Australia election 2025 live: Plibersek insists she is ‘buddies’ with PM after awkward greeting at campaign launch; Greens to scrap uni fees

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Albanese and Plibersek: ‘we’re good mates’

The PM is asked about… that… moment at the Labor launch yesterday, when he blocked a hug and kiss from Tanya Plibersek, and whether he’ll keep her in the environment portfolio for another three years.

Albanese says the pair are “good mates”.

You know what I’ll commit to trying to win this election… Tanya Plibersek has been a friend of mine for a long period of time. We live in neighbouring seats. We’re good mates, and she’s doing a fantastic job.

The pair have had more than one awkward moment recently, most notably when Albanese helped to tank a deal Plibersek had struck with the Greens and independent senator David Pocock, to pass Labor’s legislation for a new environmental protection agency.

Albanese has since promised, if Labor gets in again, he’ll put a new EPA on the table.

PM concedes more needs to be done on accomodation for women escaping domestic violence

Albanese is asked about the need for more emergency accommodation for women escaping domestic violence. The PM says this shortage is addressed by the housing Australia future fund, but concedes more needs to be done:

The housing Australia future fund … a portion of that housing was about emergency accommodation for women and children escaping domestic violence. That was something that we pointed out when the Greens and the Liberals and the s in the Senate held it up for month after month after month after month.

We know that there is more needed to be done.

What about other families and households who own a home but need more support to move – perhaps into a bigger home for their growing family? Albanese says there are several programs to fix housing affordability.

If you increase supply, you assist everyone, because you have an impact on affordability and so across the board, whether it’s the housing Australia future fund, the social housing accelerator… So across the board, we know that supply is the key. Only Labor is looking at supply as well as demand.

Albanese pressed on why voters should believe promises on new housing

Albanese says home building “is happening” when challenged on why voters would believe the government can build 100,000 extra homes for first home buyers, on top of the 1.2m homes promised by Labor over five years.

The Coalition has been at pains to point out that no new homes have been built so far: the government has taken some other newly built homes or homes that were already being built and made them available for social and affordable housing.

Albanese says the townhouses being built behind him shows the plan will work:

They can see behind us. This is what it looks like. This isn’t theoretical. This is happening right now behind us.

On the critics of the plan like economist Chris Richardson: Albanese says Richardson should come and see the construction projects in Adelaide – and reiterates that Labor’s plan will boost housing supply.

Malinauskas: ‘We need more homes in South Australia’

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas speaks next, another very popular Labor leader in the state.

He says the policies announced yesterday will help more housing projects come online.

We need more homes in South Australia, and we need them as quickly as we can possibly build them.

I’m very grateful for the announcement that was made yesterday by the prime minister. It’ll allow developments exactly like the one that you see here be bought online more quickly in the places where it matters most.

The housing minister, Clare O’Neil, says the Coalition’s policy will force taxpayers to subsidise home owners’ mortgages and won’t build new supply. She also takes a stab at the Coalition’s plan to allow first home buyers to access their superannuation to pay for a deposit:

It is going to make the intergenerational inequity problems that we are concerned about so much worse. What Peter Dutton wants to facilitate is for young people around the country to ransack their retirements.

Albanese says Labor’s housing policy will make ‘significance difference to increasing supply’

Anthony Albanese is up this morning in Adelaide, spruiking his housing policy announced yesterday.

He’s with the SA premier and a suite of Labor MPs and frontbenchers. For good measure, he’s at a new housing development in Adelaide, where he says 100 new townhouses are being built.

These two policies will make a significant difference to increasing supply, but also importantly to getting first home buyers, and particularly young Australians, into their first home. We’re going to work with state and industry partners to identify projects like this one here.

Albanese also says the new policies, including the increase to tax deductions without receipts to $1,000 will “simplify” the tax system.

Taylor insists Liberal budget position will be ‘stronger than Labors’ and promises costings before election

Going back to Angus Taylor on RN Breakfast for a moment, he was asked: has his party has abandoned fiscal responsibility to chase votes?

Neither party has really outlined how exactly they’ll be paying for these major new commitments, worth billions of dollars, announced over the weekend. Taylor denies that and insists their budget position will be better than Labor’s.

Absolutely not. Look, we’ve opposed over $100bn of Labor spending that we think, at a time like this, is wasteful …

We will come out with our costings before the election… our budget position will be stronger than Labor’s.

Albanese to visit Adelaide this morning to promote housing promises

Anthony Albanese will visit a housing estate in Adelaide this morning, to spruik Labor’s campaign launch housing promises.

This development, which is part of the government’s Housing Australia Future Fund program, features 100 homes – including 40 set aside for first homebuyers. Labor had pointed to this model as an example of how its pledge to build 100,000 homes specifically for first homebuyers could work.

