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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Tory Shepherd and Amy Remeikis

Fallout from leaders’ debate continues as early voting centres open – as it happened

Scott Morrison Katharine Murphy
Prime minister Scott Morrison
Prime minister Scott Morrison on day 29 of the 2022 federal election campaign. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

What we learned today, Monday 9 May

People’s ears were still ringing today from last night’s debate, but the election campaign rolled on ... and on ...

Here are some of the highlights:

See you back here tomorrow afternoon, after Amy Remeikis shepherds you through the main part of the day.

Updated

The Liberal candidate for Warringah, Katherine Deves, has chosen to appear on Sky News to repeat some of her earlier comments:

Updated

First Dog on the Moon:

It’s gotten so bad even Guardian columnists are allowed to swear now.

Now for something different! And it’s happening right about now ...

As independents challenge the major parties in safe seats across the country, former Indi MP Cathy McGowan joins Gabrielle Chan to discuss the state of play in rural electorates in the 2022 campaign and what it might mean for politics in the next decade. We will going live straight into the event page and onto our Guardian Australia Facebook page.

And here’s the livestream.

Updated

Here are some more details on the flood danger in Queensland, from Caitlin Cassidy. Stay safe, everyone!

Updated

Earlier, Paul Karp factchecked the leaders’ debate. One of the biggest clangers? Prime minister Scott Morrison’s claim he blew the whistle on neglect in aged care.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation says the claim is “not only astonishing, it’s offensive”. The federation’s chief executive, Annie Butler, says aged care nurses and workers have been campaigning to fix the crisis “for years”, but were ignored:

It was only following the shocking expose on aged care by Four Corners that the prime minister finally acted – not to fix the problems in the sector but to, yet again, ‘kick the can down the road’ by calling a royal commission into safety and quality in aged care.

The government has had almost a decade to address the worsening situation in aged care. It has failed to deliver.

Updated

And here are some images from Labor leader Anthony Albanese’s day (including another gratuitous dog):

The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, and South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, speak to the media during a visit to Flinders medical centre in Adelaide
The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, and South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, speak to the media during a visit to Flinders medical centre in Adelaide. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, and Labor candidate for the seat of Boothby, Louise Miller-Frost, speak to voters during a visit to a prepoll booth at Colonel Light Gardens in Adelaide
Albanese and Labor candidate for the seat of Boothby, Louise Miller-Frost, speak to voters during a visit to a prepoll booth at Colonel Light Gardens in Adelaide. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Albanese poses for a selfie with students during a visit to his old school at St Mary’s Cathedral school in Sydney
Albanese poses for a selfie with students during a visit to his old school at St Mary’s Cathedral school in Sydney. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

The ABC’s Raf Epstein asked the Australian Electoral Commission how the prepoll numbers were going. Quite a jump from last election:

Some snaps on the trail of prime minister Scott Morrison today, thanks to AAP:

Prime minister Scott Morrison at a community afternoon tea at the Nowra Golf Club in the seat of Gilmore
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, at a community afternoon tea at the Nowra golf club in the seat of Gilmore. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Prime minister Scott Morrison with a rainbow at a press conference at the Sikorsky Hangar at HMAS Albatross in Nowra, in the seat of Gilmore
Morrison at the Sikorsky Hangar at HMAS Albatross in Nowra, in the seat of Gilmore. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Prime minister Scott Morrison looks at a Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk helicopter at HMAS Albatross in Nowra, in the seat of Gilmore
Morrison looks at a Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk helicopter at HMAS Albatross. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Katharine Murphy and Sarah Martin have taken a look at the whirls and eddies of preference flows:

Josh Butler’s election briefing is in. He takes a look at the leaders’ moves today, the biggest issues, the fallout from the debate – including that surprise admission from prime minister Scott Morrison:

7,516 Covid deaths in Australia:

Spotted: One Alan Tudge. Cait Kelly finds out what the elusive minister has been up to:

The Australian dollar today dipped below 70 US cents for the first time since late January, testing a level that it’s nudged a couple of times in the past 20 months.

The falling dollar reflects expectations the US federal reserve, that country’s central bank, will be more aggressive in lifting interest rates than the Reserve Bank of Australia at least in the near term. (Investors move money to where they hope to get a better return.)

A gauge of six major currencies shows the US currency is now at its highest since 2002, Reuters said. So it’s not just an Australian thing.

Still, the Aussie dollar is supported by the fact the country happens to be a big exporter in commodities that are both in high demand and priced in US dollars.

And as Westpac said this afternoon:

Last week Australia reported its 51st consecutive monthly trade surplus. Coal prices are on the rise again though metals prices have wobbled somewhat as China’s Covid lockdowns continue.

Still, a weaker Australian dollar means Australia will import more inflation, and increases the odds the RBA will have to hike the cash rate faster too. Fuel will be among goods that will be more costly as the Aussie dollar slips. (As noted in an earlier post, investors are predicting the RBA’s cash rate will rise from 0.35% after last week’s board meeting to 1% as soon as its July gathering.)

While a weaker local dollar isn’t great if you were planning to visit a country where their currency is pegged to the US dollar, there are other attractive places to go.

For instance, the Japanese yen has been particularly weak versus the greenback for months, while the Aussie dollar also rose above NZ$1.10 last week for the first time since August 2020, Westpac said.

Updated

Today’s Campaign catchup has dropped! Katharine Murphy is on the mic with Jane Lee, talking about the shouty debate, and the whispers to prepoll voters:

Updated

Looks like the short-term sugar hit isn’t helping with those spikes:

Asked about her climate change policies, Tink says Australia needs to move faster to cut emissions, and that her target is a “60% reduction by 2030 and then to get to net zero by 2040”.

In terms of the mechanisms, and the phasing out of fossil fuels, she says she’ll listen to the scientists, economists and experts on that.

Updated

Independent candidate for North Sydney, Kylea Tink, is now talking to Greg Jennett. He’s asked her about former prime minister John Howard’s comments that independents are “anti-Liberal groupies”. She says:

I think what is very clear is that when you have a system that is working really well between the two major parties, neither will have a vested interest for seeing any change brought into the system. I think what is really interesting is to hear comments like that coming from a former prime minister, who I am sure during his time as prime minister prided himself on his capacity to listen to communities and work to develop forward facing legislative reform.

The reality is, there is no teal movement, in fact my campaign has always been pink, just as I know [independent member for Indi] Helen Haines has always been orange. This is the rise of a new way of doing politics and it has been driven by communities that are frustrated and don’t want to put up with the poor political behaviour we have seen emerging over the last decade and the lack of advancement for our country.

Updated

Former Liberal MP Christopher Pyne is talking to the ABC’s Fran Kelly – she brings up that time he famously said the party’s moderates were now in the “winner’s circle”.

Kelly says prime minister Scott Morrison seems to be giving the moderates “grief” now, particularly over LGBTQ issues:

Pyne: “I feel like I’m in the winner’s circle, especially on Afternoon Briefing with the ABC.”

Kelly: “That a boy!”

Pyne: “The truth is Scott Morrison is not trying to damage any of his colleagues.”

Updated

On a possible Nick Xenophon comeback in South Australia, Hanson-Young says she didn’t see people picking up his how-to-vote cards earlier today, and slips in a swift spruik for Greens Senate candidate Barbara Pocock.

Updated

The leader of the Greens should be involved, Hanson-Young says, but adds that is not her main motivation:

My primary motivation is making sure the public get access to the views, the ideas, that insight into what the democracy can deliver for them.

'Damn shame' ABC not hosting a leaders' debate: Hanson-Young

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young is talking to the ABC’s Greg Jennett about last night’s debate – as Amy Remeikis reported earlier, she says Australia needs an independent debate commission after the “unseemly squabble”.

It’s a “damn shame” the ABC isn’t hosting a debate, she says, adding it would need legislation:

I think it would have to be a piece of legislation in the first instance. It would allow for the establishment of an independent debates commission. Who is on that and how that board or commission is selected is up for discussion. It’s really to get this out of the hands of political parties and politicians on the eve of an election. Other countries do this. They have independently agreed, monitored and implemented debates for their elections.

