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The Guardian - AU
National
Tory Shepherd and Amy Remeikis

Scott Morrison suggests ‘remarkable similarity’ between China and Solomon Islands rhetoric – as it happened

Jo Dyer Anthony Albanese Covid-19 Scott Morrison Gallagher
Prime Minister Scott Morrison
Prime Minister Scott Morrison visits CTP Engineering in Tasmania on day 19 of the 2022 federal election campaign. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

What we learned today, Friday 29 April

I hope that last post left you with a sweet taste, and that your appetite remains whetted for the weekend. The Labor campaign launch on Sunday will be interesting if there’s a new announcement, and maybe even more so if not... and the Coalition might be keen to draw attention away from it. Here’s a precis of the many things that happened today:

We’re three weeks in to a six week campaign, it’s going to get faster (and more furious). Guardian Australia will keep you posted over the weekend, and into the start of the second half of this election palaver.

Updated

After a long day of all the news you needed, here’s your dessert:

It’s been another day full of wild words, politicians and candidates getting mired in the swamp, and leaders getting flogged with warm lettuces. Daniel Hurst has wrapped it all for you in the daily election briefing:

Social media companies have removed a misleading video posted online by Pauline Hanson that showed cartoon Labor figures discussing voter fraud.

The Australian Electoral Commission confirmed it had contacted Facebook, TikTok, Reddit, Twitter and YouTube after the video, the latest in a controversial One Nation satirical series, was posted on Friday morning.

The video depicted cartoon figures of the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, and senator Penny Wong.

The AEC responded to a tweet asking whether the video was illegal by describing it as “deeply disappointing”.

A screenshot of Pauline Hanson's tweet of a cartoon of Anthony Albanese
Pauline Hanson tweeted the cartoon of Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong. Photograph: Twitter

In a statement, the AEC said:

Freedom of speech is important and we don’t regulate truth in campaigning or political communication. However, we’re concerned with any communication, regardless of the source, that doesn’t accurately reflect electoral processes or integrity measures we implement.

We’re active on social media to accurately reflect how we administer the federal election and refer pieces of online communication to social media organisations for their consideration when necessary.

Facebook and TikTok removed the video, while it was flagged as misleading on Twitter. It was believed to still be available on other platforms.

The AEC said:

There is no evidence that the level of apparent multiple voting in Australia has ever been sufficient to overturn the margin in any one contest. If it was to occur the result could be referred to the court of disputed returns.

We regularly receive data from births, deaths and marriages to take deceased Australians off the roll. We also validate postal vote applications against the roll prior to distribution and again upon receipt of a completed postal vote.

We’re aware that Meta [Facebook’s parent company] and TikTok have taken the video down as it violates their policies. [We are] unsure of action on other channels at this stage.

Hanson said in a statement to Guardian Australia that similar allegations to those depicted in the video had been made multiple times in Senate estimates, but a spokesperson was unable to provide specific examples.

Hanson said:

This kind of corruption depicted in the cartoon has been going on for years, it’s been exposed in Senate estimates before.

Obviously, it’s being exposed again, and the AEC has been embarrassed by that, and the ALP have been embarrassed by that, so they put pressure on the AEC to get it taken down.

A spokesperson for One Nation added:

It’s a shame these platforms can’t recognise satire for what it is. Those who shut down free speech fear free speech because they don’t understand it.

Comment was sought from the Labor party.

Updated

The Office of National Intelligence (ONI) has promised to provide any relevant briefings to the government and opposition in line with caretaker conventions.

Readers will have seen there was a blow-up between Labor and the Coalition this week over suggestions by the home affairs minister, Karen Andrews, that China might have timed the announcement of the signing of Solomon Islands’ security agreement to influence the Australian election.

The shadow home affairs minister, Kristina Keneally, wrote to Andrews to remind her of the need to brief the opposition during the caretaker period on any critical emerging matters of national security – or otherwise to clarify her comments.

The ONI – Australia’s top intelligence agency – declined to comment on that specific issue. But when asked by Guardian Australia to explain how it would handle the bipartisan briefings during the caretaker period if the Australian intelligence community gained information or formed a view about an act or attempt of foreign interference, a spokesperson for ONI said:

Any ONI briefings to the government and opposition would be undertaken in-line with the caretaker conventions.

Late on Thursday, Andrews appeared to back away from her original comments, arguing they had been misinterpreted. Andrews told Sky News:

I was very careful with my words and what I indicated is that questions seriously should be asked about the timing of that agreement, and I think that what has happened since then is that there has been some commentary from some pretty significant people about what they think the options might be ...

I think what I said yesterday was entirely reasonable and I’ve had a lot of feedback from many people I’ve spoken to since then and they’re very firmly of the view we should be questioning the timing of these agreements and what the future is going to be in that area. That is, in my view, an entirely reasonable line of questioning.

Notably, Andrews did not state that her original remarks were based on intelligence briefings.

Updated

Speaking of Aukus...

Just in from Paul Karp:

Prime minister Scott Morrison goes for a spin:

Ben Smee has written this explainer on preference deals, and how they can be a wedge, but can also turn into a reverse wedgie:

The defence minister, Peter Dutton, is on Sky News, talking to host Chris Kenny.

Kenny is asking about the Aukus deal, and where New Zealand sits with it because they have a nuclear ban. Should NZ get over the ban?

Dutton says NZ wants to “walk more closely with us”, and adds that Canada and the other Five Eyes countries are keen to be more involved in the Aukus arrangement.

Aukus underpins our security, Dutton says, and it’s not just the nuclear powered submarines, there’s cooperation on cybersecurity as well.

Kenny asks about Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare’s comments. Sogavare said the Pacific wasn’t consulted on Aukus.

(Daniel Hurst wrote about those comments earlier.)

Dutton says:

We obviously reached out to all of our near neighbours – but before the announcement it was really only the US, the UK and Australia who were privy to those negotiations.

It was necessary, in the country’s best interest, and in the region’s best interest ... to maintain that peace and not be in a situation where we’re surrendering our sovereignty, or being in an unstable environment.

Updated

Get more pork on your fork! Oh wait. More like see who has more pork on their fork. Or who is forking out more pork?

The Pork-o-meter has been updated – see the latest promises, pledges, and potential pork barrelling:

Independent Kate Chaney (a teal dressed in teal today) is telling the ABC about her crack at the WA seat of Curtin. It’s a nominally safe Liberal seat, held by Celia Hammond. Paul Karp has written about what the locals are thinking here:

Asked who she’d support in the case of a hung parliament, she says she’d negotiate on the two issues of climate change and a federal integrity commission.

Her own campaign is the “most transparent in the country”, she says, saying she’s raised up to $700,000, with about 40% of that from Climate 200.

Can Labor deliver you a fatter paycheck? Paul Karp discusses Labor’s promises of boosting wages with Jane Lee in the latest Campaign catchup:

ABC host Greg Jennett asks Aly if federal Labor is basking in the glory of the state Labor government’s victory. She says the Coalition sided with Clive Palmer (who tried to sue the state for closing its borders). She says:

The reason Mark McGowan is so popular is because he has done the right thing by Western Australians. He has kept us safe, he has fought back.

The Labor launch in Perth on the weekend is a demonstration of WA’s federal importance, she says.

Labor’s Anne Aly is talking about her seat of Cowan, a marginal Labor seat in Western Australia.

She tells the ABC she doesn’t take the seat for granted, and is working hard because it will be “hard to hold”. Cost of living is the first thing constituents bring up with, she says, after being asked about the effect of the pandemic.

Labor’s plan goes beyond the $250 payment, she says, mentioning wage increases, increased productivity, childcare subsidies, and cracking down on multinationals.

The Covid death toll is now 7,189:

Bowen also says there will be no changes to Operation Border Force under a Labor government, with offshore processing and boats turned back. Paul Karp took a good, hard look at Labor’s policies here.

And he’s [Bowen] looking forward to the Labor campaign launch on Sunday in Perth.

Updated

Labor’s climate change spokesman Chris Bowen is up now, talking to the ABC’s Fran Kelly. She asks him if there’s more or less coal power in the mix. He says Labor will invest in transmission, and rewire the nation with “more renewables, bringing more stability and lower power prices”. He says:

The answer is investment in renewables and transmission and policy certainty.

Labor’s modelling shows a power bill reduction of $275 on average by 2025, he says.

Finally, Cash is asked about whether the Coalition would negotiate with independents on an integrity commission, and Cash says if the Coalition wins it will have a mandate to bring in its own version, and:

The prime minister has made it very clear in the first instance we are seeking a majority in the parliament to go on our own.

She’s asked again about a hung parliament, but sticks to saying independents will bring “chaos” to parliament.

Cash now talks about WA seats that might be at risk, and mentions the MP for Pearce and the importance of name recognition without actually naming the MP for Pearce:

Pearce are, obviously, losing the Liberal party member there, and that is always tough. Any party that loses, or a sitting member says ‘I will retire’, that is a challenge because you automatically lose the name recognition.

(PS – the sitting member is Christian Porter).

Updated

Jennett asks Cash how the election will go in WA, considering the stonking state win by Labor premier Mark McGowan. She is talking about prime minister Scott Morrison and McGowan’s “cooperative” relationship. Jennett asks if she’s shied away from criticism of the popular premier. Cash says:

We have a WA federal Liberal team who is committed to delivering to this state. That means we will work cooperatively with the government, and this government happens to be a Labor government.

Attorney general Michaelia Cash is on the ABC, talking about preferences. Greg Jennett has asked her why Clive Palmer’s United Australia party has been put last in Western Australia, but not elsewhere.

