting the people of Geelong. We deserve first-rate rail, and that’s what our government will deliver. Along with these defence jobs.

Scott Morrison: So we make no apology for the fact that we’re investing in the future of this region. Absolutely none. We’re absolutely committed. Yes, that’s true – we are investing in the Geelong and Corangamite area of southern Victoria. And we’re doing it because it’s an area that needs that investment.

Updated

Scott Morrison press conference

Scott Morrison is in Geelong, which is the electorate of Corangamite, which, after the redistribution, has a margin of 0.03%. He’s addressing claims of pork barrelling in the electorate:

In this part of the world, I mean, Melbourne has been straining under the pressure of population growth, and part of our plan to deal with population growth is not just to get migration under control – it’s not just to ensure better planning between state and federal governments about schools and hospitals and aligning those plans together.

It’s not just about investing in the cohesion of our cities and the settlement programs that we run to support migrants to become integrated and realise their dreams and success in our community.

It’s about investing in the infrastructure projects that take the pressure off and make life that little bit easier. So $2bn for a fast rail is about achieving that objective.

Now, the more than $1bn that we’ve got in the project, that’s about local jobs and it’s about defence capability. We’re taking defence spending back to 2% of GDP. Labor let it fall to 1.56% and one of the projects that they terminated was this very project – this very project back in 2012 that would have created jobs here, in the Corangamite electorate, and in the Geelong electorate, and they terminated it. And I think that project is a very good example of what happens when Labor runs out of money.

They go and take it out of the defence force budget. They stop listing drugs on the PBS. So there a range of projects here that I think speaks very much to the government’s broader plans, because Corangamite, Geelong, the surf coast area, all through here, these are growing parts of our cities. I’ve been up at Avalon airport where we’ve invested in that airport to realise the tourism potential for this region. This is a growth part of our country and you’ve got to invest in the infrastructure and services so that it can support it. So that’s why we’re investing here, because it needs the investment.

Updated

Tony Abbott says Labor climate change policy 'much better' than Coalition's in Steggall attack

Peter Hartcher has interviewed Tony Abbott for a profile in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age, which centres around his campaign to hold on to Warringah.

During the interview, Hartcher tackles Abbott’s campaign against Zali Steggall. Which brings us to this absolute nugget. You can take it as him reporting Stegall has said that. But you can also have a giggle at the admission.

This is the nub of his campaign – a vote for Zali Steggall is a vote for Bill Shorten.

But hold on, Tony. That’s not what Steggall says at all. She says that, if elected to the crossbench in a hung Parliament and has to decide which party to support to form government, she would favour the Coalition. Not Labor.

“She’s not said that in writing or with any degree of conviction,” Abbott counters in an interview at Hemingway’s Manly cafe.

“I don’t believe her, given that she’s said her biggest issue by far is climate change and Labor has a much better climate change policy than the Coalition.”

Updated

Your semi-regular reminder that while senators have pulled off below the line wins most recently Labor’s Lisa Singh in Tasmania, that was aided by a double dissolution and also, being Tasmania - meaning she just needed about 20,000 votes.

By comparison, Jim Molan would need about 150,000 below the line votes to make his quota and win back his spot.

My Queensland dad wants to vote for him, but I don’t think that is going to help, given he’s a NSW senator. And there is the rub - Molan’s campaign is getting a lot of national attention, helped along by Sky After Dark, but he needs the burghers of NSW to pay attention.

The Save Jim Molan campaign continues to roll on, as Samantha Maiden from the New Daily reports:

Liberal MP John Alexander has been caught on tape urging voters to ignore the Coalition ticket as part of a guerrilla campaign to save a Liberal senator.

The National Party is “ballistic” over the actions of Liberals across NSW to save the career of NSW Liberal Senator Jim Molan, who was relegated to an unwinnable fourth spot on the Coalition ticket.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is again being urged to intervene, amid predictions Senator Molan’s “rogue” campaign could jeopardise the election of the Nationals candidate in the third spot with a breach of the binding Coalition agreement.

The New Daily has obtained audio of Mr Alexander – the Member for Bennelong – at a pre-poll booth openly urging a voter to support Senator Molan, in a clear contravention of the Coalition’s offical Senate ticket.

Updated

Prepare for the great costings battle to whirr back up – the Liberals plan on releasing its costings tomorrow.

