Both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton are hitting the ground in the must-win state of Victoria today.
It comes as Labor has given its backing to a pay rise for three million low-paid workers including retail staff, early childhood educators and cleaners as part of its election pitch.
Meanwhile, impending tariffs imposed by Donald Trump are threatening to overshadow the close-fought campaign.
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Albo snaps at reporter over simple question
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected a request for Foreign Minister Penny Wong to answer a question at a press conference in Melbourne this morning.
Asked by the Sydney Morning Herald’s Paul Sakkal if Ms Wong might come back to the lectern to answer a question on US tariffs, Mr Albanese simply said: ‘No’.
When asked why, his blunt response was: ‘It’s my press conference’.
The exchange marks the first time Mr Albanese has come close to losing his temper on the campaign trail.
We are on day five of a five-week campaign, so there is still plenty of time for both leaders to lose their heads.
Albo ‘not distancing himself’ from Allan
Albo insists he is not distancing himself from unpopular Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan.
In consecutive days, the Prime Minister has happily appeared at press conferences alongside popular Labor premiers Roger Cook in WA and Peter Malinauskas in SA.
But in his first visit to Melbourne during the campaign on Wednesday morning, there was no sight of Ms Allan.
A fair-minded observer might conclude that this is because the Labor-run state government has experienced a collapse in support in recent months.
But Mr Albanese immediately batted away any suggestion that he was trying to distance himself from the unpopular Labor leader, insisting that Victorian parliament was sitting.
‘It’s this little thing called sitting, it’s this little thing called parliament,’ Mr Albanese said.
He insisted it should not be seen as a ‘lack of confidence in her government’.
‘I work closely with all state and territory governments and have a good relationship with every premier and chief minister, including Jacinta Allan,’ he added.
Coalition ‘supports wage rises’, Dutton claims
Peter Dutton has given his tacit backing to Labor’s support for a pay rise for three million low-paid workers including retail staff, early childhood educators and cleaners as part of its election pitch.
Labor will make the submission to the Fair Work Commission – Australia’s independent tribunal responsible for setting award rates and minimum wage – on Wednesday.
‘We support wage increases,’ Mr Dutton told reporters in Melbourne.
But the Opposition Leader claimed families were doing it tougher than ever after three years of Labor.
‘The prime minister is out there telling Australians they have never been better off, that everything is good, we have turned the corner.
‘That’s not the experience of families we’re speaking to.’
He later accused Mr Albanese of ‘politicising’ a decision by the independent Fair Work Commission.
Albo accuses Dutton of being ‘aggro’ after he said he would stand up to Trump ‘in a heartbeat’
Peter Dutton repeated his usual refrain earlier by branding the Prime Minister ‘weak and ineffective’, telling Sky News that Trump was ‘walking all over’ him.
Asked about the comments at a press conference in Melbourne, Mr Albanese insisted he would ‘stand up for Australia’.
‘Peter Dutton will always dial things up to 11,’ Mr Albanese added.
‘He thinks this is a contest of who can say the most aggro things: it’s not.
‘It’s not the way that diplomacy works. It’s not the way that engagement in international relations works.
‘This guy has no experience in international relations.’
The Prime Minister insisted he would not compromise when it comes to the PBS, biosecurity laws and the news media bargaining code — all areas in the sights of Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ list of complaints.
Mr Dutton told Sky News he would stand up to Trump ‘in a heartbeat’.
‘If I needed to have a fight with Donald Trump or any other world leader to advance our nation’s interests, I’d do it in a heartbeat and I’ll put the Americans on notice and anyone else who seeks to act against our national interests,’ he said.
Peter Dutton hints he might slash funding for the ABC and NDIS
The Opposition Leader is campaigning on a commitment to cut ‘wasteful’ government spending.
In a direct echo of Trump’s Elon Musk-led ‘Department of Government Efficiency’, Peter Dutton handed Jacinta Price the newly-created role of Shadow Minister for Government Efficiency in his last reshuffle.
The Coalition has been coy about where they aim to make savings, suggesting in recent weeks that they aim to slash public servant numbers by 41,000 and carry out an audit of Indigenous spending, including Welcome to Country ceremonies.
But now the Opposition Leader has let slip that the ABC and the NDIS could be in his sights.
‘The approach we would take is to reward excellence and where we find waste is to cut that waste’,’ Mr Dutton (pictured, below) told Sky News.
‘There are a lot of regional services for the ABC, which I think are underdone.
‘We were out in western Queensland just yesterday looking at the devastation of the floods, and the ABC could be a much more integral part of that community.
‘But just having it based in Sydney… or Melbourne is not helping people in outer metro areas or regional areas.’
Mr Dutton said he wanted to see the NDIS ‘remain sustainable’ but said he was concerned about ‘waste’.
‘(I am) committed to the NDIS, committed to equity for people with disabilities but against waste and rorts and rackets,’ he added.
‘I want to see the money go to frontline services and hep those who are most in need.’
Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ is set to eclipse Australian leaders’ campaign efforts, as the US president’s latest wave of tariffs are unleashed.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will be on the fifth day of their cross-country election blitz when Trump unveils sweeping tariffs that, he warns, will affect ‘all countries’.
Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton have tried to keep the campaigns focused on domestic issues like health and government services.
But the unpredictability and ferocity of Trump’s second-term decisions have made voters increasingly concerned about the impact on Australia, and raises questions over which leader will be better placed to handle the volatile president.
Australia has already been slugged with 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium.
A report released by Trump’s office on the eve of ‘Liberation Day’ showed the US was keeping an eye on trade barriers imposed on American goods – such as beef, pork, chicken, apples and pears – that are aimed at preventing pests and viruses from arriving in Australia.
The document also pointed to issues over Australia’s treatment of pharmaceutical patents and its news media bargaining code, which requires tech platforms to pay media organisations for their content.
But Mr Albanese insists biosecurity, the pharmaceutical subsidy scheme and the media code are not up for negotiation.
While no country has scored a carve-out from US tariffs, Mr Dutton has continued to claim he would be best placed to deal with Trump.
When asked whether global leaders could secure exemptions, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt (pictured, above) insisted that Trump was ‘always up’ for a phone call or ‘good negotiation’.
‘But he is very much focused on fixing the wrongs of the past and showing that American workers have a fair share,’ she told reporters.
Albo backs pay rise for millions of Aussies
Anthony Albanese’s government is backing a pay rise for three million low-paid workers including retail staff, early childhood educators and cleaners as part of its election pitch.