What we learned: Friday 2 May
That wraps up the blog for this penultimate day of the federal election campaign. Let’s recap the main events:
Anthony Albanese insisted he’s not taking an election win for granted and said the “apparent appearance” of an adviser from the US campaign giving pointers to the Liberal party was “interesting”.
Peter Dutton predicted “big surprises” on election night.
Katy Gallagher says Angus Taylor is “all over the shop” on public service cuts.
A poll tracker found the major parties’ primary vote is headed for a record low.
Jane Hume said it’s too early to discuss replacing Dutton as “you do not read the entrails until you have gutted the chicken.”
Unions condemned the Coalition’s “hidden” vow to ditch student prac payments.
Nearly 40% of voters cast their ballots early.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange endorsed Albanese, praising the PM’s efforts to release him from jail.
The blog will be back bright and early tomorrow for the final countdown!
Updated
Greens take some credit for Julian Assange’s release
Karvelas asks Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi about Julian Assange’s statement endorsing the PM, and whether she gives the PM credit for the way he has handled those issues.
Appearing on ABC Afternoon Briefing, Faruqi admitted she hadn’t read Assange’s full statement but said the PM was under a lot of pressure from the cross bench, including the Greens, to push for Assange’s release before it happened:
This is what I mean when I say Greens pressure works.
Updated