She says it’s a state by state decision:

I had made the commitment as a senior Western Australian here, along with the prime minister, that the United Australia party, Clive Palmer’s party, would be put last in Western Australia ... Clive Palmer is no friend of Western Australia.

Updated

Some fantastic Friday First Dog for you:

An update from Michael McGowan on the story about the man with duelling nominations:

We’ve had a few readers ask what happens if ineligible candidates run for election.

A spokesman for the Australian Electoral Commission said if candidates are “plainly” ineligible for election they are “not entitled to public funding”. He cited examples such as Rod Culleton and Malcolm Heffernan who were referred to the police for alleged false statements about not being bankrupt (Culleton) or having only nominated once (Heffernan).

The situation is trickier for cases of ineligibility for dual citizenship, such as those who may not have renounced foreign citizenship in time. The AEC says it “doesn’t make determinations” on eligibility, so these candidates may still get public funding, as do candidates who withdraw or are disendorsed.

Counting of ballots is unchanged, what the voter says goes in terms of preferences.

More news on Solomon Islands, courtesy of Daniel Hurst:

Did you watch Q+A last night? Education minister Stuart Robert was rubbishing the idea that climate change had anything to do with Solomon Islands deciding to sign that security agreement with China. Anyway, as Kate Lyons reports, climate change turns out to be pretty important to the Pacific:

The Australian Council of Social Service has welcomed the Greens’ climate change policies. Chief executive Cassandra Goldie says:

The Greens climate change plan announced yesterday is in line with what scientists tell us is needed by Australia to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. The climate plan still needs to go further to put people most at risk at the front.

People with the least are impacted by climate change first, worse, and longest, but have fewer resources to cope, adapt and recover from climate impacts or to benefit fully in the energy transition.

Lisa Cox took a look at their policies yesterday:

Alicia Payne (the Labor member for Canberra) is the latest Covid casualty:

Amy Remeikis brought you this extraordinary story earlier, now Michael McGowan has fleshed it out. I can’t wait to hear Malcolm Heffernan’s explanation:

Updated

Peter Hannam gets to the heart of the matter:

This debate debacle is getting a little desperate.

I’m just catching up on Labor leader Anthony Albanese’s appearance on Sunrise this morning with David Koch, where Albanese said he had a previous commitment on Thursday night. Here’s how it went:

Koch:

So what have you got on Thursday night? What’s more important?

Albanese:

Well, I have another appointment at that time. That has been long standing, Kochy. I’ve given dates to [Seven’s political editor] Mark Riley, a range of dates, including next Friday, and a range of dates the following week.


Natalie Barr:

Okay, well, we’ll get our people to talk to your people, and to Scomo’s people, because I think we need a debate here.


Koch:

What is this Thursday date you’ve got? Is it a family thing or a business thing?

Albanese:

It’s a commitment.

Lettuce just leave this one here. (By the way, it’s iceberg or it’s nothing, right?).

Politicians of various stripes are being asked about electricity prices today in light of the Aemo report on a doubling of wholesales power prices in the past year, and a two-thirds jump in the past quarter (as we flagged earlier).

What’s a curious thing, though, is that as far as the Australian Bureau of Statistics is concerned, electricity prices actually fell marginally in the March quarter. By their measure, they were down 0.4% from the December quarter.

From a year earlier, prices were up 3.5%. While not great for households (since wages probably rise that much), it means electricity was not a major contributor to the 5.1% “headline” consumer price index rate (which would have been higher if power bills had been excluded).

We know these figures because we asked the ABS nicely – they are not featured in the main CPI releases (or at least, they were buried).

What to make of this power price wrinkle? Well, to the extent wholesale prices feed into retail prices after a bit of a lag, it means an additional impetus to inflation is still to come.

Updated

Stellar job as always from Amy Remeikis! And hooray for the “start of the back end of this never ending campaign”. I think. Great, now I have the The NeverEnding Story song in my head (and yes, the space between ‘never’ and ‘ending’ must have been swallowed up by The Nothing).

The Labor campaign is in the air and on the way to WA for the official launch of its campaign, while the Liberal campaign continues on in Tasmania.

I’ll hand you over to the wonderful Tory Shepherd now while I prepare for your campaign catch up video. We have a lot to get through this week and three weeks to go. Goodness knows what state we will all be in at the end of it.

Make sure you check back for the Guardian team’s take on the big issues and you will have Murph’s column tomorrow as she takes in the week that was.

Thanks so much to everyone who kept me company this week – I’ll be back on Monday for the start of the back end of this never ending campaign.

Please – take care of you Ax

Medical experts have called for earlier diagnosis of life-threatening immune disorders in a strategy released today by the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy.

The strategy is calling for newborn screening for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), a rare genetic disorder that results in a lack of a functional immune system.

SCID gained recognition in the 1970s due to the “bubble boy” David Vetter, who was born with the condition and lived in sterile plastic chambers.

Dr Theresa Cole, president elect of the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, said:

SCID is fatal in the first two years of life without definitive intervention. Early diagnosis is vital to allow curative treatment such as … bone marrow transplant.

Screening is also likely to be more cost-effective for the health system than the cost of prolonged hospital and intensive care unit admissions. It should be a health priority in Australia.

SCID is one type of primary immunodeficiency disorder – a group of more than 400 conditions that affect an estimated one in 25,000 people. Victorian research has found the average delay from symptom onset to diagnosis of some disorders in adults is eight years.

Dr Melanie Wong, co-chair of the strategy, said:

Due to their rarity, delays in diagnosis of primary immunodeficiencies are common. For infants and very young children with severe primary immunodeficiencies, this leads to severe complications due to recurrent infections and early death, despite being curable if treated in the first few months of life.

Updated

Scott Morrison has effectively accused the prime minister of Solomon Islands of being influenced by the Chinese government’s opposition to Aukus, now that Honiara and Beijing have inked their own security deal.

As readers will have seen here on the blog, Manasseh Sogavare used an address to parliament in Honiara this morning to hit back at criticism from the Australian government about a lack of transparency about his security agreement with Beijing.

Sogavare said he had “learned of the Aukus treaty in the media” and “one would expect that as a member of the Pacific family, Solomon Islands and members of the Pacific should have been consulted to ensure that this Aukus treaty is transparent, since it will affect the Pacific family by allowing nuclear submarines in Pacific waters.”

Sogavare went on to say he realised Australia was “a sovereign country, and that it can enter into any treaty that it wants to, transparently or not – which is exactly what they did with [the] Aukus treaty.”

At a press conference just now, Morrison said he had spoken with Sogavare on the day after the Aukus announcement in September 2021. Morrison said he had spent the two days following the announcement speaking to many leaders around the world.

And then that was followed up with our [diplomatic] posts immediately going and briefing on the nature of what was a highly secure arrangement, which I think our partners and allies understand.

Morrison said Australia had moved quickly to reassure the Pacific about Australia’s ongoing commitment to meet its nuclear non-proliferation obligations.

And so I did have that conversation with the prime minister the day following the announcement, and no issues were raised at that time in that discussion. But obviously, as time goes on and new relationships are entered into, there’s obviously been some clearly other influences in the perspective taken by the Solomon Islands prime minister. Now, I understand that.

A journalist sought clarity on what Morrison was implying: Are you saying he’s parroting China’s rhetoric?

His reply:

There’s a remarkable similarity between those statement and those of the Chinese government.

Updated

Q: How long are [people] going to be confronted with lettuce at $5, beans at $15 a kilo? Is there anything you can do to moderate those prices?

Scott Morrison:

The external influences on the economy are going to continue for some time, particularly when we see the disruption of the war in Europe and the disruption which comes from the pandemic.

Those are things beyond Australia’s control.

And so that’s why it’s so important, in the budget, we understood the impact that these things were having on Australian families.

And that’s why we took the decision, understanding those pressures, that we had to halve the petrol tax to support families deal with those higher prices. They’re the things we can do. You can’t necessarily change the price of a lettuce, but what you can do is you can halve petrol tax, and that’s exactly what we did.

You can make a $250 payment directly to pensioners and others on fixed-income support to help them with those costs, which we did. You can provide $420 – or not provide – enabling Australians to keep $420 of their own hard-earned dollars by providing that one-off tax relief, which we’re doing on 1 July.

They’re the things you can do to help people dealing with those cost-of-living pressures.

But we also have to be upfront about these pressures being real. And that’s why I keep saying this election is a choice. How you manage the economy does have an impact on all of these issues. How you manage your finances and keeping your AAA credit rating, that’s what puts as much pressure down on these forces as you can.

That’s what pushes as much pressure down on what is a lot of pressure to rise – increase interest rates from what are very historically low levels at 0.1%. So, these are real economic issues that Australian families are facing, and that’s why I say this election is about the economy.

And the issues are real, the economic impacts on household budgets are real, the impact on businesses like this are real. And that’s why you cannot risk the Australian economy with Labor. And that’s why our economic plan is supporting Australians through one of the most challenging times we have had since the Great Depression. Thanks very much, everyone.

Updated

Scott Morrison says Solomon Islands PM rhetoric 'remarkably similar' to Beijing

Q: The Solomon Islands prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, today has said Australia’s security treaty with his country failed to contain riots in November. And Mr Sogavare also criticised the Australian government for not consulting Pacific nations like his before entering Aukus, saying he found out about the agreement in the media. Are you concerned at the criticisms coming from Mr Sogavare? And are these criticisms further signs his government is turning away from Australia?