Meanwhile, in Wentworth …

Candidate posters in the Bondi area, including an election poster showing former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull: 'What happened to a modern liberal?'
Candidate posters in Bondi Photograph: Anne Davies/The Guardian

Updated

Bill Shorten is in Perth, where he is about to speak at a business breakfast.

It looks as though he’ll be headed to Sydney after that.

Updated

This is still happening.

Just a reminder the prime minister invited the cameras into his church for Easter, led the religious freedoms push during the marriage equality debate and said he would be defending Christianity more in a front-page story. The questions were also raised in public forums, in light of Israel Folau’s tweets, which, the first time Folau’s social media made the news, Morrison defended as:

“It clearly means a lot to Izzy and good for him for standing up for his faith,” Morrison told News Corp’s Miranda Devine Live. “He wouldn’t have wanted to intend to have offended or hurt anyone because that’s very much against the faith that he feels so passionately about.

“But I think he’s shown a lot of strength of character in just standing up for what he believes in and I think that’s what this country is all about.”

It was the second time Folau’s tweets made the news that Morrison said:

“I thought they were terribly insensitive comments and obviously that was a matter for the ARU and they’ve taken that decision,” Mr Morrison told ABC News. “It is important that people act with love, care and compassion to their fellow citizens and to speak sensitively to their fellow Australians.”

Updated

Scott Morrison is in Tasmania but is expected to hit Victoria today.

He met “J Rod” last night at a Launceston football club and gave his hair the prime ministerial endorsement as the best mullet he had ever seen. Jenny also seems impressed.

But surely she’s been to a Cronulla game before? It can’t be their first time at the mullet rodeo.

Jenny and Scott Morrison meet “club legend” Jarrod Cirkle at the Bridgenorth football club in Launceston
Jenny and Scott Morrison meet “club legend” Jarrod Cirkle at the Bridgenorth football club in Launceston. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
How good is it?
How good is it? Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Then he kicked a ball
Then Morrison kicked a ball. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images

Updated

In his open letter, Bob Hawke also pointed to the number of leaders the Liberal party has had over its term of government:

Over the past six years, the Liberals have had three leaders while Labor has had one, and three treasurers while Labor has had one shadow treasurer.

As I said repeatedly when I was prime minister, if you can’t govern yourselves, you can’t govern the country.

Updated

Question: We are broadcasting from the seat of Higgins tomorrow which neighbours your seat in Melbourne. Kelly O’Dwyer was the former member. She has stood aside at this election. She told a few of your colleagues after the Victorian state election that in her view, lots of people regarded the Liberal party as homophobic, anti-women and climate change deniers. It is not a ringing endorsement for the candidate trying to replace her in that seat?

Frydenberg: Katie Allen is world-renowned for her medical research and a researcher, a paediatrician, she has given her career and her life to public service. I am pleased she is putting up her hand for office and, together, we’ve made some significant announcements that affect the people of Kooyong and Higgins, including putting a major level crossing at the Kooyong station underground to relieve traffic congestion.

Question: What do you make of the homophobic, anti-women and climate change deniers. And based on that Newspoll for the Liberal party, do you fear Victorian voters share those views about the Liberal party?

Frydenberg: There will be a lot of close seats but I know our candidates have been campaigning very strongly and they have received positive feedback and we have outlined the issues that are important to the people, including ensuring that there is record spending on infrastructure, including record spending on essential services, paying back Labor’s debt and cutting taxes.

We see from Bill Shorten throughout the campaign an elevation in the class warfare rhetoric. Just yesterday in Burnie he said retirees could put their feet up on their yachts and talk about their franking credits.

That pits one Australian against another and it is damaging for the community. The retirees are not necessarily rich but Bill Shorten is going after their money because he can’t manage his.

Question: To came back to that criticism and said yes, the changing to the franking credits will be put in place to ensure, amongst other things, that pensioners get free dental treatment. Is that something you support?

Frydenberg: Pensioners will be hit by his retirees tax*, 50,000 and despite his protestations to contrary.

Question: A whole lot more – there is a lot more that he is talking about in terms of free dental treatment will experience that benefit of the dental treatment?