Updated

The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, surprised no one when his first visit to South Australia (except for an unscheduled pit stop on his plane) was to Boothby. There’s a bit of conjecture that the marginal seat, held by retiring Liberal MP Nicolle Flint, is the only interesting one in the state.

Labor candidate for the seat of Boothby Louise Miller-Frost listens to Australian Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese speak to the media during a visit to Flinders Medical Centre on Day 29 of the 2022 federal election campaign, in Adelaide
Labor leader Anthony Albanese was in Boothby in South Australia earlier today with Labor candidate for the seat, Louise Miller-Frost. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

But some insiders are also hopeful (on the Labor side) or worried (on the Liberal side) that Christopher Pyne’s old seat of Sturt could flip. The seat, which is considered fairly safe Liberal territory, is currently held by James Stevens.

There’s some buzz around today about Grey, too, which is held by Liberal MP Rowan Ramsey (and now I’m going to share my own tweet, which seems indulgent, sorry):

Anyhoo, if you haven’t read it yet, here’s Sarah Martin’s profile of Boothby (which is, still, the most likely to fall to Labor):

Updated

Gratuitous dog content:

This is utterly appalling:

'Life-threatening' flood warning for Queensland's central west

“Dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding” could hit Queensland from tomorrow, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

AAP reports there are alerts for Longreach, Winton, Cloncurry, Isisford, Barcaldine, Hughenden, Richmond, Julia Creek and Blackall.

The BoM says up to 150mm of rain could hit parts of central-west Queensland:

Locally intense rainfall with embedded thunderstorms which may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding is also possible for the central-west and parts of the north-west districts.

Updated

The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has run the ruler over the main parties’ policies:

Updated

This morning, Australian fashion’s peak body launched what they’re calling a world-first initiative, a trademark certifying Australian clothes.

The Australian Fashion Council (AFC) is likening the trademark to a Tourism Australia campaign, but for fashion. The trademark is the result of $1m in federal funding, from the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.

To qualify for an Australia Fashion Trademark, brands do not have to manufacture in Australia. At the trademark’s launch this morning, The AFC chief executive, Leila Naja Hibri, said when she was asked to attend a government crisis meeting on Australian fashion manufacturing in early 2020, she asked: “What manufacturing?”

Chief executive of the Australian Fashion Council, Leila Naja Hibri, speaking at the Australian Fashion Trademark launch at Australian Fashion Week 2022 in Sydney
Chief executive of the Australian Fashion Council, Leila Naja Hibri, speaking at the Australian Fashion Trademark launch at Australian Fashion Week 2022 in Sydney. Photograph: James Gourley/AAP

Brands registering for the Australian Fashion Trademark will have to meet two of four criteria: Australian made (for at least 50% of garments certified); Australian majority employees (75% of a brand’s employees must be based in Australia); Australian-owned (also 75%); and Australian tax domiciled.

The certification process will also require brands to make commitments around transparency, and social and environmental responsibility. Commitment to “authentic Australian design” is also a requirement, and this includes a specific clause stating brands must “omit any cultural appropriation in the design process”.

The trademark eligibility criteria, published today, are relatively strict. This is intentional on the part of the fashion council, who hope to capture ethically conscious consumers through the certification scheme. Hibri described the criteria as “prioritising people and planet, as well as profit”.

The launch was targeted specifically to the fashion industry, who are being encourage to apply for the trademark. Domestic and international marketing initiatives around the trademark and qualifying brands are planned for later in the year.

The trademark is just the start of a $69m funding ask by the AFC, outlined in a report produced by Ernst & Young, which was also released today.

“It’s not more than the government is doing for other sectors,” Hibri said. “Australia has been great at selling wine and tourism,” she said, outlining fashion’s potential to deliver significant economic growth, and more jobs, particularly for women, who make up 77% of the sector.

A model walks the runway during the Bondi Born show. The Afterpay Australian Fashion Week 2022 started on Monday in Sydney
A model walks the runway during the Bondi Born show. The Afterpay Australian Fashion Week 2022 started on Monday in Sydney. Photograph: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Support for Australia’s beleaguered TCF manufacturing sector makes up the biggest slice of the report’s funding suggestions, including $10m to integrate fibre and derivatives into existing manufacturing strategies; $10m to prioritise the procurement of locally made uniforms for the defence force and federal police, and a further $6.75m to develop a grant scheme focused around Australian made procurement strategies for businesses.

Politics isn’t a frequent topic of discussion at Australian fashion week, but when Hibri said that she looks forward to working with “the next Australian government” it drew stifled murmurs from the room.

Updated

Early voting centres across the country opened today for those unable to vote on 21 May, and many voters have not wasted any time in heading to their local ballot to cast their vote.

In the marginal seat of Wentworth in Sydney’s east, a queue of voters spilled out from the prepoll centre on Oxfords Street in Bondi Junction onto the footpath.

The seat is held by Liberal MP Dave Sharma on a margin of 1.3%, and the desperation in both his and his challenger’s – teal independent Allegra Spender – campaign was on display.

Both candidates were handing out how to vote material and talking to voters on Monday. In a sign of just how close this seat is, Sharma approached and engaged voters identifying and holding Greens material while waiting to vote.

Bondi Junction local Malcolm Smith was one voter who was not swayed by the tens of corflutes and volunteers handing out for Spender and Sharma – the self-described “crypto hound” voted for United Australia party candidate Natalie Dumer, but preferenced Sharma above Spender. He said:

The other parties let us down over the past two and half years, so I had to give it to somebody outside of the two-party system.

I never thought I’d actually vote for Clive Palmer or someone like Pauline Hanson, but I just don’t think we’ve been able to have discussions about Covid.

Meanwhile, Paddington local Petra O’Neill cast her vote for Spender. O’Neill voted for Sharma at the 2019 election, but said prime minister Scott Morrison’s absence during the black summer bushfires and record on climate action has swayed her vote. She said:

I voted for Allegra, but she comes from a very privileged background. I don’t think she’s had as much experience as say, Zali Steggall, but the Liberals have done absolutely nothing for us, I have no faith in ScoMo.

Updated

Be excellent to each other, Gilmore candidate Andrew Constance says ... the day after the debate the night before ...

Updated

Lake Burley Griffin has been heritage listed, AAP reports.

About 6,640 hectares including the lake and adjacent land in Canberra will be added to the commonwealth heritage list.

The National Capital Authority says the area “possesses outstanding creative, technical and aesthetic heritage values for the nation as a whole” and is “an iconic cultural landscape”.

Kayakers on Lake Burley Griffin
Kayakers on Lake Burley Griffin. Photograph: Rohan Thomson/Getty Images

The environment minister, Sussan Ley, said:

The construction and completion of Lake Burley Griffin demonstrates the push for national development during the years immediately after federation and before the first world war, and again after the second world war, under the Menzies government.

The lake’s design reflects the influence of three major urban design movements including the City Beautiful movement, the Garden City movement and International Modernism.

A resident rides his bike along the shore of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
A resident rides his bike along the shore of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA

Updated

More dire warnings from the aged care sector this morning. I’ve spoken with the chief executive of BaptistCare NSW and ACT, Charles Moore, who has warned workforce shortages and underfunding are exhausting his staff and driving the sector into an “untenable standstill”.

Moore is pleading with whichever party forms government to act immediately to improve aged care funding, warning the current pressures are unsustainable and are hitting vulnerable residents as well as staff. Moore said:

Workforce shortages are exhausting our staff and many hard-working people in the sector are barely able to keep up with the cost of living, with inflation rising to a point that’s more than twice the rate of wages growth. Our sector is underfunded and falling into an untenable standstill.

It’s impacting both our workers and the most vulnerable in our society, and voters are seeing this too.

BaptistCare has also released polling it commissioned on voters’ attitudes to aged care funding and staff pay, conducted by YouGov. It found Australians ranked aged care workers behind only hospital workers in terms of who should be paid the highest.

The overwhelming majority of voters said there were important actions the incoming government should take with respect to the aged care sector, with increasing funding the most important, according to the poll.

Updated

More than 640,000 people subjected themselves to last night’s leaders’ debate. Considering it was a “shambles”, that’s impressive engagement. Elias Visontay and Amanda Meade report:

After that rush of press conferences, here’s a nice little historical tidbit for you:

And that’s his visit to South Australia done, by the sound of it. Albanese says he has one more state to squeeze in today.