Scott Morrison:

I spoke to prime minister Sogavare the day following the announcement, as I spent the two days following the announcement speaking to many leaders around the world.

And then that was followed up with our posts immediately going and briefing on the nature of what was a highly secure arrangement, which I think our partners and allies understand.

And one of the key issues we moved quickly to reassure the Pacific about, with Australia absolutely, without question, meeting our non-proliferation obligations, which I know is a very significant issue within the Pacific.

And so I did have that conversation with the prime minister, the day following the announcement, and no issues were raised at that time in that discussion.

But obviously, as time goes on and new relationships are entered into, there’s obviously been some clearly other influences in the perspective taken by the Solomon Islands prime minister. Now, I understand that.

But the reality is, when I look at the Aukus agreement and all of the discussions that I’ve had about this agreement – and let’s be clear about this is the most significant defence agreement that Australia has entered into since Anzus, and it took a Liberal-National government to conceive this, to work patiently to achieve it over pretty much an 18-month period, and because of the highly sensitive nature of this, then it’s not obviously something that was going to have wide discussion before entering into it.

That, of course, would have been against Australia’s national interests. But once we entered into it and we made our announcement, it was very important that we engage quickly with our allies and partners in the region, which is exactly what we did. Now, you make the point about the riots and disturbances in Solomon Islands.

And immediately upon being requested to send support to the Solomon Islands late last year, we did so. We sent the AFP. We sent the ADF out of Townsville. Our servicemen and women, they didn’t stay home for Christmas last year, they went and supported peace and stability in the Solomon Islands.

Just like our AFP and many others supported that for over a long period of time as part of the Ramsay Initiative. And what I do know is that the people of Solomon Islands greatly appreciate the work that Australia does to support, not only there, but right across the Pacific, Pacific peoples greatly appreciate the direct support that we provide. And we will continue to do that. That’s why, as prime minister Sogavare himself has said, that Australia is their primary security partner in the region. We’re the first call. We were the first call when those things occurred in December and we would be so again.

And it’s our AFP that are on the ground there right now, preserving that peace, which was restored.

Q: You just said there’s other influences? Are you saying he’s parroting China’s rhetoric?

Morrison:

There’s a remarkable similarity.

Updated

Q: Wouldn’t Australia be insulated from some of these international price increases if we generated more electricity from wind, from solar, from hydro? Wouldn’t consumers have been better off if we made a faster transition to renewable local energy?

Scott Morrison:

No, well, we have made a very fast transition. Well, we have had record investments and increases in the capacity of renewable technologies and renewable energies. That hasn’t been the issue. The issue is ensuring that we keep pace with reliable, affordable baseload power that deals with the problem with the intermittent-ness of much of our renewable energy generation.

...That’s why we’ve invested in gas-fired generation. Remember, when I came out and said that we needed more gas-fired power, that’s to actually enable the renewable energy that is now in the system.

Because if you don’t have that supporting power – it’s called firming power – then that actually makes the system break down. And that’s why it’s so important that you’re investing and ensuring that you continue to have that reliable baseload power to support your renewables.

Otherwise, they become redundant. And so that’s why we have invested in Snowy 2.0, that’s why we’re doing battery of the nation, that’s why we’ve invested in gas-fired power in Kurri Kurri. Now, Labor were for gas, then they were against gas, then they’re for gas, then they talk to the Greens again and they’re against gas, and it’s really hard to find where they stand on reliable, affordable power.

And so, look, people know where we stand on these issues. We’ve always been consistent. That’s why this election is a choice between a government that you do know, and a Labor opposition that you don’t.

That sound you hear is Murph’s existential scream.

Updated

Q: Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese has accused you of trying to dictate when these debates are going to happen. What’s your response to that? And do you think that he is trying to walk away from going face-to-face with you?

Scott Morrison:

Well, I can only take him at his word. He said he wanted to debate me anywhere, any time. Thursday, Sunday – that’s when the dates are. The hall’s booked. I’ll be there. See, look, Mr Albanese has talked a big game for the last three years.

A very big game. He’s had a lot to say about me over the last three years.

In fact, he’s had not much more to say than things about me over the last three years. We don’t really know what he stands for. Everything he’s previously opposed, he now supports. Everything he supports, he previously opposed. That’s the definition of having an each-way bet, by the way.

And so now, when he constantly said, “Let’s debate, let’s debate,” and he has to step up and do it, all of a sudden he’s not available. Now, it’s unfortunate that he obviously had Covid last week, and I’m pleased that he’s rejoined the campaign trail, and I’m pleased he’s well. But we’ve gotta catch up some time there, and I think it’s important that we have those two debates before people start voting, and they start voting on Monday week. And so Seven and Nine have booked the hall. I’ll be there. I’ll get myself a new tie. And off we can go. I hope he decides to come. Because if he doesn’t, well, I don’t know what he’s been saying all these years.

Updated

Q: You say your economic plan will put downward pressure on prices, but economists say when you have billions of dollars landing in people’s bank accounts this week, plus you’ve got LMITO coming in after July, that will only add inflationary pressure. So, how do you respond to this idea that your plan is actually contributing to the inflationary pressure that we’re seeing?

Scott Morrison:

Well, the halving of the petrol tax – and just to correct something I said yesterday, it was quarter of a per cent reduction in inflation, as estimated by Treasury [he said half a per cent yesterday, which some might say is a gaffe, and not understanding key numbers of a key policy, but apparently we have moved on from that] – that has a deflationary impact by halving the petrol tax for that period of time.

We’ve also been careful and targeted in the way we’ve done these things. I mean, Labor would have spent an extra $81bn during the course of the pandemic, from their own stated policies.

They were going to spend $6bn giving money to people for a vaccine they’d already had. I mean, it was foolishness.

Even they walked away from it. They wanted to keep jobkeeper going beyond the period that we put it in place. But we had the discipline to stare them down. I remember it in the parliament.

Every day, saying, “You end jobkeeper, and the unemployment rate will go up and people will go out of work”. The complete opposite happened because we had confidence in the policies that we’d put in place. We’d been very clear that they would be temporary and targeted and would be effective, and they were. Labor wanted to keep going.

So, could you imagine how much more pressure there would be in the system today if Labor had been in power and had spent an extra $81bn. That’s almost three times what we spend on Medicare each year.

So, we showed the discipline, even though we had to lean heavily to see the Australian economy through. We had very clear principles and rules that were guiding our expenditure, and that’s why we continue to hold our AAA credit rating, because they could see what we were doing, they could see that it was well-designed, well-targeted, and, wherever possible, ensuring that it was seeking to put downward pressure on potentially inflationary impacts.

Now, the inflationary impacts we’re seeing in the economy, yes, they’re significantly attributable to what we’ve seen with the war in Europe and the impact on fuel prices. I think Australians understand those external impacts. But equally they’re also about the disruption of the pandemic to supply chains and how goods and services move around the world, and we continue to see that right now.

And we see it particularly with China, in a lockdown, and the impact that that has on supply chains, which does put those upward pressures on. So, having a government that knows how to manage money, a government that has turned around the budget by $100m in the last 12 months alone from previous estimates because our economic plan is working, that is the best way to put downward pressure on rising costs and downward pressure on rising interest rates.

Updated

Q: Prime minister, a video has been released warning that Australia’s borders are closed to people smugglers. What do you believe prompted the video? And do you believe with Peter Dutton’s comments that people smuggling could restart because of conflicted messages around boat arrivals?

(There are no conflicted messages around boat arrivals. In terms of turn backs, both parties have the same policy. There is no intelligence which has been released to suggest this is even an issue.)

Scott Morrison:

I do agree with Peter. I absolutely agree with Peter. I mean, I’ve lived this over a long period of time. And the decisions of Operation Sovereign Borders to undertake those communications, they are entirely decisions for them. They are not made with any involvement of the government, particularly in a caretaker period. That has been done of their volition.

And obviously trying to send a very clear message that we might not see as a result of the uncertainty of Labor’s policies some drive in encouragement for people to get on boats.

Let’s be clear – Labor have a policy which says they will give permanent protection visas to people who have come to Australia illegally by boat*. That is their policy. And I do not believe that is a good policy to keep borders secure.

Now, I can say that with some authority because, in August of 2008, Labor – thinking that because the boats weren’t coming anymore, when Kevin Rudd was prime minister, they thought they could abolish temporary protection visas and everything would be OK.

They took Australia’s border security success for granted, what had been achieved by the Howard government, and from August 2008, that’s when you can mark the date from where Australia’s border chaos started. And the rest is history. 50,000 arrivals, 800 boats, 1,200 people dead at sea, Labor lost complete control and had no clue about how to fix it.

As shadow immigration minister, I developed the policy of Operation Sovereign Borders, how you make offshore processing work effectively, and the restoration of temporary protection visas, and the boats were stopped. What I find amazing is that the Labor party, even now, after all this time, still don’t get it.

And they think granting permanent visas to people who come, illegally enter Australia by boat, they think, by giving them permanent visas, that won’t set this off again. History tells another story. Labor is a great risk to border security and they are repeating their mistakes and remain clueless about it.

*The temporary protection visas have been granted to people who have been found to be refugees under the Coalition government. They are made to reapply for a TPV and that is the only difference. Refugees would no longer have to reapply.

Updated

Q: You have been campaigning on what you have done over the last three years on the pandemic, on economic management, on national security. But if you are re-elected, what will you do? What is your vision for Australia over the next three years?