Frydenberg: What he has failed to outline in his costings is the detrimental and negative impact the – it will be the highest-taxing government Australia’s ever seen under Bill Shorten. The negative detrimental impact that will have on the economy from all these higher taxes, the housing tax, the retirees tax, higher taxes on super and income earners and high taxes on family business.

Question: If it all guess to hell in a hand basket for the Liberal party on Saturday night, will you stick your hand up to be the leader of the Liberal opposition?

Frydenberg: I am looking forward to continuing to serve Scott Morrison as his deputy. I am looking forward to him being re-elected and staying as the prime minister of Australia after May 18th.

Question: Would you like to be Liberal leader one day?

Frydenberg: I’m very much enjoying being Treasurer and serving with Scott Morrison as part of the leadership team.

*Removing a tax concession is not a tax

Updated

Question: For voters, particularly in your seat, in Victoria, lots of seats where Malcolm Turnbull was popular and still is. Why was Malcolm Turnbull dispatched by your party?

Josh Frydenberg: I’m focusing on the future. You can ask me this six or seven ways ...

Question: Why – if you give me a straight answer, we can move onto the next topic ...

Frydenberg: The straight answer is the party room spoke..

Question: Why did the party room speak?

Frydenberg: The party room spoke, you know my position.

Question: Why did it speak?

Frydenberg: It made its determination that with a new leader, we would be best able to win the next election. We have got that new leader in Scott Morrison and he has performed very strongly but it’s about what is on offer to the Australian people at this election.

We are for lower taxes, more spending on essential services, we are for $100bn of infrastructure investment, 80,000 new apprentices, record spending on mental health and fully funding the NDIS, the things that matter to people is what we’re for. Bill Shorten is offering a radical alternative, he says he wants to run the economy, the country like a union.

We know that won’t end well. The more the Labor party spends, the more they tax and the more they tax the more they weaken the economy.

That is the message that is resonating. This is the Bill Australia can’t afford.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg was on ABC Breakfast this morning.

It’s not a stretch to say he seems tired. No sleep until 19 May for any of us though. He was asked about how the campaign was going.

Question: Three days to go, the polls have you widely behind the Labor party. Is it now mission impossible for the Coalition to retain government?

Frydenberg: I don’t know which poll you have been reading. It is 51-49 in Newspoll which tends to be the most accurate ...

Question: Which gives the Labor party anywhere between a 7-8 seat victory.

Frydenberg: It will be close. We have seen a clear choice between between what the parties are offering the Australian people.

At a time of escalating trade tensions between our major trading and investment partners, US and China, at a time of slowing global economic growth and at a time of high impact from the floods and the droughts that we have seen on our economy here in Australia, it’s the worst possible time for Australia to be subject to $387bn of higher taxes from the Labor party. We are delivering record spending on health and on schools and on roads and tax cuts and we’re doing all of that without increasing taxes.

Question: You say you have been a good government. Why have you had three prime ministers in six years?

Frydenberg: As you know, both sides of politics have rotated prime ministers in the last decade or so. I don’t think that has served the country well.

Question: Voters tend to judge governments, as they did the Labor party in 2013, on their performance. A lot of voters are saying they still haven’t received a proper answer as to why – you said everything in your view was going well, why was Malcolm Turnbull rolled in August last year?

Frydenberg: Prime minister Scott Morrison has answered that question.

Question: What is your answer?

Frydenberg: The party room spoke. My position was clear throughout that process. The party room spoke and now we are looking to the future and Scott Morrison has won the confidence and the respect of the Australian people.

He’s clearly the preferred leader over Bill Shorten. He’s campaigned strongly but it is about the Australian people and what we are offering them. That is continued strong economic growth and an economy that’s not a trophy to go up in the cabinet or on the shelf. It is merely a means to an end which is better essential services, managing the population growth, busting the congestion, paying back Labor’s debt and leaving them to earn more and keep more of what they earn.

Updated

Barnaby Joyce keeps on Barnaby Joycing his way through this campaign:

For the record, Joyce was referring to Sydney Morning Herald and the Age journalist Michael Koziol, not Matthew Kozal, and the report card had absolutely nothing to do with the ABC.

It was compiled by WomenVote and spoken about on the Drum.

Good morning

Well, we’ve seen John Howard out and about during the campaign, giving his support to Scott Morrison.

Paul Keating has popped up a couple of times.

