Prime Minister Scott Morrison has faced questions over a promise to establish a federal integrity commission as Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has campaigned in Cessnock on the final day of campaigning before the long weekend.
Look back at how the day's developments unfolded in our blog.
Key events
- In pictures: The first week of the federal election campaign
- Joyce announces Newcastle airport funding
- A quick recap on the ICAC debate
- Morrison grilled about anti-corruption commission promise
- Labor will match Coalition pledge for Newcastle airport
- Bandt welcomes emergence of 'teal' Independents
- Do we have televised debates?
- Greens promise to invest $500 million to establish 'green steel' manufacturing industry
- Senior Liberals reject calls for Warringah candidate to quit
Live updates
By Jessica Riga
We'll wrap up our live coverage here
Thank you for joining us today!
We've almost reached the end of the first week of the election campaign... if you don't count the Easter break.
We'll be back with more live coverage when the second week of hustings gets underway.
Until then, you can stay up to date here on the ABC News website or download our app.
See you then!
By Jessica Riga
In pictures: The first week of the federal election campaign
By Georgia Hitch
Vote Compass shows Australians are worried about corruption in politics
As we prepare to head to the polls, almost half of Australians think corruption across the nation is "very much a problem", Vote Compass has found.
You can read Vote Compass reporter Bridget Brennan's break down of it here.
And if you haven't done Vote Compass yet to see how your views align with the different candidates and parties, you can do it here - takes about 10 minutes!
By Jessica Riga
Unemployment stays at 4 per cent, despite nearly 18,000 extra jobs
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese was quizzed on the unemployment rate earlier this week.
The latest figure has just dropped, with the unemployment rate staying at 4 per cent, despite nearly 18,000 extra jobs in the economy.
By Jessica Riga
Here's some more snaps from Scott Morrison's press conference this morning
These photos were all taken by ABC News photographer Luke Stephenson.
By Jessica Riga
Joyce announces Newcastle airport funding
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is announcing $55 million in funding to transform the Newcastle Airport terminal into an international travel hub.
The airport project has been at the top of the wish-list for the Hunter region's business and political leaders, and is expected to bring significant economic benefits to the region.
Earlier this morning Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said Labor would match the funding for the airport.
Joyce is also announcing more than $50 million in funding to ease congestion at Mandalong Road near Morissett, which follows a $30 million commitment by Labor last month.
By Jessica Riga
Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce is giving a press conference
By Jessica Riga
By Jessica Riga
AEC warns voters to ‘think twice’ before giving details to political parties offering to register their postal vote
Australian political parties reaching out to you with postal vote registration forms ahead of election day may be just as interested in your personal data as helping you cast a ballot.
Soon after Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the election, many Australians began receiving text messages and letters in the mail encouraging them to apply for postal votes.
It's a method of voting that is expected to explode in popularity this election as constituents seek to avoid crowded polling stations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, these postal vote notices didn't originate from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). They are sent by political parties, including Liberal and Labor, which are continuing a long tradition of trying to direct postal vote applications through their offices.
While the practice has always made some voters uneasy, privacy experts have voiced concerns over the new direction it has taken in this election campaign.
By Georgia Hitch
Coming back to Albanese's refugee boat turn back comments
At his press conference earlier Anthony Albanese said Labor would "turn boats back. Turning boats back means that you don't need offshore detention" - something that's caused a bit of confusion.
The Coalition has jumped on this as him potentially saying that a Labor government would end offshore detention if it wins the election.
It's not clear at the moment if Mr Albanese meant his comment like that, or that if you turn back boats there's no need for offshore detention but it's a policy they still support.
Labor's formal policy is the same as the Coalition's, which is that it supports offshore detention centres and boat turn backs but the Opposition Leader's comment.
We will, of course, keep you updated if/when we have any clarification from Labor and Mr Albanese.
Update: Labor says it 100 per cent supports offshore processing and there's been no reversal in its policy.
By Georgia Hitch
A quick recap on the ICAC debate
Political reporter Matthew Doran has been covering the anti-corrutpion commission debate since it came around before the last election, here's his take on the questions put to Scott Morrison this morning.
The Prime Minister has copped a barrage of questions on why Australian voters should trust him, considering there is still no national anti-corruption commission.
Scott Morrison took a pledge to establish a national integrity watchdog to the 2019 election.
Three years later, it has not been achieved.
Scott Morrison insists the fault lies with Labor – that he would only push ahead with his proposed model for the Commonwealth Integrity Commission (CIC) with the express support of the federal Opposition.
There’s a problem with that argument, and it lies in the legislative sausage making process.
Bills are regularly, if not routinely, introduced to Parliament without having bipartisan support beforehand.
An opposition party not backing a piece of government legislation before it lobs into the House of Representatives or the Senate for debate is not a radical idea.
In fact, the Coalition introduced legislation to expand the powers of the Immigration Minister to deport people from Australia without the support of Labor – and it tried repeatedly to ram it through parliament, only to drop it from the agenda in the dying days of the 46th parliament.
The Prime Minister also regularly uses the argument that he did "table" the legislation for the CIC in the House of Representatives, when questioned about why the proposal was never introduced.
Tabling a document is a vastly different prospect to a introducing legislation.
Introducing legislation kickstarts the process of lawmaking – the bill can be debated, it can go through amendments, and a final position can be arrived at to ensure that proposal becomes the official law of the land.
The Prime Minister could table the menu from a cafe if he wanted – it does not mean debate ensues on the merits of a chicken schnitzel burger, regardless of how well regarded it may well be in the halls of power.