Updated

Albanese tells jousting journos to play “rock, paper, scissors” to see who gets the next question. The winner asks about comments from former prime minister John Howard, who said Australia will need a nuclear power industry to service the planned nuclear-powered submarines. Albanese says:

I think Mr Howard’s wrong. And, indeed, the advice and part of the decision-making process in the briefings that we had about Aukus – that included Senator Wong and Richard Marles and Brendan O’Connor – were that you didn’t need a domestic civil nuclear industry in order to support the nuclear submarines.

We made very clear our support for nuclear subs. We made that on the basis of the advice that we received. And we stand by it.

Albanese also brings up the situation with Liberal National candidate for Lilley, Vivian Lobo:

Because I’m not sure he’s been asked, but I do want to say that the prime minister needs to do more to respond to the referral of the candidate for Lilley to the Australian Federal Police by the Australian Electoral Commission. This is a really serious issue and the prime minister needs to respond as to what action he will take on this issue.

If you missed it earlier, here’s Tamsin Rose’s story on Lobo:

Updated

Labor’s treasury spokesman, Jim Chalmers, is asked about the GST arrangements by which Western Australia has a guaranteed “floor” amount – something that has made the other states cranky. Labor wouldn’t “revisit” that deal, Chalmers says:

There’s a deal that’s been done between the commonwealth and the states, which we have said in all of the capital cities right around Australia that we intend to honour. We totally understand, whether it’s premier Malinauskas or other premiers of both political persuasions around Australia, their job is to advocate for the best deal that they can get. And our job is to weigh that all up. But we’ve made it very clear – Anthony has, I have – that we don’t intend to revisit the current deal.

Updated

'A lot of work' needed in Pacific: Wong

Wong is talking now – she’s asked about that report this morning of another draft agreement between Solomon Islands and China, one which mentions planned infrastructure. Wong says it’ll take a “lot of work” to address the issues in the Pacific:

If it’s true, it demonstrates the seriousness of what has occurred on Mr Morrison’s watch. It also demonstrates that the sort of tough words he’s talking about, or trying to use, about “red lines”, don’t appear, if the reports are correct, to be the way forward, or appear to have much effect. What we have to do is to work with the whole Pacific family, the whole Pacific family.

Updated

Q: So it’s just a coincidence that you’re pumping money into a hospital in a marginal seat?

Albanese says “it’s needed right now”.

He also says Labor will have more to say on health, when asked if his team would look at the funding split between the state and federal governments.

Updated

Q: Is this a “naked use” of money in an election campaign, and wouldn’t systemic reform be better?

“The states run the health system,” Albanese says, adding that this project was chosen “based on priorities”:

What I am planning to do, though, is to sit down constructively with all state governments, based on their priorities.

He says he and Malinauskas spoke before the state election (which Malinauskas won at quite a trot), and:

If we’re successful, one of the first things I will do is to convene a meeting with state premiers and chief ministers – I want to work with all of them. And state premiers are in the best position on the ground to say what their priorities for service delivery are. This project is an important project.

Updated

Thanks, Amy Remeikis! And hello, all. I have a debate hangover but will soldier on.

I am going to hand over the blog to our SA expert Tory Shepherd to take you through.

I’ll be back early tomorrow morning – take care of you Ax

Updated

Peter Malinauskas gets the second question as well.

He has Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese standing behind him

Labor makes SA health announcement

The South Australian Labor premier ,Peter Malinauskas, has headline billing in this second press conference, in Boothby – which Labor is hoping to *finally* take from the Liberals.

I think the Liberal party in South Australia for too long and certainly the federal Coalition, has take then seat for granted. It’s neglected the principal concerns that residents in this community want and the number one thing on the minds of constituents in the southern suburbs including in Boothby is a health system that works a state Labor government partnering with a federal government, we will deliver far more outcomes.

The announcement is for a $400m upgrade to the Flinders hospital. Malinauskas gets the first question.

Updated

I just keep coming back to this from Scott Morrison’s most recent press conference:

Businesses can make wages go up. When businesses are doing well and when unemployment is going down, then wages go up. That is how it works.

That is exactly what the Reserve Bank governor was saying. When he was noting that wage rises are starting to happen now, we have been waiting for them for some time, we have seen unemployment under our government come from 5.7%, down to 4%, which is the equal lowest level in 48 years.

Youth unemployment, which is incredibly important here, has gone to 8.3%. That is the lowest level since August of 2008.

Young people in apprenticeships just like this, all around the country getting into jobs.

Businesses in a weak economy will not be able to afford wage rises. Businesses in a strong economy, that is a whole different story.

Businesses in an economy where unemployment is falling as the Reserve Bank governor said to 3.5%, that is what can support wage rises.

There is no magic pen from Anthony Albanese that makes your wages go up. There is no law you pass that makes your wages go up. What makes wages go up is a strong economy where businesses are doing well and they can ensure that they can pay staff even better and above award rates which we see in so many companies across the country.

Australia’s economy, as Grogs has pointed out on multiple occasions, was in trouble *before the pandemic*. Wages in real terms have non-risen since before the last election (the last time we were all talking about this and Mathias Cormann said it was a deliberate feature of the economic architecture to fight inflation, which was already very low). So what does that say about the economy under the Morrison government?

Updated

National Covid-19 update

Here are the latest coronavirus case numbers from around Australia on Monday, as the country records three deaths from Covid-19:

ACT

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 812
  • In hospital: 72 (with 3 people in ICU)

NSW

  • Deaths: 3
  • Cases: 7,793
  • In hospital: 1,548 (with 54 people in ICU)

Northern Territory

  • Deaths:
  • Cases: 202
  • In hospital: 38 (with 0 people in ICU)

Queensland

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 4,750
  • In hospital: 439 (with 12 people in ICU)

South Australia

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 2,984
  • In hospital: 228 (with 10 people in ICU)

Tasmania

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 841
  • In hospital: 44 (with 1 people in ICU)

Victoria

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 10,031
  • In hospital: 491 (with 43 people in ICU)

Western Australia

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 10,394
  • In hospital: 279 (with 6 people in ICU)

The Weekly Times is holding an online crossbench debate this evening:

The Weekly Times and the NFF will host an online roundtable debate between regional crossbench MPs Bob Katter (Kennedy, QLD), Helen Haines (Indi, VIC) and Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, SA) tonight at 8pm AEST.

Watch the debate LIVE on The Weekly Times website (video to appear at this link from 8pm).

Updated

You can see Scott Morrison’s strategy there.

He is now talking about what could happen if Australia “drops its economic shield” and votes Labor, as well as working as hard as he can to discredit Labor’s policy announcements.

There was a lot to factcheck in those statements, but as a general overview, Labor’s housing shared equity scheme works like ones which have been established in other jurisdictions, including WA for three decades. If you begin earning over the scheme’s equity cap, the government does not sell your house – you have two years to buy out the equity share.

Morrison also said that will make your mortgage grow by $250,000/$300,000 if you buy out the government, which is true – but you would not have been able to afford the house in the first place without the government’s equity scheme and if you are earning over the cap, you are better-placed to be approved for the mortgage you wanted in the first place.

On Labor’s transmission scheme, it will be an independent panel who decides which projects are needed, so it’s not a willy-nilly process.

No matter who wins the election, there will be an aged care and health care staffing shortage which will need to be addressed.

The stage three tax cuts are legislated and Labor (in the end) supported the legislation’s passage through the parliament.

Wage growth in Australia has been at historic lows (in real terms) for the past decade.

Updated

Morrison bypasses question on opinion poll slide

Q: Opinion polls suggest that Labor has gained ground since the RBA rate rise. The Coalition’s vote has deteriorated along with your personal approval rating. Why do you think this is happening at this stage of the race?

Scott Morrison:

There is two weeks to go and a choice is going to be made. Right now, today ...

Q: Why do you think voters are marking you down?

Morrison:

Voters are turning up to vote in pre-poll right now. They are making a choice right now and over the course of this campaign, people are making assessments and so many, as we are seeing, are still to make a decision over the next couple of weeks.

I said at the rally yesterday, if you looked at this election campaign as if it were a job interview, let’s look at what Anthony Albanese has done through this campaign. If you are having a job interview and you ask them: there is something you need to know about the economy if you want to run it – what is the unemployment rate?