Scott Morrison:

Well, each and every day, I have been making announcements about the very things we are doing.

The investments we’re making in manufacturing. The investments we’re making in keeping taxes low.

The investments we’re making in supporting apprenticeships and education and training. And reforming that. The investments we’re putting into our medical mental health system across the country, guaranteed by a strong economy.

The investments we’re putting into our defence forces and setting out the upgrades of our major bases and major procurements.

And the investments we’re making in upgrading the data and digital capabilities of our businesses, which will determine their success.

And the investments that we’re making in reliable and affordable energy – some $22bn over the next 10 years to put us on that clear pathway to hit net zero by 2050. Now, all of that is a vision for a strong economy, because a strong economy means a stronger future.

Because my vision for Australians is they get to achieve what they want to achieve, that they get to make the choices that they want to make, that they can buy their home, that they can get that job, that they can get that training, that they can raise their kids in the way they want to raise their kids, that they can save for their retirement and have dignity in their older age.

That’s my vision. And the way you achieve that is by having an economic plan and a government that knows how to manage the economy and a government that knows how to manage money. If you don’t have a strong economy, you’re just making stuff up.

Updated

Q: Prime minister, are you worried about losing North Sydney, Wentworth, and even Kooyong to independents at this election?

Scott Morrison:

Well, this election is a choice. And those decisions are in the hands of the Australian people. And they have a choice between a government that has a clear economic plan, that is investing in manufacturing, investing in clean energy, in keeping taxes low, cutting red tape, investing at record levels in skills and getting apprentices on board, that has taken Australia through one of the most difficult times since the Great Depression itself, economically, and has a plan to see Australia continue to grow, and we’ve outperformed the advanced world.

Or a Labor party and Mr Albanese, who has never done a budget. Labor can’t manage money – Australians know that. And a Labor opposition that people don’t even know.

So, there is a choice. And as far as the independents are concerned, well, that is a vote for chaos in the parliament. And what Australia does not need at a time of great uncertainty – economically, and when it comes to international security – is you do not want a parliament that is in chaos, where a government each and every day has to go and bargain to keep Australia safe and to keep Australia strong. One of the great advantages we’ve had as a majority government over these last three years is we’ve been able to get on and do the things we’ve had to do as a majority government. If we had to do that walking into the parliament every day to bargain, well, I don’t think Australia would have had anywhere near the strength of outcome that we’ve had over these last three years.

Updated

Q: Prices are going up under your policies now.

Scott Morrison:

Because of the coal price. I mean, there is a war in Europe that forced up the price of thermal coal.

Q: 140% in March quarter, though, prime minister – that’s before Ukraine.

Morrison:

Coal prices have gone up around the world. And now we’re seeing those thermal coal prices come down. But to be fair, Mark, over the course of the first quarter of this year, the tensions in Europe were pretty apparent. It’s not like the war in Ukraine just came out of nowhere.

Those tensions were building up over all of this year. I certainly know it, ‘cause I sit around and chair the national security committee. So, we’ve seen a lot of pressures on energy prices, and they have gone up.

And we will see that change in the months ahead – that’s certainly the forecasts we’re getting. But what you need is the strength to be able to stand up to the big electricity companies. I mean, Labor opposed having legislation that held the big electricity companies to account.

They didn’t just oppose it, they mocked it. But we passed it. We pressed on and ensured we put those protections in place for Australian consumers. We ensured that there was not the sneaky price increases that came through of having consumers to default back to a much higher-priced contract.

We protected those consumers and we’ve kept the electricity companies honest, and that’s why – amongst many other reasons – we have seen under our administration, seen those electricity prices fall. You control what you can control, and that’s what we’ve done.

Updated

Scott Morrison:

That’s why we have been focusing on the things that we can control – taking on the big energy companies, putting those legislative mechanisms in place, ensuring that we’re keeping the prices down on gas, and in addition to that, investing in new generation capability, which is affordable and reliable.

We’ve seen the coal price go up and we’ve seen that, if you look at the Aemo report, you’ll see that it had gone up significantly, particularly in the first quarter of this year. We are now seeing that come down and we can expect that to flow through into prices.

But I can tell you what does put those electricity prices up. 46% of your electricity bill is in transmission.

Not the wholesale price – that’s around about 30%. And the balance is, of course, what happens with retail. Now, Labor has a plan to gold-plate the transmission network, to invest in those transmission networks, which the regulator is bound to pass the costs on to you.

And that’s why key energy economists, Frontier Economics, all of these groups, have said that what this does is pushes electricity prices up. You put it in the wrong place, at the wrong time, what that means is you are forcing electricity prices up. So, Labor has a policy just like they did years ago when they had the carbon tax, which put electricity prices up. They’re doing it again by having a policy that gold-plates the transmission network that only pushes prices up. That’s not our policy.

That’s not Labor’s policy either. Labor’s policy is to have an independent group decide what needs upgrading and only if it stacks up. So it won’t be in the wrong place. It was government “modelling” which said power prices would go up under Labor, and the government refuses to release that modelling.

Updated

Q: If you win on 21 May, how much will Australians save on their power bills, or will they go up? And on their grocery bills, how can you make electricity cheaper?

The answer has been going for the last five minutes. It’s not so much about what the government will do, but what it has done. And then mischaracterising what Labor’s power policy is.

Scott Morrison:

Well, let me deal with the issue of electricity first. What I do know is, over the last few years, we’ve been seeing electricity prices fall by about 8%, a fall by over 9% since I became prime minister. And there’s a number of reasons for that having occurred and I’d like to take you through how that has happened and what we have done to secure that.

What we have done is we’ve put a number of mechanisms in place. One of the most important of those was the price safety net which minister Taylor put in place, which protected consumers on the default deals that they got from big electricity companies from being hit with higher, overpriced electricity.

Now, our information shows that that saved 680,000 households and small businesses some $350m in power bills. Which is what we’ve done. That mechanism remains in place.

We put it in place.

Secondly, we put in place the big stick legislation, which Labor and the parliament mocked, but we pressed ahead with it.

And we made sure that there were strong protections in place to hold the big energy companies to account when they were seeking to overcharge and price electricity at levels which we didn’t believe was fair. And so we took on the big electricity companies and we put that legislation in place.

We had the big stick in place to keep electricity companies accountable for what they were doing.

We reined in the power of those networks, which saved some $6bn under the appeal decision rights that were changed for the Australian energy regulator, which had Labor had done that earlier, it would have saved some $6bn.

And we also took action to put in place the generation capabilities, which we’re seeing right now in the building of the Kurri Kurri gas-fired power plant and what we put into the underwriting of generation capacity – over a billion dollars into that program – to make sure that we were getting reliable, affordable energy. In the gas market, we put the safeguard mechanism in, and that safeguard mechanism was put in place with the deals we did with the large gas providers, which meant that they had to guarantee supply to the Australian market first.

Now, we didn’t have to use the stick of the gas mechanism because the gas mechanism stick enabled us to get the supply agreements out of the gas companies, which meant that the gas price that people are paying here in Australia is substantially less than the international price that they’re paying in other parts of the world. Now, I mention other parts of the world.

There’s no doubt that what is occurring with the war in Europe has pushed up the prices of energy. It’s one of the biggest energy price shocks we have seen since the 1970s.

Now, they’re things outside of our control.

Updated

PM pledges $70m for green hydrogen hub in Tasmania

There are two announcements the Coalition is making in Tasmania today.

One is a $20m investment spread across four businesses through “round two of the Integration and Translation Streams of the Modern Manufacturing Initiative”.

And $70m for a green hydrogen hub.

Updated

Scott Morrison:

You know, these are difficult and competitive and challenging economic times. And you cannot risk Australia’s recovery.

The growth we have been able to achieve, the jobs we have been able to achieve as we’ve come out of this pandemic, as part of a strong economic plan. We don’t want to turn back, we don’t want to risk Australia’s future, and future economy, on labour – on Labor. Labor is too great a risk to take when it comes to the management of our economy. So, we’ll keep investing in Tasmania.

We’ll keep investing in ensuring our manufacturing capability is world-class, so the jobs come, the income comes, and you can plan for your future with confidence.

Updated

Scott Morrison press conference

The PM is back in northern Tasmania, campaigning with Bridget Archer, who faces losing the seat of Bass.

Scott Morrison says the election is a choice “between a strong economy or a weak economy”.

Scott Morrison has been touring a hydrogen plant for the last 40 or so minutes.

His press conference is expected to be held soon.

Updated

Here is what the prime minister of Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, said in parliament in Honiara this morning, hitting back at criticism from the Australian government and others about a lack of transparency about his security agreement with China:

The Aukus treaty ... will see nuclear submarines in Pacific waters. I learned of the Aukus treaty in the media, Mr Speaker! One would expect that as a member of the Pacific family, Solomon Islands and members of the Pacific should have been consulted to ensure that this Aukus treaty is transparent, since it will affect the Pacific family by allowing nuclear submarines in Pacific waters. Oh, but I realise, Mr Speaker, that Australia is a sovereign country, and that it can enter into any treaty that it wants to, transparently or not – which is exactly what they did with [the] Aukus treaty …

When Solomon Islands signed this treaty with China, we were accused by the western media of not being transparent and being secretive. We are a sovereign nation and we did not answer to the western media.

When Australia signed up to Aukus, Mr Speaker, we did not become theatrical and hysterical on the implications that this would have for us. We respected Australia’s decision. And I’m glad to say that Australia, United States of Australia and Japan respected our sovereignty to enter into this security agreement with China as well, based on trust and mutual respect.