‘Tabling’ a document merely reads it in to the official parliamentary record.
The Coalition’s CIC model has been hit with criticism for being a toothless anti-corruption watchdog, shrouded in secrecy – which are also the main planks of Labor’s opposition to the bill.
Labor will not support the Coalition model, devised by former attorney-general Christian Porter – so, it’s effectively dead in the water.
Labor says it's model would have a broader jurisdiction than the Coalition's - meaning it could look at more instances of alleged corruption.
It also wants the Commission to have the power to start its own investigations, rather than wait on referrals, worried without that power, it will be hamstrung.
The other key demand of the opposition is for the ability to hold public hearings where the commission sees fit - including for politicians - the idea being sunlight is the best disinfectant.
This is something the Coalition hasn't been keen on, citing the media circus or "kangaroo court" - to use the Prime Minister's phrasing - that the NSW ICAC has been criticised as devolving into.
By Jessica Riga
Here's some snaps from Anthony Albanese's press conference
These photos were taken by ABC News photographer Matt Roberts.
By Jessica Riga
That brings us to the end of Scott Morrison's press conference.
By Jessica Riga
What will the government do to help fix the chaos at our airports?
Morrison didn't answer the question directly, instead saying "this is what returning to normal looks like" and that Australia "is not at normal yet."
"Obviously the airlines are finding some challenges, particularly as they are building up again after the pandemic," he says.
"I'd just ask people to show some patience, I know it is frustrating and I know the airlines and everybody is doing everything they can to turn that around and I am sure they will.
"This is what returning to normal looks like. We are not at normal yet and we get through these challenges as the industry stand up again."
By Jessica Riga
How will this announcement help the timber shortage?
There's a massive timber shortage that is crippling the housing industry at the moment. So how exactly will this announcement help tradies that can't find timber, or they're able to, help deal with the skyrocketing prices?
Morrison: These issues... you can't turn around overnight and it is true that events in Ukraine and Russia have further exacerbated some of those supply chain issues, that is true. And that is why it is so important that we continue to ensure we have a sovereign forestry industry here in this country which is exactly what this is about.
By Georgia Hitch
What about working with the crossbench on an anti-corruption commission?
Scott Morrison's put Labor's lack of support for the government's anti-corruption commission as the reason why it hasn't been introduced, but the government has often worked with crossbench members in the Senate to get their legislation through.
He was asked more about this but didn't say whether the Coalition had ever sought support from the crossbench.
Reporter: What you just said about the Senate, what attempts have you made or your Attorney General made, what negotiations have you had with crossbenchers in the Senate on the Integrity Commissioner bill? The bill was out for consultation for a year, no changes were made despite 300 submissions, more than 300 submissions so what attempts have you made to get actual bipartisan crossbench support for this?
Morrison: Two attorneys have made strong approaches on these issues. The problem is, we're not going to agree to changes which we think are not in the national interest. We have put forward our proposal, everyone knows what our proposal is. It is detailed legislation. Labor has a two page fluff document, it is not a real policy. They talk about these issues in a fluffy sort of way, but where is their specific proposal? We have got a specific one and we believe it is in the national interest and if they put things forward that we don't agree with, we are allowed to disagree in this country.
By Jessica Riga
Morrison on refugee resettlement
Reporter: The UK government has announced a five year refugee resettlement deal and endorsed boat turn backs. Albanese was just asked at his press conference about this and he said he would turn boats back which means there is no need for offshore detention. What is your reaction to this?
Morrison: Anthony Albanese has had every position on border protection. He has supported everything he has opposed and he has opposed everything that he has support. We have seen that across so many issues.
He ends his reponse by reverted back to his "you know me" line which we'll continue to be hearing a lot throughout the campaign.
Morrison: People know me. Some people disagree with me, some people agree with me. Some people don't like how I say some things and other people do. You know who I am. When it comes to border protection, the people smugglers know who I am.
By Georgia Hitch
Another question on trust and delivering on election promises
Like the earlier question, the Prime Minister Scott Morrison was again asked, given it didn't deliver a raft of commuter carparks it promised before the last election.
An audit by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) found the $660 million fund to build 47 commuter car parks near train stations was not "merit-based", and none of the approved car parks had been proposed by the Department of Infrastructure.
When asked how voters could trust that the Coalition would follow through with its election commitments this time around, Mr Morrison did not answer directly instead saying:
"Only the Liberals and Nationals have an economic plan to back up the promises and commitments we are making at this election."
By Jessica Riga
The Coalition has only planted one per cent of their one billion trees promise
Their target was set for 2030, so Morrison says they still have time, but experts disagree and say that target needs to be reviewed.
"We had the setbacks from the black summer fires which had a massive impact on the forestry industry and a big part of our response to the forestry industry," Morrison says.
"We will monitor that target. We intend to hit it."
By Georgia Hitch
Morrison says Coalition's anti-corruption commission has been 'well thought through'
We're sticking on the anti-corruption commission topic at the moment, with the Prime Minister doubling down on his view that model put forward by Labor (and the crossbench) is a "kangaroo court".
He described the NSW ICAC as one that destroyed lives and the Coalition's model was "well thought through".
"I don't want to see something of that nature," he said.
Senior lawyers have previously criticised the Coalition's model as a "disaster" that would have "no teeth" and would be conducted in secrecy.
Mr Morrison was repeatedly asked if he would commit to making a federal anti-corruption commission a priority if the Coalition is re-elected, but he did not include it when he listed what the priorities would be.