What is the cash rate? Didn’t know. His aged care policy will shut down aged care facilities across the country because he doesn’t know how to get the nurses. His health care policy, he said was costed, but it was uncosted.

The reporter tries to interject and say they were asking about what he is going to do, but Morrison ploughs on:

... He couldn’t understand what his own policy, putting forward on the National Disability Insurance Scheme, he couldn’t explain that to you. That doesn’t sound like a person who deserves a second interview, let alone the job.

Australians are needing to make that decision. They will make that decision and I have submitted myself freely and openly and happily because that is the democracy in which we live so Australians can make that choice. It is a real choice.

On Wednesday night we will have the opportunity to discuss these issues even more.

As Australians go to the polls, they are starting to focus on the choice that they have to make and it is a choice between strength, a strong economy and a weaker one under Labor. It is a choice about a government that you do know, and an economic plan that is working and can support Australians and provide that economic shield into the future, or a Labor party that is still – less than two weeks away [from the election], and they are yet to articulate an economic plan.

They are yet to submit one policy to the costings process, and they have $50 billion in unexplained debt they are putting on the balance sheet which they are yet to fully explain to Australians, and they will have higher deficits. It is a choice between Anthony Albanese and his inability to manage money ...

Q: But they are choosing him – why?

Morrison [acting like he didn’t hear]:

... And we have demonstrated strength on economic policy and national security policy that is keeping Australians safe, and keeping Australians together, in some of the most difficult times we have ever had to manage as a country, and it is keeping our economy strong. Thank you.

Updated

Q: On a local project, last week the government announced $85 million for the Mineldra plant on the Shoalhaven, that was announced and I can’t figure out whether it is equity or debt – Mr Constance may want to comment – and the boss is a donor to the Liberal party. Don’t there need to be safeguards about what the money is for – I can’t figure out whether it is debt or equity. Will taxpayers get that money back?

Scott Morrison gives this question to Andrew Constance, who is his candidate (not a minister). Constance says:

It is a $85 million announcement to reduce carbon emissions out of the Shoalhaven’s largest employer by 300,000 tonnes a year. The Liberals and Nationals get on with dealing with emissions with this type of investment. It is towards a capital contribution towards the cogeneration plant which is ...

... It is a contribution to dealing with getting Australia to net zero emissions. To reduce emissions by 45%, generating hundreds of jobs here in the Shoalhaven, right decision to be made, absolutely the right decision to be made given the incredible product that is produced by Minildra in terms of the circular economy.

That was the investment that was announced. Albo turned up there and didn’t announce anything. He turned up and just stood there.

Q: That announcement is going to come regardless of who is elected.

Constance:

300,000 tonnes of carbon emissions being reduced here in the Shoalhaven by our largest employer is worthy of support.

Updated

Q: Can you make wages go up? [What is your plan?]

Scott Morrison:

Businesses can make wages go up. When businesses are doing well and when unemployment is going down, then wages go up. That is how it works*.

That is exactly what the Reserve Bank governor was saying. When he was noting that wage rises are starting to happen now, we have been waiting for them for some time, we have seen unemployment under our government come from 5.7%, down to 4%, which is the equal lowest level in 48 years.

Youth unemployment, which is incredibly important here, has gone to 8.3%. That is the lowest level since August of 2008.

Young people in apprenticeships just like this, all around the country getting into jobs.

Businesses in a weak economy will not be able to afford wage rises. Businesses in a strong economy, that is a whole different story**.

Businesses in an economy where unemployment is falling as the Reserve Bank governor said to 3.5%, that is what can support wage rises.

There is no magic pen from Anthony Albanese that makes your wages go up. There is no law you pass that makes your wages go up. What makes wages go up is a strong economy where businesses are doing well and they can ensure that they can pay staff even better and above award rates which we see in so many companies across the country ...

... The other thing we are doing is keeping electricity prices down ... Putting downward pressure on electricity prices, and I would say also downward pressure on rising inflation and downward pressure on rising interest rates.

When you compare Australia to the rest of the world, we are at 5.1% for inflation. Much higher than any of us would like. Across the ditch in New Zealand it is almost 7%. Same in Canada. Go to the United States and it is 8.5%. Interest rates here, 0.35%. You go across the ditch and it went up by 125 basis points and 90 in the UK and 75 basis points in Canada and the United States.

Our economic shield, which was the question, is proving very effective when you compare what is happening in other countries. You take that shield down with the election of a Labor government and you will feel the same pressures that are being felt in other advanced economies.

*There has been stagnant wage growth for the last decade, when the Coalition has been in power

**Given the lack of real wage growth in the last three years, has the economy been weak or strong?

Updated

Q: [Alan Tudge didn’t register a] property transfer in 2018 for six months. What happened, and is he in breach of the ministerial code?

Scott Morrison:

No, he’s not, he updated those arrangements consistent with the code. They were late on the other registers. He is in compliance.

Updated

Q: Prime minister, a leaked version of an MOU between Beijing and Solomons to corporate on building wharves and maritime infrastructure emerged. Is Australia aware that was being negotiated? How can we be sure it won’t ultimately be used by the Chinese military?

Is this a further erosion of the trust between our government and the Solomons if they are negotiating further deals with Beijing that are only being known about by being leaked?

Scott Morrison:

We’re very aware of what the Chinese government’s ambitions are in the Pacific, whether it be in relation to facilities such as that or naval bases or other presence of their military in the Pacific.

They’re doing this all around the world. I don’t think there’s any great secret about that.

We are very aware of what’s happening in our region and of the pressures there are that the Chinese government is seeking to put on countries across our region. As I mentioned many times, there are 19 Pacific Island countries within the Pacific Islands Forum and so that is a broad family that we must work with, and do all the time, to ensure that we’re seeking to protect not just Australia’s national interest, but the point I was making last night, I don’t believe it’s in the Solomon Islands’ national interest.

That is ultimately a matter for the people of the Solomon Islands. I am very concerned, as many other Pacific leaders are, about the interference and intrusion of the Chinese government into these types of arrangements and what that can mean for the peace, stability and security of the south-west Pacific. That is why the Pacific step-up is in place.

That is why we have lifted our overseas development assistance to $1.85 billion a year, why we have been investing heavily in the infrastructure, particularly communications and energy infrastructure, across the Pacific Islands regions and that is why we’ve been supporting them in every health crisis they’ve had, whether it was Covid, or whether it was measles, up in Samoa or the humanitarian crisis we moved so quickly to be over in Tonga to support the people there.

The first call when these things happen in our region, from any of our Pacific family, is to Australia. That remains the case. Indeed, Australian federal police remain on the ground in Honiara now.

Updated

Civil nuclear industry 'not' inevitable, says Scott Morrison

Q: On John Howard’s comments yesterday. He said the Aukus deal would make it inevitable we would have a civil nuclear industry. Do you agree? If not, why not?

Scott Morrison:

No, I don’t think that is inevitable. That’s not the basis of the decision ... the fact we were able to go forward with nuclear-powered submarines without having a civil nuclear industry was one of the key changes that enabled us to go forward with the agreement itself.

Previously, that had been a requirement – and one of the key technology changes in the development of nuclear-powered submarines that we work through, particularly with the United States, over that long 18-month period, was it didn’t require such a civil nuclear capability to go forward with the acquisition of that fleet. So, I see the issues as separate.

Updated

Q: A question about regional news. We can’t wait for a green paper to be delivered and $10 million won’t fix the issues we have in our regions.

Scott Morrison:

Print media or broadcast?

Q: Regional broadcast media.

Morrison:

As you know, there is a package for print media ...

Reporter: I understand that ... Can you just wait for the rest of my question?

Morrison:

Sorry.

Q: The rest is, will you scrap spectrum fees and support anti-siphoning laws? If you don’t, our regional newsroom will also crumble.

Morrison:

First of all, when it comes to regional print media, we have a package in place and the reason that was put in place was because of the massive escalation in printing costs. That would have driven regional newspapers out of business.

So the communications minister worked with the industry to ensure that we can provide that support to keep the regional print titles in place, and I’m pleased we’re able to do that. Regional print media and indeed broad cast, plays an important role in local communities.