We should point out there is a touch of sarcasm in some of these remarks. It is also worth pointing out that Aukus is not technically a treaty – the three countries describe it as an “enhanced trilateral security partnership”, which includes a bunch of wording groups on emerging technologies and the high-profile joint study into how the US and the UK will help Australia to gain at least eight nuclear-propelled submarines.

Updated

Solomon Islands PM found out about Aukus in media

Daniel Hurst will have more on this soon, but the prime minister of Solomon Islands, Manasseh Sogavare, has criticised the Morrison government for not consulting with his nation before signing the Aukus security pact.

As AAP reports, Sogavare told Solomon Islands parliament:

I learnt of the Aukus treaty in the media. One would expect that as a member of the Pacific family, Solomon Islands and members of the Pacific should have been consulted to ensure this AUKUS treaty is transparent.

I realise that Australia is a sovereign country, which can enter into any treaty it wants to, transparently or not, which is exactly what they did with Aukus.

He also took a swipe at the “hysteria” over Solomon Islands signing a security agreement with China.

When Australia signed up to Aukus, we did not become theatrical or hysterical about the implications this would have for us.

Updated

Before Barnaby Joyce was re-elected as Nationals leader (and deputy prime minister) there were warnings he was seen an a voter turn-off in some Liberal held seats. He was elected anyway.

And now that he is proving to be a voter turn-off in some Liberal-held seats, the Coalition is blaming ... independent candidates

Updated

The tourism section of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry wants guarantees that no matter who wins the election, tourism will be looked after.

John Hart, the executive chair of the Australian Chamber – Tourism said in a statement:

The tourism sector has been severely impacted for over two years now, with total expenditure losses since the start of the pandemic estimated to be at $142bn.

There’s a lot of ground to make up, and now that the international borders are open and the cruise industry has restarted, it is a crucial that our next federal government to support the rebuilding of tourism businesses and kickstart tourism growth. This will equip the tourism sector to support local jobs and communities, benefitting all Australians.

We have already seen a commitment by the Coalition government for targeted financial assistance for hard-hit businesses that will continue to be negatively impacted beyond the lifting of restrictions, including travel agents and tour arrangement service providers. It is crucial that all political parties indicate their support for measures to help these businesses bounce back.

The contribution for Tourism Australia marketing initiatives announced in the budget was also welcomed by Australian – Chamber Tourism. This funding needs to occur regardless of the result of the election to ensure Australia is in the best position to attract visitors in a highly competitive market.

Updated

The PM has spent at least part of the morning at a whiskey distillery this morning.

Updated

AEC refers double candidate nomination to AFP

The AEC has released a statement on a candidate who has nominated for election in two electorates, for two different parties:

On Friday 22 April 2022 candidates for the federal election were formally declared at public events held across Australia, in accordance with the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (Electoral Act).

Mr Malcom Heffernan was among those candidates declared – both for the Division of Banks (NSW) and the Division of Brand (WA). Mr Heffernan’s nomination for two electoral divisions is in contravention of section 165 of the Electoral Act.

Each nomination form had a signed declaration that the candidate did not intend to be a candidate in any other election held the same day. The two nominations were for two separate political parties – Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (Banks) and the Australian Federation Party (Brand).

Each nomination form had differences in the listed information – including a different date of birth, and a different expression of the candidate’s name.

Given these declarations are false the AEC has now referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police for investigation as to whether a crime has been committed under section 136 and/or 137 of the Criminal Code. We have notified Mr Heffernan and both registered political parties regarding this referral.

Contravention of section 165 of the Electoral Act renders Mr Heffernan incapable of being elected. However, candidate nominations for the Divisions of Banks and Brand must remain as they were formally declared on 22 April 2022. Ballot papers have been printed and some postal voters have already received their postal voting packs.

Updated

National Covid summary

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 26 deaths from Covid-19:

ACT

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 1,072
  • In hospital: 65 (with 3 people in ICU)

NSW

  • Deaths: 7
  • Cases: 11,903
  • In hospital: 1,645 (with 68 people in ICU)

Northern Territory

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 428
  • In hospital: 47 (with 2 people in ICU)

Queensland

  • Deaths: 6
  • Cases: 4,477
  • In hospital: 492 (with 11 people in ICU)

South Australia

  • Deaths: 3
  • Cases: 3,924
  • In hospital: 222 (with 11 people in ICU)

Tasmania

  • Deaths: 1
  • Cases: 1,090
  • In hospital: 37 (with 3 person in ICU)

Victoria

  • Deaths: 7
  • Cases: 11,083
  • In hospital: 428 (with 35 people in ICU)

Western Australia

  • Deaths: 2
  • Cases: 8,117
  • In hospital: 233 (with 4 people in ICU)

Updated

If you need a break from it all, Fiji is once again open for business:

From Sunday 1 May, all visitors aged 16 years and above must be fully vaccinated. This change comes as more children globally have access to vaccinations and is to support not only international travellers but Fiji’s local communities.

From Sunday 1 May, all international travellers entering Fiji will now only need to follow the below entry requirements:

  • Be fully vaccinated if you are 16 years old and above with a Fiji recognised dose.
  • Book an in-country Covid-19 rapid antigen test prior to departure to Fiji. The test must be completed within 48 – 72 hours of arrival into Fiji. These can be booked at entrytestfiji.com.
  • Have trusted travel insurance with Covid-19 coverage.
  • Australia does not currently require a pre-departure test upon return from Fiji.

Updated

Scott Morrison is campaigning in Tasmania – we are still waiting to hear when he will hold his press conference.

Everyone who has had Covid reports a bit of a brain fog for the next week or so, which the Labor campaign will be watching out for with Anthony Albanese.

Updated

Anthony Albanese then turns to the Coalition’s “united team”:

My shadow cabinet will be out there each and every day of the campaign. Not just in Perth with me, but right around the country.

We have a coordinated schedule in making sure that Labor’s message has gotten out to every city, to every town by our entire team.

That stands in stark contrast with Mr Morrison who, just a couple of days ago, was with the deputy prime minister in Rockhampton* and they couldn’t even meet each other.

They didn’t do a joint press conference, the truth is that the Liberal Party are internally divided.

The National Party are internally divided, they are just one swing vote over whether Michael McCormack or Barnaby Joyce or someone else becomes the deputy leader of the Coalition and the leader of the National Party. Labor is united. We have a strong team made up of 50% man, 50% women. People from right around the country. And at the campaign launch on Sunday, you will see more evidence, more policies for our better future plan.

* Scott Morrison and Barnaby Joyce were at the same event in Rockhampton – but they did not hold a joint press conference

Updated

Labor deputy leader Richard Marles has Covid

Anthony Albanese is speaking to the media in front of a plane, as he prepares to take off for Western Australia.

He is now taking some question – and announcing his deputy, Richard Marles, has tested positive for Covid:

I am very much looking forward to travelling to Perth today. I was due to go to Perth last Friday before I tested positive for Covid on Thursday afternoon. It is great to be out and about and I am looking forward to travelling to Perth, to engaging with Western Australians and to having the first-ever national campaign launch to be held by a major political party in Perth.

Can I also just take the opportunity to give a big shoutout to the workers at New South Wales Health? They have been magnificent. The support they have given, to me and to others that have suffered through Covid over the last 2.5 years, they are working under incredible pressure and I just say a big thank you to them. Happy to take a couple of questions.

Q: [The question seems to be on whether he was worried he missed a week of physical campaigning]

Albanese:

What it has shown is the strength of Labor’s team. I have a magnificent team that I lead. We are ready for government. That team today has had some unfortunate news in that my deputy, Richard Marles, has also tested positive with a routine test this morning.

I spoke to Richard, I wish him well. He will follow the health advice and self-isolate the next week. But what we have seen is shadow ministers right across the country portraying Labor’s position. We have a plan for a better future.

We are now halfway through this campaign and Labor’s plan to strengthen Medicare, to address the cost of living issues where everything is going up except for people’s wages by having cheaper childcare, cheaper electricity, lifting wages, by making more things here in Australia, by addressing climate change, all of these policies and plans stand in stark contrast to a government that hasn’t learned the lessons of its mistakes over the last 10 years.

And every single time there is an issue that they are uncomfortable with, like the rising rate of inflation and the problems of cost of living, Mr Morrison never accepts responsibility. He always blames someone else.

Updated

Here was Anthony Albanese on the Nine network talking about his doctor’s advice:

It just means being sensible. So it means if I if I feel really tired, have a rest, it means doing, perhaps, less things during the day. But I expect, and the doctor’s advice is, I’ll get better each day. And certainly today I feel terrific this morning. I feel better than I did yesterday. And yesterday, I felt better than I did the day before. That’s what happens.

But this does have an impact, as millions of your listeners tragically have had this over a period of time, more than half my shadow cabinet have had Covid now. And at the moment, I think there’s at least two of them out, including Madeleine King, will miss campaign launch in Perth on Sunday.

So if it was going to happen, the timing, whereby I’m out a couple of days before our campaign launch in Perth, is really the sweet spot. So I look at it from that perspective, it could have been a lot worse, this could have happened today. I could have tested positive and then we would have had all this planning for the campaign launch that would have had to have been postponed.

Updated

A man has died after falling into floodwaters in western Queensland after the region was swamped by heavy rainfall.

(Via AAP:)

The 45-year-old was with family when he fell into floodwater at the Lloyd Jones Weir on Barcaldine-Isisford road, east of Longreach, just after 6pm Thursday, police said.