Albanese will be joined by the foreign minister, Penny Wong, the South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, the housing minister, Clare O’Neil, and several local Labor members.

He’ll do a tour of the site and a press conference shortly. Labor is buoyed by the overnight Newspoll which shows Albanese in an election-winning position.

Paterson on neo-Nazi protesters: ‘nothing patriotic about worshipping failed foreign regime of one of history’s greatest losers’

Paterson is also asked about neo-Nazis protesting outside his office over the weekend. He says if they were there to intimidate him, it’s “not going to work”.

If it was to intimidate, it’s not going to work on me… I particularly resent the attempt by these people to portray themselves as patriots. There is nothing patriotic about worshipping a failed foreign regime of one of history’s greatest losers.

Paterson says he will “always stand against” nazism.

Paterson: criticism of Coalition’s housing policy by economists is ‘out of touch’

A little earlier, Coalition campaign spokesperson James Paterson told ABC News Breakfast their policies to help on housing and cost of living are “targeted” and “meaningful”.

The major parties have entered a high-spend bidding war over cost-of-living support and housing. But economists and experts have expressed concerns that the policies don’t adequately address the supply side of the housing crisis, and could drive prices up. Paterson says that criticism comes across as “out of touch”:

I have seen some of the commentary from economists and others, and I have to say when it comes from someone who owns their own home and probably bought it many years ago, it’s going to come across to many Australians as, frankly, pretty out of touch and tone-deaf.

I think people underestimate the generational despair among young Australians who’ve lost hope that they’ll ever be able to buy a home.

Lambie: Greens and Labor minority government ‘does scare me’

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie is… sceptical… to say the least on Labor and the Coalition’s housing policies.

On Sky News, she’s brought a long stick, calling it a “wand” to bring in the tradies that will be needed to build more homes.

I brought out my wand this morning so I can bring in those tradies. I’m just gonna pull it out of my backside. Honestly, you know, you think that was such great policies when you’ve been running with them and selling them six months beforehand.

Following new polls this morning showing the increasing likelihood of a minority Labor government, Lambie also says she’s “scared” of Labor working closely with the Greens, warning Labor has to stay in the “centre”.

It does scare me, I’ll be honest with you and your viewers, how much, you know, they’ve got to stay in that centre, how much do they have to swing? And the way that the Greens are playing that, my god, talk about blowing out the economy, they’ve got a whole new scale.

Taylor says Liberal housing policy ‘targeted’ to increase supply

Back on RN Breakfast, the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, is in the hot seat, to talk up the Coalition’s housing policy.

The key question for both parties is: what impact will their respective policies will have on the housing market (ie will they drive prices up so they remain totally unaffordable)?

Both parties are saying their plans won’t have a significant impact on prices. Taylor says their policy will incentivise new home builds as it helps first home buyers into the market.

The truth is that this won’t do that [raise prices]. The critical point here is that this is focused on new houses, and by encouraging new houses into the marketplace, we can support the extra demand. It’s deliberately targeted in that way.

Plibersek laughs off Albanese’s hug block

One moment you might have missed during Labor’s campaign launch yesterday was when the prime minister seemed to block a hug from Tanya Plibersek, as he greeted members of his frontbench in the crowd (Jim Chalmers gave him a backslap while the former PM Julia Gillard shook his hand and Albanese held her arm up in the air.)

But when it came to Plibersek, the environment minister went in for a hug and a kiss – and Albanese grabbed both her hands to block her from getting any closer.

It was a little awkward.

Plibersek was asked about the moment on Sunrise, who said she should have “done the elbow-bump”.

I reckon we should still all be elbow-bumping. During an election campaign, the last thing you want is to catch a cold from someone. So that’s on me. I should’ve done the elbow-bump, I reckon.

Asked if she and PM still get on, she said:

Yeah, of course!

Still buddies?

We’re buddies!

You can watch the exchange below:

Ed Husic defends Labor housing policy over lack of new builds

Labor has said their housing policy – to open up 5% deposits for first home buyers – won’t significantly raise house prices. But do they have modelling showing exactly what impact it will have?

RN Breakfast host Sally Sara puts the question to the industry minister, Ed Husic, who says he “doesn’t have the modelling in front of him”, but says the initiative needs to be looked at within the wider suite of policies on housing.

You need to look at our overall approach as to what we’ve done, making it easier for people to rent, make it easier for people to buy, being able to address those supply issues. This is all taken as one in terms of being able to assist people.

But I don’t have that modelling, frankly, in front of me.

Labor has been put under pressure over their housing policies, which so far haven’t been able to build any new homes – they’ve just bought or repurposed existing new builds for their programs.

Husic says voters shouldn’t be “dismissive” of the homes that have been acquired for social and affordable housing.