It shouldn’t just be the ABC. I think it is important there are other commercial opportunities and voices out there, providing regional news across Australia.

In the terms of spectrum, I know they’re under consideration by the communications minister. On the issue of siphoning, we addressed that last night. The Labor party and the Coalition had the same policy for review of that after the election.

Updated

Q: Prime Minister, in 2018, Senator Rex Patrick said he obtained a defence study that revealed Newcastle, Brisbane, Port Kembla scored poorly in accommodating a subs base. The best was Sydney, followed by Jervis Bay – the residents are concerned a subs base might be there one day. Can you rule out that as a site?

Scott Morrison:

I can, it’s not one of the shortlisted sites at all.

Updated

Q: You’ve both been pretty heavily criticised for the way you behaved in the debate, particularly the treatment, pretty dismissive, of the female moderator. In hindsight, do you wish you’d acted differently?

Scott Morrison:

Well, I think the way the debate was set up made it often very difficult to hear in the room itself. It was a spirited debate. I think Australians expect spirited debate and the last one was a bit more measured.

I hope the one on Wednesday, well, the way the rules work, maybe that will help the moderator a bit more on that occasion. It was a debate. It’s a spirited debate. There’s an election [campaign on].

The reporter asks about it being a woman being spoken over. Morrison says:

I don’t think gender had anything to do with it, frankly. I don’t believe gender had anything to do with it. I’m surprised why it would.

Both Anthony and I think are completely respectful, have always been respectful of females in the workplace and certainly when we work professionally with them in an environment like.

That – I don’t think it would have made, I don’t think it had any bearing on that issue at all.

Updated

Now Scott Morrison is criticising Labor’s “help to buy” policy which he calls “forced to sell”.

This sounds like all the points he wanted to make in the debate and didn’t get an opportunity to.

That’s why Australians are really asking the question about whether this job is too big for [Albanese] and whether he’s up for it.

Updated

Perhaps sensing that he won’t get asked anything in the press conference where he can raise this, Scott Morrison extends his press conference spiel to include this:

Now, before I go to questions, let me make a couple of points about last night’s debate. It was a pretty spirited debate, I’m sure everybody will agree. These are passionate topics, this is a big choice – future of the country, future of our economy, the ability to pay for important services like Medicare, aged care, all of these things.

Plenty of people can talk about the problems – the leader of the opposition, Anthony Albanese, did a lot of talking about the problems last night – but we didn’t hear any solutions.

You can talk about aged care, talk about Medicare, you can talk about childcare, but he didn’t tell you the childcare policy cost $63 billion. You can’t go and make commitments like that if you don’t have an economy that can pay for it.

He goes on to criticise Labor’s power policy and Anthony Albanese’s refusal to guarantee wage growth.

Updated

Scott Morrison pushes defence funding message

The PM is back in the Labor-held marginal seat of Gilmore, and it’s all about defence spending:

When I became prime minister three and a half years ago, I said that I wanted to keep our economy strong. I said I wanted to keep Australians safe and I wanted to keep Australians together. That has been our challenge over the last three years, particularly as we’ve come through Covid.

Keeping the economy strong means we can do the other things that are so important. Australia’s national security doesn’t happen by accident. It requires a government that understands it, is deeply committed to it and is prepared to make the decisions to enhance our capability and give our defence forces the support they need.

Updated

Paul Karp has taken a look at the five biggest clangers in the latest leaders’ debate:

Updated

The attorney general is waving a corflute on the side of the road.

Updated

Queensland reports no Covid deaths

This is good, considering the number of cases in Queensland:

Updated

This was Scott Morrison’s response to Sussan Ley’s non-answer during a weekend press conference:

Q: Prime minister, your own cabinet minister, Sussan Ley, yesterday she was saying that she wasn’t focused on what happens after the election and she’s not looking to advocate what the Coalition would do in government should you get re-elected. So what are you hiding from voters until after the election?

Morrison:

Absolutely nothing.

Q: And that was in relation –

Morrison:

I mean, the budget contained over 200 specific measures.

Q: Her comments were in relation to religious discrimination.

Morrison:

... that all set out what our agenda is. And over the course of this election, we’ve been setting out policies each and every day. Now, the Labor party hasn’t been doing that. They’ve had three years. We’ve done three budgets since the last election and we’ve announced more policy in this election than Mr Albanese has even attempted to do.

Q: Sussan Ley’s response was in relation to religious discrimination amendments specifically.

Morrison:

So we have a Labor party with Mr Albanese who has announced more reviews than he has policies. As he said yesterday that he wants to hit the ground reviewing, not running the country. And we’ve got the shadow treasurer who’s out there today making it very clear that Labor’s deficits will be higher and you won’t find out what’s in a Labor budget until October.

Now we’ve been waiting three years to hear the economic plan of Mr Albanese. Three years. Nothing. Zilch. Zero. Absolutely nothing. And now he’s saying you have to wait ‘till October.

You know, you don’t get to run for prime minister on the basis of just saying, it’s your turn. You have to actually have stumped up and presented the Australian people with an outline of what your economic plan is. Even an outline would do, but he hasn’t even managed that.

So this election really is a choice ... Labor doesn’t know what they’re going to do, and as a result they don’t deserve your vote, because they account to just too much risk at a time like this.

Updated

Not saying is becoming a theme this election:

Scott Morrison is back in Gilmore.

The Liberals want to take it from Labor and hope former state minister Andrew Constance will help them do it.

It’s a fair bet that real estate agents would have advised sellers to avoid 21 May for planned auctions for obvious election distraction reasons.

As things stand, though, the property market has already lost its sizzle, at least in Sydney and Melbourne.

Brigid Delaney colourfully described the shifting mood over this past weekend – the first test since the RBA lifted its cash rate last Tuesday.

CoreLogic has firmed up the clearance details further this morning, and it’s not looking promising if you were aiming to sell at the top of the market:

In the past week, just over 2,000 homes went to auction across the capital cities, with Melbourne and Sydney making up about three-quarters of the total, CoreLogic said.

That tally was down a quarter from the previous week, and a third lower than this time a year ago.

Of the 1,611 results collected so far, 64.7% were successful, once again overtaking the previous week as the lowest preliminary clearance rate recorded so far this year,” the data group says.

A week earlier, the revised figure came in at 62.9%, so the preliminary clearance rate could drop below 60%, which would be the first time since August 2021 during the depths of the east coast Covid lockdowns.

Sydney, the most expensive major city in Australia (and right up there, globally), the conditions were worse than the average. This past week’s auctions were off 43% from a year ago, and down about a third on the previous week.

The harbour city’s preliminary clearance rate of 58.7%will drop a few percentage points or more. Excluding a pre-Australia Day week in January (more sausages), this past week looks like being Sydney’s worst clearance rate since April 2020.

If confidence is beginning to evaporate already after one RBA rate rise, you have to wonder at what it will look like if investors are even partly on the money:

UNSW researchers like Hal Pawson and Chris Martin have made the point about how much we’ve managed to hitch our economy’s fortunes to the property market. Looks like a rough ride might be ahead ...

Updated

Vivian Lobo was referred to the AFP by the AEC on the weekend, after questions were raised over his residential address.

Updated

Anthony Albanese will hold a press conference with SA Labor premier Peter Malinauskas in the early afternoon, with a health announcement.

We have had a few queries on what is happening on WeChat this election.

Wing Kuang and Anne Davies take a look:

Don’t be surprised if we don’t have a result on election night.

Peter Hannam will have more on this very soon:

Updated

Labor’s spokesperson on international development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, has stopped short of committing to a specific timeframe for increasing foreign aid to at least 0.5% of gross national income.

At a forum at the Australian National University, Conroy was asked about the following statement in the 2021 Labor platform:

Labor will, over time, achieve a funding target for the international development program of at least 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income. Labor will increase aid as a percentage of Gross National Income every year that we are in office starting with our first budget.

Asked whether that might be achievable in a first term of a Labor government, Conroy says:

Repairing Australia’s ODA budget is going to take a long time and concerted resources … I’m not going to give you that guarantee of reaching it in a first term.

Development policy observers have noted that the Australian government’s own figures for the 2022-23 financial year suggest ODA as a share of GNI is expected to fall to 0.2%.