The man’s body was found by search crews just hours later, about 200m downstream.

The man’s death was not suspicious and a report would be prepared for the coroner, police said.

Major flood warnings remain in place for the region with floodwaters continuing to flow through the interior.

Updated

Queensland reports six Covid deaths

Queensland has reported its Covid figures for the past 24 hours. Sadly, six people have died, with 4,477 new cases.

Updated

It’s been passing strange electricity prices haven’t featured more in this election campaign since it’s been clear for some time that they are on a steep rise.

The Australian Energy Market Operator helpfully laid out how much wholesale prices have risen in the March quarter (141% up from the same quarter a year ago, and two-thirds up since the start of the year).

We explore more of that detail here:

(But we also flagged it here about 10 days ago, coincidentally published on the day the Morrison government dropped its “modelling” on the costs of Labor’s main climate policy.)

Anyway, one key takeaway is that renewables continue to look more and more attractive as the cost of fossil fuels keep rising (and coal plants keep failing).

Another is that Australia’s decision to link east coast gas markets to the global price continues to cause grief. Yes, blame Russia now, but both major parties own that decision.

Gas prices averaged about $10 a gigajoule for the quarter, a two-thirds increase from a year ago that also feeds into higher power prices when gas plants kick in.

The higher wholesale prices will take time to feed into retail prices but when they do, households and businesses will be unhappy - with no equivalent of a temporary fuel excise cut to plead for. Victorians, with their relatively high use of gas for space heating, face an extra hit.

And, as it happens, Aemo’s March quarter report on wholesale prices looks positively cheap at $87 a megawatt hour. Future prices for most states are already double that for June, including $200 in NSW and Queensland.

Updated

How prepared are we for war?

Peter Dutton tried to make that a campaign issue on Anzac Day – but Daniel Hurst has taken a look at exactly what Australia’s defences look like at the moment.

Let’s hope, for so many reasons, not least war is heinous and the cost to humanity is always, always too high, that we never have to put it to the test.

Updated

Peter Hannam has also taken a look at the coming weather.

The wet weather that has triggered record floods and filled dams across much of eastern Australia looks set to extend well into winter and beyond, global models indicate.

While autumn is typically the most difficult period to make season-ahead predictions, conditions favouring increasing cloud formation off north-western Australia look likely, even as rain-inducing weather from the Pacific recedes.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology’s latest climate driver update, the dominant La Niña pattern in the Pacific is continuing to break down. In its stead, though, are signs that a negative phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole – a gauge of relative sea-surface temperatures on the west and east of that ocean’s basin – will again take hold.

Peter Hannam has covered off the wholesale power price increases:

Updated

I’m not sure voters are overly concerned with the leaders’ debates either.

Updated

Q: On monetary policy, you said the political pressure was amped up by Josh Frydenberg before. If there is a rate hike next Tuesday, are you concerned there will be a further escalation in political pressure on the RBA’s independence?

Jim Chalmers:

I think the independence of the Reserve Bank should be protected and cherished at all costs. At every opportunity – it could have been the easiest thing in the world for me, frankly, in the last two days to make political commentary about the work of the Reserve Bank and I haven’t done that because I think that the Reserve Bank should make its decisions free from political interference, from current and former treasurers. That is an important principle and an important convention.

You will all draw your own conclusions about a prime minister who tried to play politics at the end of last year with interest rates and it is at risk of blowing up in his face. Our beef with the government is about a decade now of attacks on wages and job security which have made it harder, if not impossible for Australians to get ahead.

The government wants to raise the white flag on inflation and they want to go after peoples’ wages and they want to pretend that they haven’t been in government for much of the last 10 years in office. These inflationary pressures didn’t just show up when Russia invaded Ukraine. They showed up when the Coalition started attacking wages and job security in our economy. That is the issue here. The government, and particularly the prime minister, has to take responsibility for once.

Updated

Q: You have been critical of the government’s inflation. Given international pressures, what will you do in the short-term to help people before the end of the financial year should you get elected? In your home state of Queensland, the message on the ground is they don’t like Scott Morrison but they are not trusting Anthony Albanese and they are not shifting their vote. How do you cut through to people that still don’t trust your leader with three weeks to go to polling day?

Jim Chalmers:

Firstly, on international comparisons, Australians who are doing it tough couldn’t care less what the inflation rate is in the US or the UK. Australians know that their real wages are going backwards and they feel it every time they come to supermarkets and shops like this one. I think that is the most relevant thing.

When it comes to Queensland, Anthony has a natural affinity with Queenslanders and that is because he has been showing up there even before this election campaign.

Q: [People don’t trust him]

Chalmers:

I don’t agree with that.

Jim Chalmers speaking to the media
Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers speaking to the media. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Q: I have been in Queensland for the past four days and I can tell you people up there don’t trust Anthony Albanese. [I don’t know which journalist this is, but the PM’s campaign has been in Queensland, and campaigns go to businesses and areas where they are popular]

Jim Chalmers:

I live and work in Queensland and it hasn’t been my experience. My experience is when the floods were happening and when the pandemic was at its worst, Scott Morrison turned his back on Queensland and Queenslanders.

Scott Morrison flies into Queensland, bags our premier and our efforts to combat the virus. He sells us short on flood relief. Turns around and has a photo with a tinny and a XXXX and flies off again. That is not what we need in Queensland. Anthony shows up in Queensland and I am confident that we will give a good account of ourselves here.

Updated

Q: A couple of questions, first off, it has been a huge couple of years when it comes to issues affecting women. We are not seeing the person responsible for that portfolio, Tanya Plibersek, with us on the campaign. It is so important, I would like to know why and why wasn’t she there on Sunday? Secondly, Peter Costello said in comments in The Australian today saying the RBA should have acted earlier and they are behind the curve. I know they are independent and you can’t tell the RBA what to do. Do you agree or disagree with Peter Costello’s comments?

Jim Chalmers:

Firstly, Tanya Plibersek has been doing as much, if not more media than most of our colleagues.

She is making an outstanding contribution to this campaign. I speak to her regularly and see her performances in the media and they are outstanding. She is a massive part of our campaign. Any objective observer ...

Q: Why is she not ...

Chalmers:

Any objective observer could conclude that. I will answer the second part of Sarah’s question.

Q: I don’t think the first question was answered. Why is she not here in an official capacity and why hasn’t she been campaigning in Sydney when we have been in Sydney ...

Chalmers:

Tanya Plibersek has been campaigning right around Australia [not just] in Sydney.

... She has been doing a heap of media ... I will answer the second part of Sarah’s question. Peter Costello made comments about the Reserve Bank. You’re right, I am going to say that the Reserve Bank is independent and rightly so. We don’t second guess it and we don’t preempt its decisions.

I was frankly disappointed to see Josh Frydenberg trying to exert some political pressure, I thought, on the independent Reserve Bank. The bank should make its decisions independent of any political pressure, whether it is from current treasurers or former treasurers and that is appropriate.

Updated

Q: A question for senator Keneally. On the Australian Border Force’s newest video, the 30 second one, do you concede that Operation Sovereign Borders has had to put out a deterrence campaign in people smuggling markets because Labor has been sending mixed messages about border policies during this campaign?

Kristina Keneally:

No, in fact I welcome the navy’s video today. I welcome it because it confirms, no matter the outcome of this election, Operation Sovereign Borders remains the firm policy of Australia. Labor’s support for Operation Sovereign Borders is clear. Boat turnbacks, where safe to do so, regional resettlement and offshore processing.

Let me be clear again – if you attempt to come to Australia by boat, you will be turned back or sent to Nauru, you won’t make it.

Q: Which third country would you send refugees and asylum seekers to if you need to look to regional resettlement for people who ...

Keneally:

I answered this question yesterday.

Q: Which countries?

Keneally:

I answered this question yesterday.

Q: You didn’t.

Keneally:

I made it clear yesterday with this question.

Updated

Q: On power prices, wholesale power prices are going up. The Labor Party mass ... has a plan to bring them down by 2025. But what are you going to do in the two years before then, when families are feeling pressure now?

Jim Chalmers:

Power prices are going up. Healthcare is becoming harder to access and harder to afford. Groceries are going through the roof and petrol. There are cost of living pressures and this is a cost of living crisis on Scott Morrison’s watch. Now, one party – please let me finish – one party has got a plan to add cheaper and cleaner energy to the system.

And to transmit it more effectively, more efficiently and more cheaply. The other side is having a barney about whether or not they believe in net zero. And so our plans to get cleaner and cheaper energy into the system will bring power prices down by 2025, $275 a year, and that is more than what our political opponents are promising.

Q: On cost of living, you have got markets saying interest rates will head towards 3% within a matter of 12 months, perhaps. You can’t control the price of petrol because that is globally demanding. There [are] worries about the price of wheat because of what is happening in Ukraine and Russia. How much will families be better off overall under a Labor government when so many things are not under your control?

Chalmers:

Let me give you a couples of examples where government policy makes a big difference. Cheaper...

Q: How much will we be better off? In 12 months, how much more money will I have in my pocket?

Jim Chalmers and Kristina Keneally
Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers and shadow immigration minister Kristina Keneally speak to the media after visiting Dave’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetables on Day 19 of the 2022 federal election campaign in Sydney. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Chalmers:

Let me answer the question. For example, in child care, if you are on $120,000 as a family and you are accessing it five days, it will be more than $80 a week. If you are on $150,000 and you are averaging three days, it will be more than $70 a week and that policy comes in next year. It will be in the first Budget if we’re successful that we hand down before the end of the year. That is one example.