And now Bob Hawke is making his views known. Unsurprisingly, he is all for Bill Shorten. And he has turned his attention to one of the government’s favourite attacks – that Shorten would be beholden to the union movement.

“While Bill’s political opponents argue his trade union background is a liability for a future prime minister, I consider it an asset, as it was for me,” Hawke writes in an open letter.

“It gives him the experience to achieve consensus with business, unions and community-based organisations for the challengers that lie ahead.”

Hawke wasn’t well enough to attend the Labor launch, but sent his regards. His intervention now shows how close the campaign is, as we enter the final 72 hours.

Meanwhile Scott Morrison wants theological questions left at the door, after yesterday’s “do gay people go to hell” flare-up. That came after questions were raised at forums about religious freedoms, spurred on by Israel Folau’s tweets. Morrison, who invited the cameras into his church over Easter, had to clarify his view on Tuesday, after he didn’t answer the question when first asked on Monday.

Shorten seized on the non-answer, forcing Morrison to address it.

Question: “How appropriate was it for Bill Shorten to raise your answer to a question you received about whether gay people go to hell and can you clear up your position on that question?”

Morrison: “I’ve already made a statement on that earlier today. That’s is not my view that that’s the case and you know, my faith is about God’s love is for everybody. That’s what I’ve always believed. I found it very disappointing that without even prompting, he sought to try and politicise this and sought to exploit opportunity for it. I thought that was very disappointing. I don’t think that should have a place in this election campaign. People’s faith is people’s faith. I’m not running for pope, I’m running for prime minister and so theological questions you can leave at the seminary.”

Question: “And your position on that, do you believe gay people go to hell?”

Morrison: “I’ve just said no I don’t.”

Question: “Prime minister why didn’t you say that when you were asked yesterday?”

Morrison: “Well yesterday I made the point that these are issues about religion and I don’t want to see those controversial pockets being brought into the political debate. I don’t see how that helps anybody. I’ve set out what my view is, but you know this is about the value of people’s homes. That’s what I was talking about today. It’s about the rates of tax people pay and I think it should be lower. It’s about important community projects like we’re talking about here up in northern Tasmania. It’s about the strength of our economy. It’s about $387bn worth of higher taxes.

I’ll tell you why Bill Shorten wants to talk about these other issues; because he doesn’t want to talk about the impact of his pernicious taxes on the value of people’s homes.

He doesn’t want to talk about how it’s going to push rents up.

... So they’re the issues I believe Australian’s are focused on as we get closer to the election and the distraction that Mr Shorten tried to bring up today – apart from being frankly a bit grubby and a bit beneath him and disappointing – the real issue was, Labor is getting a lot more desperate. When they get a lot more desperate, these are the sort of tricks they try and pull. I’d suggest let’s stay on talking about the sort of taxes you want to put on the Australian people, Bill. Because that’s the sort of thing, that’s the bill that they’re going to pay if the Bill becomes prime minister.”

So a totally normal election campaign.

Let’s a lot happening this morning, so let’s get into it.

Updated

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban Divorce: Babygirl Star Breaks Silence On Split, Vows To Keep Family Together
Nicole Kidman has addressed her divorce from Keith Urban for the first time, using a new Variety interview to stress privacy, family and forward motion. Her comments arrive months after reports of the September 2025 split and January settlement details that set out how the former couple would parent their…
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
People Have Been Following Around Tom Holland Hoping To See If He's Wearing A Wedding Band Like Zendaya
Did Zendaya put a ring on it, too?
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
A New Live-Action Scooby-Doo Has Fans Asking One Important Question: Who Owns Scooby?
Shaggy, right? RIGHT?
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Ethan Hawke Reminds Us the Kind of King He Is: “But I Don’t Eat Food”
Finger sandwiches? Spinach dip? What does he mean?
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Sir Paul McCartney: Yoko Ono questioned if John Lennon was gay
Sir Paul McCartney has claimed Yoko Ono told him she thought John Lennon "might have been gay" in a phone call after the death of her husband.
BANG Premier
BANG Premier
Woman realizes she’s pregnant—but only after boyfriend displays strange symptoms: ‘The way I would be annoyed at him’
Given how common pregnancy is, it’s surprising that many are unaware of its many side effects and potential dangers.
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play