What we learned: Monday 14 April
We will shut down the live blog here for the night. Here’s what made the news:
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the COP climate conference would be held in Adelaide, if successful in Australia’s bid to host it.
Albanese and his deputy, Tanya Plibersek, have brushed off suggestions of a strain in their relationship after an awkward moment at the campaign launch on Sunday, with the prime minister saying they’re “good mates”.
The Greens will make free Tafe and university a priority in negotiations in the event of a minority government.
The Liberal party raised eyebrows with the release of a diss track about Labor today. The prime minister described it as “beyond my comprehension”.
Channel 7 will host the third and final leaders’ debate, at 8pm on Sunday 27 April.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, held a press conference with his son Harry today, where Harry said it was almost impossible for him to get into the housing market. No word on whether he would get help from his property- and share-investing father.
Until tomorrow, enjoy your evening.
Updated
David Pocock says major parties missing the ‘long-term thinking and courage’ to tackle housing crisis
The independent senator David Pocock says both Labor and the Coalition are missing “long-term thinking and courage” on housing.
He told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that while the Labor policy will add to supply, neither party wants to tackle one of the root causes which is the tax system treating housing as an investment vehicle, “not a human right or something you actually need to be able to flourish in your community in society”.
This is what the major parties on missing is long-term thinking and courage to take on these challenges. It seems like the whole election strategy is to basically say “we are slightly better than the other bunch”. How have we got to this point in Australia? I think you are seeing independents across the country listening to their community, saying we want a long-term vision and a plan for this, and we want to tackle the things that have been in the too-hard basket for too long. When it comes to our tax system, capital gains tax, discounts, negative gearing, stamp duty are all things we should be dealing with.
When it was pointed out Labor went to the 2019 election with a policy on this and lost, Pocock says he is hearing the housing situation is desperate, and very different from the situation in 2019.
Updated