Conroy says Labor has made a “down payment” by announcing $525m extra for ODA for the Pacific and Timor-Leste over four years, and that people should expect further announcements soon regarding Labor priorities for south-east Asia, the rest of world and multilateral institutions. He suggests there will be a broader ODA figure released “before the election”.

Conroy says improving support for the Pacific was important before the Solomon Islands deal:

We have not just woken up to it now.

Conroy says he can’t emphasise enough “how shortsighted it was to halve assistance to Indonesia”.

He says Labor takes international development seriously and regards it as a critical arm of the broader foreign affairs and security strategies.

Updated

Labor has vowed that its promise of $525m extra in aid for the Pacific and Timor-Leste won’t be funded by cuts to the rest of the Official Development Assistant (ODA) budget.

The opposition’s spokesperson on international development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, has been addressing a forum at the Australian National University.

Conroy argued the government’s Pacific Step Up “was funded by a step down everywhere else in the world”.

He said Labor’s previously announced $525m in extra ODA for the region over four years would be in addition to the existing overall ODA budget.

Conroy has been stepping through elements of Labor’s Pacific policy, which includes a pledge to take the region’s concerns about the climate crisis seriously. He notes Scott Morrison and others in the government call Pacific Islands countries family:

Who needs family if they blatantly disregard an issue you see as your greatest threat.

Conroy says Morrison says the Coalition is committed to net zero by 2050 “but his coalition is hopelessly divided on it” with Barnaby Joyce implying the target is non-binding.

More broadly, Conroy announces a Labor government would increase funding for the Australian NGO Cooperation Programme – in which NGOs run community-based projects – by $32m over four years.

Labor member for Shortland, Pat Conroy.
Labor member for Shortland, Pat Conroy. Photograph: George Fragopoulos/AAP

Updated

Pauline Hanson’s Please Explain cartoon series has been taken down from YouTube after the Australian reported the AEC had written to Hanson warning of legal action if the videos were not removed or updated with the required authorisations by 8am today.

One Nation leader, Senator Pauline Hanson.
One Nation leader, Senator Pauline Hanson. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Updated

Thank you to the blog watcher who sent in this photo to me – seems like quite a few people are keen to get it all over and done with

Sarah Hanson-Young calls for independent debate commission after 'unseemly squabble'

Sarah Hanson-Young thinks last night’s debate was so bad, debates now need legislation.

From her statement:

The Australian Greens will move in the next parliament to establish an Independent Debates Commission to oversee live television election debates, with last night’s leaders’ debate once again proving to be a farce.

Greens spokesperson for media and communications Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“Last night’s debate was woeful and a disservice to voters.

“Those of us who suffered through it watched two grown men – so-called leaders – shouting at each other, interrupting, smirking and aggressively talking over the top of others including the female moderator.

“Australians shouldn’t be subjected to this unseemly squabble again. An election debate should be a contest of ideas and vision for our country, not chest-thumping.

“We need an Independent Debates Commission that oversees the official election debate. I will move for this in the new parliament.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson Young.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson Young. Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

Updated

There was a lot in that debate which needs fact checking, but Scott Morrison’s reverse ferret on his “it’s not a race” statement in relation to vaccine procurement stands out.

It was a race Anthony and we shouldn’t have described it in those terms.

Because for months after, Morrison rejected he was ever talking about vaccine procurement:

When we made those remarks, we were talking about the regulation of the vaccines. I’m not sure if people are aware of that.” [July 2021]

So not only did he say “we” (he) was wrong, it also throws into the spotlight how he tried to spin the comment in the months following.

Updated

More than 500 prepolling booths have opened across the country.

Updated

The Women’s Legal Service in Queensland has released it’s wish list for the election, saying:

Women’s services, especially those who work in the domestic, family and sexual violence space, have been appalled by the little attention that women, their safety, financial independence, stability and equity has received this election.

The wish list:

1. Immediate action on building more social housing and increases to Centrelink entitlements so women can afford to rent and move into longer-term housing.

2. Urgently redraft the Family Law Act, especially the existing presumption of “equal shared parental responsibility”.

3. Increase access to justice by reducing the amount of pre-action forms required to be completed and fund the pre-action procedure process for vulnerable people.

4. Develop a new pathway for permanent residency to support women experiencing domestic violence on temporary visas, including women who have children who are Australian citizens.

5. Leadership.

Updated

Tasmanian premier tests positive for Covid after NBL game

Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff has tested positive for Covid-19 and will isolate for a week.

Rockliff said he woke on Monday morning with mild virus symptoms and took a rapid antigen test.

“I have tested positive for Covid-19 and will now follow public health advice and isolate for the next seven days,” he said in a statement.

“Due to being fully vaccinated, including my booster, I am feeling well and will recover while working from home.”

Rockliff attended the Tasmania JackJumpers’ NBL grand final series game against the Sydney Kings in Hobart on Sunday afternoon.

Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff (centre) woke on Monday and took a RAT, which was positive
Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff (centre) woke on Monday and took a RAT, which was positive for Covid. Photograph: Linda Higginson/AAP

He became the island state’s 47th premier in early April in a Liberal party room vote, after Peter Gutwein quit politics following two years in the top job.

Health authorities, meanwhile, have said being vaccinated against flu this winter is especially important with coronavirus still circulating in the community.

NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant last week said getting a flu shot was just as important as being vaccinated for Covid-19 as flu cases spike with international borders reopening after two years.

Cases of flu in NSW have more than doubled in recent weeks to 1024.

Updated

Q: Dominic Perrottet says a minority government is good for democracy. Do you agree?

Anthony Albanese:

I want a majority Labor government. That is my position and I will be working every day for 76 ... I think we should have 150 Labor members in the House of Representatives. That is my starting point. I think we will fall short of that. But my objective is 76. Thanks, very much, see you in Adelaide.

And the press conference ends.

Updated

Q: The debate got fiery last night by both you and Scott Morrison. You mentioned disillusioned voters last night, what are they meant to make of two leaders shouting at each other?

Anthony Albanese:

Scott Morrison didn’t have anything to say except shouting. He only had smears and that smirk throughout it all.

Last night I put forward ideas about cheaper childcare. Our ideas about cheaper energy bills and dealing with climate change, our ideas about making more things here, our ideas about lifting living standards through practical measures to lift wages.

Our plans for more affordable housing, for addressing those issues, whether it be social housing or our help to buy program.

They are the positive policies we put forward. I ask to you think about what were the policy measures that Scott Morrison said he would do in his fourth term if he’s elected?

If he is given three more years, we can’t afford three more years of the same, three more years of smears and scares. That is all this government has got. In their drops to newspapers, breathtakingly reported like Labor has an off-budget program to build social housing, using the interest from the housing Australia Future Fund, then if that is all they’ve got, they are out of time and ideas.

Updated

Q: You have gone to this election promising to increase wages, given the fact that inflation is going to be double what wages growth is, isn’t that a massive hole in your central platform that you won’t be able to deliver on something you’re promising now?

Anthony Albanese:

Not at all. There are two approaches towards wages at this election. Scott Morrison and his government, who want low wage growth to be a key feature of their economic architecture, they have said that.

Explicitly they have said that, the former finance minister and Labor which understands that we don’t want people to be left behind, we don’t want peoples’ living standards to be falling and that is our approach.

That is why we support wage increases for aged care workers. That is why we want to change the definition of the way that areas like the gender issues operate, so there has only been one successful case in the 21 that have been taken over recent years, going way back and in 2012 – you asked the question and now you get the answer.

That is the way it works. In 2012, we successfully, as the Labor government, put forward a submission for the social and community services award.

What that did was lead to an increase in pay that kept communities sector workers working in that sector. That led to higher wages, particularly for women in that sector. That is what we did.

We will continue to make practical measures that make a difference, including same job, same pay and just one difference as well that I can’t understand this government. Government had legislation before the parliament to outlaw wage theft and make it a crime and they withdrew it. They withdrew it even though it had overwhelming support.

It says it all about this government. At the same time, they had legislation which wanted to get rid of the better off overall test. You only want to get rid of the better off overall test if you don’t want people to be better off overall.