I have given you an example on power prices. When it comes to wages, Australians understand that if you train people for higher wage opportunities, they will earn more. Australians understand if you make it easier, through the child care system, to work more and earn more, that will have an impact on wages. Australians understand the invest in the care economy, the digital economy and advanced manufacturing, you will create more, well-paid secure jobs.

The difference between Labor and Scott Morrison is Scott Morrison has completely washed his hands of this cost of living crisis and Labor takes a different view. Our policies are all about recognising where we can make a meaningful difference, not overpromising and underdelivering, but working out where we can make a meaningful difference.

You ask me about interest rates. Most of the market, commentators, analysts expect interest rates will go up next week or next month. That is a matter for the independent Reserve Bank, independent of political interference from Josh Frydenberg or anybody else.

Updated

We then move on to a debate about the debates.

Q: Mr Chalmers, both yourself, Mr Albanese and Kristina Keneally have accused the prime minister of going missing, saying that he’s avoiding scrutiny ... But your leader, despite having said he would debate the prime minister every day ... [has not agreed to a debate on Nine]. Isn’t he doing what you accuse the prime minister of doing?

Jim Chalmers:

Well, Anthony Albanese is not reluctant to debate the prime minister, and the last time they had a debate, Albo cleaned him up.

Q: Why not commit to...

Chalmers:

If you [would] just let me finish my answer. There are negotiations that happen in every election campaign that I can recall. Those negotiations involve broadcasters, they involve the two parties ...

Q: You say the prime minister won’t hold a hose, but at the minute you won’t hold a debate.

Chalmers:

Well, what’s happening here is the usual negotiation that is happen in the usual way with the broadcasters, and with the major political parties. You know, I think ...

Q: Everyone has agreed except Anthony Albanese. Why?

Chalmers:

Well, this is part of the usual conversation that happens.

Q: What is he scared of? What is Mr Albanese scared of?

Chalmers:

He’s not.

Q: What is he doing next Thursday?

Chalmers:

I don’t have his diary here.

Updated

The questions start and they are all about why Anthony Albanese is not fronting the press conference.

Q: When the prime minister came out of isolation, he flew to Lismore and he did a press conference. Why is Anthony Albanese not doing a press conference today? And you’ve made reference, Kristina Keneally has made reference to the document behind you. What are all of those things? What’s the percentage that those things are going to come down if Labor is elected into government?

Jim Chalmers:

Well, first of all, Anthony Albanese is returning to the fray today, and we’re very pleased that our captain will be back on the field with us. And consistent with doctor’s orders, he is coming back, making sure that he can do enough on the first day back, and then we’re heading out to the great state of Western Australia after that.

Q: Why is he not fronting the media in an official capacity on his first day out of isolation?

Chalmers:

Anthony has fronted the media this morning.

Q: Nine was left off the list? There are still plenty of people that he’s not talking to, plenty of journalists who aren’t able to ask questions of Anthony Albanese today.

Chalmers:

Well, the campaign has still got three weeks to run. Anthony Albanese’s done a heap of interviews this morning and he will have a heap of engagements out west as well, consistent with the health advice.

Q: Doesn’t that contrast with the prime minister, however, who did come out of isolation and held a press conference when he came out of isolation?

Chalmers:

I’ll tell you the contrast with the prime minister. Anthony Albanese, he shows up, he takes responsibility, he works hard every day to bring people together. And he acknowledges and has a plan for the cost of living crisis that has emerged on Scott Morrison’s watch.

Q: If he could do those breakfast interviews this morning, why couldn’t he come to an official press conference?

Chalmers:

He will have a number of media engagements over the coming days.

Updated

Jim Chalmers moves on to cost of living being an issue and says Australians “couldn’t give a stuff” about international comparisons on inflation given prices here are increasing.

He says that Josh Frydenberg had a “train wreck” interview on Radio National this morning and the government is blaming everyone but itself for cost increases.

In that interview, he lied about the impacts of the withdrawal of the low and middle income tax offset. He confirmed that he will be preferencing One Nation in his electorate.

He dismissed a woman who is a very accomplished part of the medical profession as nothing more than a slogan. But he also tried to wash his hands of this cost of living crisis that has emerged on the Morrison government’s watch.

The independent Reserve Bank will make its decision on interest rates, independent of any political interference from the treasurer or from anyone else. The treasurer and the prime minister need to take responsibility for what’s happening in the Australian economy. When things are going well, they take all the credit. When times are tough, they take absolutely none of the responsibility, and we’re seeing that once again.

Leadership is about taking responsibility, and that’s where Scott Morrison disappoints again and again.

Updated

Labor press conference

Jim Chalmers and Kristina Keneally are up this morning.

Chalmers says leadership is about trusting your team – and Anthony Albanese can do that.

It’s about putting people at the absolute centre of your vision for a stronger economy and a better future. Leadership is also about building a team, empowering your people, and trusting them to do their jobs.

I’ve had the opportunity to speak to Albo a couple of times today, before and after he reentered the fray, and I was able to express to him our gratitude on behalf of the team for the opportunities and the trust that he has placed in us while he’s been away with Covid.

Updated

You may remember Tim Wilson had a very big issue with independent challenger Zoe Daniel’s corflutes because they were put up before the election was called, and asked his supporters to dob in any they saw to the local council.

Well, Dave Sharma has had an issue with independent challenger Allegra Spender’s corflutes and where they are being placed.

Apparently, corflutes are the biggest issue this election campaign. Apologies for missing it. Corflutes are obviously impacting more people than we knew, given the focus.

Updated

We will have more for you on this soon, but the Quarterly Energy Dynamics Report has been released – and you can add power to the list of things increasing in price.

As AAP reports:

Wholesale electricity prices for industry and large businesses have breached the federal government’s promised level, adding another cost pressure to the economy.

The Australian Energy Market Operator said on Friday that prices in the national electricity market averaged $87 per megawatt-hour in the first three months of this year, up more than two thirds on the December quarter and up 141 per cent on the March quarter of 2021.

Wholesale electricity prices have increased in every region, the Quarterly Energy Dynamics Report found.

Outages meant the availability of thermal generators was significantly lower, with black coal electricity generation at its lowest quarterly level since 2002.

AEMO executive Violette Mouchaileh said prices in Queensland and NSW, the most dependent on coal-fired generation, were again significantly higher than southern states.

“This was due to the larger price-setting role of black coal generation and system security constraints limiting daytime electricity transfers from Victoria into NSW,” she said.

Wind and solar farm output hit a new quarterly record, along with increases in small-scale solar, gas and hydro.

Declines were seen in brown coal and black coal generation, which hit its lowest March quarter average in two decades.

Despite increased demand for electricity as heatwaves struck, NEM emissions hit a record March quarter low at 30.4 million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent - four per cent lower than a year earlier.

Lower coal generation combined with continuing growth in wind and solar farm output, the report said.

Energy market expert Tristan Edis said wholesale power prices have risen because Australia is too exposed to volatile international commodity markets, not because it has too much renewable energy in the grid.

“The federal government hasn’t managed to achieve its promise from the last election to bring wholesale power prices below $70MWh,” he said.

Oil, coal and LNG prices surged globally amid winter energy shortages and conflict in Europe.

Marija Petcovich, head of analytics firm Energy Synapse, said Australia will be vulnerable to price shocks as long as the grid remains reliant on fossil fuels.

AAP has an update on the pending aged care workers strike:

The aged care workforce has voted for a national strike in the middle of the federal election campaign in a push for better pay and conditions.

The May 10 strike, less than two weeks out from the election, was endorsed by union leaders from aged care providers on Wednesday night, with the United Workers Union saying members are fighting for better pay and conditions.

It’s the first time the aged care work force has embarked on a national strike, with the union expressing anger at Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The decision was made the day after the Health Services Union began their legal fight to lift aged care workers’ wages to about $29 per hour, or by 25 per cent, in the Fair Work Commission.

Some 12,000 aged care workers are expected to walk off the job from eight major care care providers at 160 facilities, affecting 12,700 residents.

The workers are taking the unprecedented step of striking because their pay and conditions are failing workers and residents, UWU Aged Care Director Carolyn Smith said on Friday.

“Aged care workers are fed up with waiting, fed up with Scott Morrison’s incompetence and fed up with employers’ excuses,” she said.

“On Wednesday we gave thousands of heartbreaking reports from our whistleblower web site www.agedcarewatch.org.au, describing aged care residents left unshowered, soiled and injured due to a lack of care, to the aged care regulator.”

She said these reports were filed after the Royal Commission into Aged Care, and the federal government’s budget response.

The Royal Commission noted the sector’s workforce was undervalued, understaffed and under-resourced.

Updated

The McKell Institute has released a new report, and has found the sharpest decline in real wages in Australia is being experienced by those in WA and Queensland:

The new report, ‘Stuck in Neutral: The Policy Architecture Driving Slow Wage Growth in Australia,’ finds that in 2021 Australia experienced a fall in real wages of 1.2 per cent.

However there is a high degree of variability between the states, with wages falling by 1.9 per cent in Queensland and a massive 3.7 per cent in WA.

The analysis also finds the average worker would be earning an additional $307 per week if the rate of wage growth in the period 2007-2013 had been sustained through 2014-2021.

The McKell Institute’s executive director, Michael Buckland, said without a change in policy settings, it would only get worse:

Slow wage growth is an economic problem created in part by deliberate government policy. As the Finance Minister, Mathias Cormann, said in 2019 low wage growth is a deliberate design feature of the Coalition’s economic architecture.