That’s 55,000 homes that have given someone the security of knowing they’ve got a roof over their head … I wouldn’t necessarily be that dismissive about the fact that social and affordable housing has been opened up critically as a result of our policies.

Dutton claims housing policy of deducting mortgage payments will increase supply

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is also out this morning, selling his new housing policy which was announced over the weekend.

Speaking to Sunrise, Dutton says their policy, allowing first home buyers in new homes to deduct their mortgage payments from their income tax, will encourage more homes to be built:

We believe very strongly that because it only applies to new builds, to new units, new homes it will increase the supply and that’s the view of the HIA, the housing industry experts, as well. It’s going to encourage construction, which is really important.

The Coalition says its policy also includes $5bn for councils to improve sewerage, water and road upgrades to “unlock” more housing blocks, as well as increasing incentives for new tradies and cutting migration numbers.

Chalmers insists 5% deposit scheme for first home buyers won’t have ‘substantial’ impact on prices

On housing, experts have raised some concerns on the impact both major parties’ policies will have on market demand while not adequately addressing supply.

Labor has said their policy, to open up their 5% deposits for all first home buyers (up to a certain price) won’t have a “substantial” impact on the market.

When asked whether there’s a risk more people taking up the scheme could default on the loans if there’s a market downturn, Chalmers says:

On our advice, we’re not expecting there to be a substantial impact on demand or on prices …

It’s very unusual in Australia to see that outcome [defaults]. Secondly, we know from the existing program that there has been an absolutely minuscule amount of defaults on these debts.

So we are extremely confident that this is a very responsible way to get more first-home buyers into the market.

Chalmers gives no signs about tax reforms beyond what has been announced

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is doing the media rounds this morning, from a very glorious Sydney harbour (with the opera house in the background of course).

Chalmers starts on ABC News Breakfast to sell the launch and says the major announcements from the two parties over the weekend has “laid bare” the choice for voters:

Labor helping with the cost of living, higher wages, lower taxes, making our economy more resilient amidst all of this global economic volatility, versus Peter Dutton and the Coalition, who are all about lower wages, higher taxes, no ongoing help with the cost of living and these secret cuts to pay for their nuclear reactors.

Chalmers is challenged by host James Glenday on the policy to increase the standard tax deduction to $1,000. That was a policy from the Henry review, which recommended much broader tax reforms – so will Chalmers follow other advice from that review?

The treasurer has been tested throughout the term on just how ambitious he is for major tax reform, particularly by the crossbench, who have called for stronger reforms. Chalmers says he engages “respectfully” with the independents, but has made progress on tax reform in “a number of other areas”.

There’s been more tax reform in the first term than I think people have acknowledged. And the tax reform that we proposed yesterday is important for all the reasons I’ve talked about – a simpler system, more cost-of-living relief going hand in hand with our tax cuts for every taxpayer.

Ie there’s not a lot of appetite for other big tax reforms.

Greens to push for free uni and Tafe if they take balance of power

The Greens will launch an election plan today to make university and Tafe free, a priority they say they will push for in the instance of a minority government.

Adam Bandt will join the deputy leader and spokesperson for higher education senator, Mehreen Faruqi, in the prime minister’s seat of Grayndler to launch the commitment.

Under the plan, the federal government would cover all fees for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying at public universities and Tafes. It is estimated to cost $46.5bn over the forward estimates.

The Greens say the funding would be covered by their previously announced policy of taxing big corporations, citing figures showing in 2023-2024, the federal government collected almost five times more from students ($5.1bn) than from petroleum companies through the Petroleum Resources Rent Tax (PRRT) ($1.1bn).

Bandt said the prime minister benefitted from free university education but “refuses to give young people the same opportunity”. He said if Anthony Albanese studied the same degree today, a bachelor of economics at the University of Sydney, it would cost $50,992.

In a wealthy country like ours, everyone should be able to have a good-quality education. One in three big corporations pay zero tax. We should tax big corporations and billionaires to fund what we all need, like free tertiary education.

Experts predict we’re headed for a minority parliament. This election, the Greens will keep Dutton out and get Labor to act on cost of living relief for young people, including by wiping all student debt and making university and Tafe free.

Labor has pledged to cut 20% of all student debt if it wins the election and create 500,000 fee-free Tafe places.

Good morning

Krishani Dhanji with you as we kick into week three of the election after a massive weekend when both major parties officially launched their campaigns.

Housing was the big focus of Sunday, and we’ll see plenty of reaction to those policies today – as each party tries to justify why its sweeteners or incentives are better.

The Greens are announcing their plan to make university and Tafe free, which they say will cost about $46.5bn over the forward estimates.

We’ll bring you all the updates as they happen!