Updated

Q: On last night you [said] negative gearing being a good thing. That is the exact opposite of your party’s policy from the last election. Did you not support that policy and just not speak up at all? Doesn’t negative gearing contribute to an overheated housing market?

Anthony Albanese:

We weren’t successful at the last election. We have come up with a better housing policy that we are taking to this election.

Updated

Q: On your economic plan, Labor’s budget spending plans are going to see the nation’s debt balloon by another $52bn to pay for your climate change and affordable housing programs. With deficits set to increase by $10bn under your government, doesn’t this threaten your attacks on the Coalition over economic management and will you commit to budget repair?

Anthony Albanese:

They are getting desperate, aren’t they?

Here we have spending that is on the same basis as the National Broadband Network, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation that they tried to abolish.

This is an investment that produces a return. You only have off budget commitments if it produces a return to the government. For example, our housing Australia Future Fund will see $10bn invested through the Future Fund, by the way, which was established and Peter Costello and others were appointed to and the interest on that, the interest on that to be used to invest in social housing. This is good policy. It makes sense and it will make a difference.

Updated

Q: You had a meeting with the Archbishop this morning. What did you discuss with him and are you concerned about religious voters going away from the Labor party?

Anthony Albanese:

Not at all. I know his Grace very well. You won’t be surprised by that, given I am an ex student of this school. We meet regularly and when I meet with a Catholic Archbishop or my local priest, it is not the subject of public information, it was a private chat, wasn’t terribly political.

It is on a personal level, I regard Anthony Fisher as someone who is a friend, he is Archbishop, and we discussed a range of personal issues and it included Catholic education and how important it is.

Updated

Q: On wages, you said last night you will try to lift real wages but you couldn’t guarantee it. Why won’t you make that guarantee and is that the ambitious message you want to take to voters?

Anthony Albanese:

I am very confident that working with business and unions – you will recall – I think you were at the speech I gave at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry last week, a serious speech of half an hour to 150 business leaders.

The Reserve Bank over a long period of time has warned that one of the weaknesses in the economy was the falling real wages. They referred to that consistently over a number of years.

The truth is we have had flatlining wages over 10 years. The key to lifting wages is lifting productivity. One of the things I will do, first things I will do is to convene a full employment summit.

We will have a full employment white paper. We will work with business and unions to enterprise bargaining but we will change the Act so secure work is an objective of the Act.

We will make gender pay equity an objective as well. We have a range of policies aimed towards that. The other thing we need to do is to recognise that so many people are doing it just so tough.

Half a million Australians are working three or more jobs. People in the aged care sector are earning as little as $22 an hour.

The minimum wage is $20.33. If you are working $22 an hour in what is a tough job – it is tough physically but it is incredibly tough emotionally and on people’s mental health which is why people are leaving the sector.

We need to address that. Our clear objective is to lift up living standards. That is our objective. That is what we will work on. It stands in stark contrast.

The prime minister last night – I got two questions to the prime minister, one of them I thought was pretty easy, which is should people be paid the minimum wage? You know what he said? “It depends.” He couldn’t even say that Australian workers should be paid the minimum wage.

Updated

Q: During the religious discrimination debate you said a Labor government would act to protect all students, gay and transgender. How soon will this occur if Labor wins government?

Tanya Plibersek:

Labor has been very clear that we support action to protect people of faith from discrimination on the basis of religion. We have been consistently clear that we don’t want to see any child discriminated against, any legislation will be done in the normal way. If we form government we will consult widely on the legislation. We don’t want to do what Scott Morrison has done which is divide the nation by introducing this type of legislation.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese and shadow education minister Tanya Plibersek.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese and shadow education minister Tanya Plibersek. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Anthony Albanese tells the press pack they are going to three states today and there will be a number of opportunities to ask him questions.

Labor announces new teachers' policy

Anthony Albanese and Tanya Plibersek are at Albanese’s old high school to talk teachers and getting high-achieving students into teaching degrees – and career changes:

Last night I outlined positive plans for Australia’s future. Scott Morrison was left with just smears, scares and a smirk. That is all he has got after three terms of government, asking for another three years. We can’t afford to waste another three years. We can’t afford three more years of the same, with a government that won’t acknowledge the problems that are there, let alone provide solutions for it. This government thinks that people have got it easy. The truth is that they haven’t. We are facing real challenges and one of the challenges is how we become a smarter country, how we deal with education and training and that is what today’s announcement is about.

Updated

NSW reports three Covid deaths

Victoria has posted its covid update for the last 24 hours

Three lives were lost in NSW

Updated

Bridget McKenzie also refers to the “teal” independents (of which the Nationals are facing their own threat in Nicholls) as “groupies”.

Asked why she calls them that, McKenzie says:

“Well, they don’t want to be called a political party. I am very, very happy to call them Simon Holmes à Court’s political party if you like.”

In case it needs to be said, receiving support or funding from the same group doesn’t make you a political party – there are multiple businesses and billionaires which donate to the different political parties at the same time in Australia.

Updated

In her interview with ABC radio RN this morning, Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie had the lines and she delivered them.

We saw last week, Albanese can’t even handle the campaign press pack, it begs the question how is he going to handle Xi Jinping or Putin?”

Which is a ridiculous line by any measure.

When asked how much of a drag Scott Morrison was on the Coalition vote, McKenzie said:

Well, you don’t have to like him, but you have to recognise who is actually up to the job of being prime minister of a country of about $2 trillion in incredibly difficult times.

But she was also put under pressure by the “Barnaby line” – a phrase coined by Gabrielle Chan.

I think, those people who bother to get out of capital cities and have a look around, realise that we are a very diverse party, we are very diverse.

Gabby lives in regional Australia, on a farm.

Updated

Dave Sharma plays down preferencing UAP on Wentworth how-to-vote material

Liberal MP Dave Sharma has played down the significance of directing his voters to preference the United Australia party candidate in second position in his ultra-marginal electorate of Wentworth, insisting he hasn’t endorsed the party’s policies.

Appearing at a candidates’ debate hosted by the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies on Sunday night, Sharma was asked about his how-to-vote material which urges voters to preference UAP candidate Natalie Dumer second, given the party had “platformed neo-Nazi” voices in the past.

Sharma responded by saying “preferencing someone does not amount to an endorsement of their policies” and that “it’s just something you need to put on the ballot paper”.

He said that given the “historical pattern” of voting in Wentworth, the Liberal candidate finished first so preferences made little difference.

Sharma added: “I would say to each of you who are Wentworth residents, number the boxes however you’d like.”

Sharma’s comments that preferences aren’t an endorsement of a party’s policies follows his criticism of Allegra Spender, the teal independent challenging him in Wentworth, for not including any preference directions to voters on her voting pamphlets.

“She will not say who she will support in a hung parliament, all but guaranteeing the chaos of minority government. She even refuses to disclose her preferences so as not to show her hand,” Sharma told SBS news last week.

The Liberal party holds Wentworth on a slim margin of 1.3%, and at Sunday’s debate both Sharma and Spender were appealing to the 12.5% of the electorate who are Jewish.

(L-R) Independent candidate for Wentworth Allegra Spender, Liberal Member for Wentworth Dave Sharma and Labor Member for Kingsford Smith Matt Thistlethwaite a debate hosted by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies on Sunday night.
(L-R) Independent candidate for Wentworth Allegra Spender, Liberal member for Wentworth Dave Sharma and Labor member for Kingsford Smith Matt Thistlethwaite at a debate hosted by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies on Sunday. Photograph: Steven Saphore/AAP

Updated

Anthony Albanese will be holding his press conference at his old high school this morning as part of Labor’s teacher scholarship announcement.

That’s expected to be held fairly early this morning.

Updated

The religious discrimination bill became an issue over the weekend, with Scott Morrison saying he remained committed to passing it through the parliament, while also claiming gay students were not being expelled from religious schools.

Paul Karp covers that off here:

Jason Clare spoke on that too:

We support the introduction of legislation to deal with religious discrimination. I got to tell you – as somebody who represents a really multicultural part of Australia in the western suburbs of Sydney, you know, I know that people get discriminated against based on their faith, whether it’s the cross they wear around their neck or whether it’s the hijab that they wear in the streets, you know, I see and hear stories of people being discriminated against.