The report’s press release added:

Our report finds there have been a range of policies that have contributed to low wage growth including a reduction in penalty rates, a surge in temporary work visas, and inaction on wage theft. Opposition to increases in minimum wages, public sector wage freezes, and allowing the exemption of the unregulated gig economy have also been identified as contributors.

Remedying sustained low wage growth requires substantial change in Federal Government policy.

Updated

Anthony Albanese and the Labor campaign are headed west for the official campaign launch on Sunday.

We are expecting a press conference from him today, though.

Updated

Seven Covid deaths reported in NSW, another seven in Victoria

The Covid reports have started coming in.

Updated

Sarah Ferguson has been announced as Leigh Sales’s replacement as the host of 7.30.

Updated

I’m not sure if voters care about all this debate about debates, but it goes on:

Anthony Albanese agreed to debate Scott Morrison anytime. Morrison wants a debate on Seven and on Nine. The ABC has been cut out, as has the National Press Club.

Hence the debate about debates.

Albanese:

Well, I think the national broadcaster can have a role here as well and the prime minister thinks that he is the only person who has a say in this.

The national secretaries of the Liberal party and Labor party should sit down, work these issues through, like adults.

I do think the idea that the ABC would be excluded from any participation is rather extraordinary and that is the suggestion being made by Scott Morrison.

I’m not quite sure what he’s got against the ABC. I guess he’s part of a government that cut funding to the ABC, and even our sensible suggestion of increasing ABC broadcasting into the regions so we get Australia’s voice into the Pacific was ridiculed by this prime minister. I find his actions quite extraordinary.

I’m up for more debates. We’ve had one debate. It’s 1-0 up to now and it was at a time and date of his choosing but he can’t get to choose the entire process.

And we should also have a debate at the National Press Club, that always taking place in election campaigns.

Q: Would you commit to two more? We’d clearly love one on the ABC but would you commit to two more with the prime minister?

Albanese:

I’m up for more debates.

... But I’m not up for the prime minister deciding when, who, how that all occurs. We both need to be involved in this process and the Labor party needs to be engaged so I’m certainly up for more debates.

It’s unfortunate that this week, obviously, I’ve been in seven days’ iso, but we have schedules going forward as well, including scheduled appearances on ABC programs that I’ve committed to. And one of the things that I don’t do is ever break commitments that I make.

Updated

'No use not looking after your health': Albanese

Anthony Albanese is once again allowed outside of his house.

He has done a round of interviews. Here he is speaking to ABC about his doctor’s advice moving forward in his Covid recovery (which was take it easy):

Well, it’s all relative, I guess, in in terms of what I have to do. So today, this morning, I’ve got a round of interviews. Just the doctor’s advice that when I’m feeling tired – which he advises, and others [are] telling me is the case, that I’ll continue to feel tired and a bit fatigued, particularly over the next week – that I need to be conscious about that, I need to rest when I can and just be a bit sensible.

It’s no use not looking after your health. There’s still three and a bit weeks to go in this campaign. He’s advised that each and every day, if I get that rest, I’ll feel better, and I certainly feel much better today than I did yesterday.

I feel really good today and I feel – I felt better yesterday than the day before, and the same thing a day before that.

For me, the peak was around day three and four of iso, but now I’m feeling good. It’s good to be out and about and later today, this morning, I’ll be travelling to Perth in line with our campaign launch on Sunday. That will be the first time there’s ever been a national campaign launch in Perth.

It underlines to us that I want to represent the entire country, including people in Western Australia and it’s about time that the west got such a big event during a federal election campaign.

Updated

Liberal MP Jason Falinski is continuing to question whether independents spending money on their election campaign is “moral” or not.

My only real way to answer this question is to say when someone is spending $2 million in a single election in a single electorate, you get to the point where you start wondering whether that is a moral use of money and it is quite obscene.

But the one thing I can tell you, and I know you know this, is when politicians start worrying about themselves and not worrying about the country and the people of Australia, that’s when they lose their jobs. What I’m most worried about is cost of living, is home ownership, the safety and security of our nation and getting to net zero as quickly and as soon as possible.

That continues on from what he told Sarah Martin last week:

I just think it is an immoral use of money; we have real problems in the world and for these guys to be spending $2m against members of parliament, when, according to them, they agree with their member profiles, is just immoral.

They agree with us on climate, they agree with us on equity for women, and they agree with us on integrity, but instead of helping us they are trying to knock us off.

The independents he is targeting are all women. Which leads to the question – has a male candidate ever had their election spend questioned over whether it is “moral” or not?

Updated

Katherine Deves says she is not transphobic, because she has been to Mardi Gras thirty years ago and voted yes for marriage equality.

Q: Are you transphobic?

Deves:

Of course not. This isn’t about that.

And her evidence?

Back in the early 90s, I was going to Mardi Gras, I voted for same sex marriage, I don’t have an issue with that. But this is about a collision of rights.

Updated

On her social media and what she had written, Katherine Deves say it is time to move on:

I mean, I did that as a private person, not envisaging that I would eventually put my hand up to run for politics, and to run to potentially be the member for Warringah. And as I said before, I mean, Twitter is not a place where you should be prosecuting difficult arguments.

So ... I think we need to move on from that. And I’ve apologised, and I think that we just need to conduct these debates going forward in a respectful and dignified way.

Updated

Katherine Deves says 'I can win'

The Liberal candidate for Warringah, Katherine Deves, has appeared on Sydney radio 2GB, where she has been defended by host Ben Fordham, who has declared her “brave”.

She came to the studio with security and was asked if that was a result of the threats she said she had received, and what the most challenging moment she had experienced was:

The most challenging moment is, you know, I have a family. I have stood up for public life and just realising the impact that – the way my life was going to change. However, I think that being the representative for a community is a really important job.

And I’m willing to do that.

Asked if she can win she says:

I wouldn’t have stood up if I didn’t believe I had a chance to win.

Updated

Liberal Warringah candidate Katherine Deves has committed to visiting Sydney’s Jewish museum, after more tweets from her deleted account emerged (first published on News.com) where she compared standing against transgender issues to the Nazi resistance.

Frydenberg was asked about the party standing by her, given her previous comments and his stance as a moderate.

He said when it came to her stance on “fairness in sport” he was “happy to have that debate based on the issue”, but added:

But when you start bringing in these analogies or that level of terminology, I do think that that diminishes the person who’s making the argument, but it also distracts from the real issues of play.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg is speaking to Patricia Karvelas on ABC Radio National and is still very, very angry, it seems, about the challenge he is receiving from Monique Ryan, who he calls the “so-called independent”.

He has defended putting One Nation ahead of Ryan on his how-to-vote cards despite being a moderate, because he says Ryan’s votes will decide the electorate, as the Greens and Labor are running dead.

He sounds furious about it, to be honest.

Updated

The independent candidate in Boothby, Jo Dyer, may not be eligible to sit in parliament due to UK citizenship by descent.

Dyer disclosedto the Australian Electoral Commission that she had been a UK citizen but renounced on 8 December, attaching evidence of her application to renounce.

However, the high court has taken a strict approach that to be eligible to sit in parliament the renunciation must have been processed and effective by the time of nomination.

In comments to the Adelaide Advertiser, Dyer first suggested she had done enough by taking “reasonable steps” to renounce. The high court clarified in its Canavan and Gallagher decisions that this is insufficient, unless the candidate faced “irremediable” obstacles to renouncing.

A spokesman for Dyer reportedly said:

Jo thought she had met eligibility requirements but based on the Gallagher case is now seeking advice from lawyers, as well as the British Home Office as to the status of her application.

Good morning

Welcome to day 19 and the end of the third week of the campaign.

Anthony Albanese is back on the physical campaign, but, under his doctor’s advice, won’t be going quite as hard as the first two weeks.

Here’s hoping Scott Morrison won’t feel the need to point out how his recovery was quicker, after he took a pot shot at Albanese yesterday for not being as busy as he had been in isolation.Quite the statesman comment.

On Sky News last night, Morrison was asked if Albanese had “used his Covid isolation to duck out of the campaign”.

Q: Do you think we should have seen more of Albanese while he was in isolation?

Morrison:

Well, I do know there must be a lot of questions waiting for him when he comes out of isolation. I do hope that he’s well and that his symptoms weren’t too difficult.

I remember when I came out, that’s when I went straight up from isolation directly to the floods in northern New South Wales. That was where I went immediately. I didn’t go to other states. That’s where I went. And it’s important, that I hope that he comes out and he’s well, because this is an important campaign.

And for the last week he’s done a couple of interviews, I suppose. But there’s a choice and people need to see there’s a choice. I’ve said there’s two debates. We had the Sky Debate. It was a good debate.

We should have two debates next week. He said he’d debate me any time, anywhere. Well, Thursday night, Channel Seven, I’ll be there ... Sunday night, Channel Nine, I’ll be there.

Perhaps that word salad will win him some more votes.

Meanwhile, the Adelaide Advertiser is reporting Boothby independent candidate Jo Dyer may be in some section 44 strife:

We’ll bring you all the news as it happens. Katharine Murphy is with you, along with Paul Karp, Josh Butler, Daniel Hurst and Sarah Martin. The entire Guardian brains trust is following along with what’s happening in the rest of the nation. And you’ve got me, Amy Remeikis, with you on the blog for most of the day. I have gone straight for the chocolate this morning. It’s been that sort of week.

Ready to say goodbye to the first three weeks? Let’s goooooo!

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