What we learned, Wednesday 16 April
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today – but stay tuned, as we’ll launch a fresh live blog shortly to cover tonight’s leaders’ debate between Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton at 8pm AEST.
For now, here were the main takeaway’s from the campaign trail today:
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, accused Peter Dutton of “fabricat[ing] a statement by the Indonesian president” over Russia’s reported request to get access to an Indonesian military base. You can read more on what Dutton said, here.
Wong also said Australia had not confirmed if Russia had approached Indonesia. The shadow finance minister Jane Hume argued Wong was “blindsided” by the reports, while Anthony Albanese accused Dutton of “always overreaching” and “being quite reckless.”
The Nationals senate leader Bridget McKenzie said it was “appalling” the deputy PM Richard Marles was unable to say whether the opposition had received a briefing on the matter – which she said they did not.
Both leaders began their day in Melbourne, where Dutton pledged $6m to the kid’s online safety foundation. Albanese, meanwhile, was touting the benefits of Labor’s urgent care clinics.
At a press conference, Dutton was asked what the Coalition is doing for women – and pointed to the fuel excise reduction being targeted at “women driving kids around.”
Fielding questions on the cost of their election promises, treasurer Jim Chalmers said a “large portion of the announcements that we have made were already budgeted for.”
The housing and shadow housing ministers Clare O’Neil and Michael Sukkar went head-to-head in a debate in Canberra. You can read their closing arguments here and here.
New figures suggest achieving the Albanese government’s target of 1.2m new well-located homes over five years to mid-2029 is looking less and less likely.
Greens leader Adam Bandt said he was open to changes to policies around housing and other key negotiation issues with Labor in the event of a hung parliament.
The Greens have also announced a plan to double the length of paid parental leave and lift the payment rate to a replacement wage.
And Greens candidate for Franklin, Owen Fitzgerald, has withdrawn from the federal election due his dual citizenship.
Updated
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Updated