So we should be taking action there. But we should be good enough and capable enough to be able to do this in a way that deals with all sorts of discrimination and doesn’t discriminate others more by trying to solve one problem. You know, we should be able to do all of that and I fear that what the prime minister is doing here is trying to tackle one issue, not another.

One of the consequences of that, though, is he’s got a divided party. He’s got his own members here they’ll they cross the floor again.

But he also said there was no reason protections for LGBTIQ students can’t be done at the same time:

You know, remember – we have some of the highest rates of teenage suicide in the world. Some of the most vulnerable kids here that are affected by this debate are relying upon us to act with maturity, to act with a bit of wisdom here and I think it’s not beyond us as a parliament to do it.

Updated

Jason Clare says Labor’s policy will have ongoing wider impacts:

There aren’t many jobs, aren’t many professions more important than a teacher. I think we can all think of a teacher that shaped our life, changed our life. A quick shoutout to Peter, Peter Valenti if you’re watching today, mate, I still keep in touch with Peter today. We still catch up a couple of times a year. Teachers can change your lives.

We got two challenges at the moment.

One, we got a general teach shortage. It’s expect that there’ll be a shortage of around 4,000 teachers within the next couple of years. And we’re not getting enough people who get the top marks in the HSC in their Atars going into teaching.

If you go back 30 years, then 30% of the people who got top marks went into teaching.

It’s now only about 3% and that’s in stark contrast to places like Finland as well as Singapore.

These financial payments are about encouraging more people to become teachers, because the evidence from the UK, the work the Grattan Institute has done, is if you can get our best and brightest to become teachers, then it flows on, it helps our young people, our children, to get better results and set them up for the future as well.

Updated

Labor’s policy announcement today is on education, as Paul Karp reports:

High-achieving students who want to become teachers will be given at least $10,000 a year to study education under a Labor plan to improve teacher quality.

Under the policy, to be announced on Monday, 5,000 students with an Atar of 80 or more will receive the scholarship to study an education degree, with an extra $2,000 bonus a year for those who teach in a regional area.

Labor will aim to double the number of high achievers studying to become teachers over the next decade, from about 1,800 to 3,600 a year.

The package will cost $146.5m over four years, and includes an extra 1,500 places in high achieving teachers’ programs.

On the opinion polls, Jason Clare says:

My advice to you, and I know you don’t need it because you know this – is ignore the polls. Treat them with suspicion, they were wrong last time.

I suspect they’ll be wrong this time as well. I do think Australians are fed up ... with Scott Morrison and his government. I think they’re sick of the lies and rorts and incompetence. The fact is Scott Morrison can’t visit a whole bunch of Liberal party electorates at the moment because he’s political kryptonite.

If he turns up in some of these teal seats, some of his members will keel over and go in the foetal position. He’s got a problem that most Australians have worked him out and don’t want him as prime minister of Australia. But the next two weeks are a big opportunity for us to tell the story about how we can build a better future for all, the whole bunch, of different policies to tackle the sort of problems that Aussies care about.

Updated

Jason Clare says Albanese was 'standing up' to Morrison in debate

Jason Clare is continuing his role as the Labor party’s campaign spokesperson, where he has adopted an “everyman” persona to explain things. Here he is on the ABC talking about the debate:

One of the things that struck me, was it had all the hallmarks of that first US presidential debate that we saw a couple of years ago with Donald Trump just yelling and being rude. You saw that from Scott Morrison last night. I think that turns people off. All that try-hard bully-boy stuff, might work in the Liberal party, but didn’t work last night.

Yes, but Anthony Albanese yelled as well, Clare is told, to which he says:

You’ve got to push back. When someone’s trying to bully you or overpower you, you stand up to them.

That’s what those did last night. You come back with the facts, you come back with the truth. That’s Scott Morrison’s problem here – you had two leaders going head to head here, one of them had a plan to fix some of the problems that we have in this country, the other just had a pack of excuses which shouldn’t surprise us. That’s been – that’s been Scott Morrison’s stocking trade for the last three year.

Anthony Albanese and shadow housing minister Jason Clare (left).
Anthony Albanese and shadow housing minister Jason Clare (left). Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Bob Katter warns Australians could become a 'vanishing race' if they don't procreate more

There is a world where Bob Katter could be one of the MPs holding the balance of power in the lower house. Hopefully not this one, but if the multiverse theory is true, then that universe exists.

Today he is worried about Australians being a “vanishing race”.

The Katter’s Australian party (KAP) MP says Australians are a vanishing race of people, and we must pull policy levers to encourage people to have families.

Double income no kids (DINKS) couples are paying tax at the same rate as families with a stay-at-home wife or husband and three kids. How can anyone consider this to be fair.

Income tax splitting should be legalised for families with a single income and children, and prorated down for less deserving situations. The income earner should be able to split their income with the number of people dependant on that income (whether that be their spouse and the number of children they have under 18).

...This policy will encourage people to have children.

It is an imperative because otherwise we will vanish as a race of people.

I’m saying have one for Mum, one for Dad, one for Australia and one for Bob.

The member for Kennedy, Bob Katter.
The member for Kennedy, Bob Katter. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

ACTU ups wage claim as inflation tipped to hit 5.5%

Unions are seeking a $2,200 per year rise in the minimum wage, upping their demands as surging inflation reduces workers’ pay in real terms.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions had originally asked for a 5% rise but will now ask the Fair Work Commission for 5.5%, less of an ambit claim now inflation is tipped to hit 5.5% by mid year and 6% by year’s end.

As runaway inflation has already triggered a mid-election campaign interest rate rise, cost-of-living pressures and wage stagnation have emerged as the most important issues for voters ahead of the 21 May election.

Unions have responded by increasing pay demands in the understaffed aged care sector and in state public services, subject to a 2.5% pay rise cap that amounts to a real wage cut.

In the minimum wage case, which sets the pay of 2.7m workers, the ACTU is now asking for the hourly rate to rise from $20.33 to $21.45.

The ACTU’s earlier claim was lodged in late March, after the Morrison government’s budget predicted inflation would peak at 4.25% mid-year.

The ACTU secretary, Sally McManus, said “a 5.5% increase is what is now needed just to ensure people tread water, anything less has them drowning in bills”.

“Scott Morrison’s government’s submission to the Fair Work Commission is silent on backing a pay increase that keeps up with the cost of living.

“Instead it dedicates a whole section to the benefits of low-paid work.”

Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Sally McManus.
Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) Sally McManus. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

In the earlier round of submissions, the Australian Industry Group called for a 2% increase, or $15.45 a week to the minimum wage.

The Restaurant and Catering Industry Association called for no increase in the minimum wage, arguing take-home pay is already rising due to job shortages, on top of super increases and budget giveaways.

Updated

OK

Both leaders ended Sunday in Sydney, so they could take part in the debate.

They’ll be off pretty early this morning – we’ll let you know where as soon as it’s confirmed

Good morning

There are 12 days to go until election day. Twelve days of campaigning, commentary and complaints. Polls open today though, so if you’ve made up your mind, you can vote and tune out for the rest of the campaign.

It’s the morning after the leaders’ debate the night before and anyone who was unlucky enough to watch it is probably still wondering what happened. There was shouting. There was 60 seconds to answer each question. There was more shouting. Scott Morrison said he’d never seen corruption.

Morrison was declared the winner, then Albanese was declared the winner, then it was a tie. But really, anyone who didn’t watch it was the real winner.

There’s one more to go on Wednesday.

The debate happened just as the AFR published an Ipos poll showing Labor remained in an election-winning lead and the Australian published a Newspoll showing the same thing.

There is still just under two weeks though and don’t be surprised if individual electorates throw up some wildcards. As has been said many times before and by people much smarter than me, this is an election without a national mood. The last couple of years impacted people differently, depending on which state they lived in. That fracturing will play a role. So it’s going to be slugged out seat by seat. And that’s before you even get to the impact of independents and minor parties.

We’ll be sure to cover it all for you, with Katharine Murphy (still recovering from whatever it was she watched late last night) Paul Karp, Sarah Martin, Daniel Hurst and Josh Butler all here to help you make sense of it. You have Amy Remeikis on the blog for most of the day.

Ready? Sames. But alas, we must get into it.

Updated

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