Federal election 2025 live updates: Australia election date called for 3 May by Anthony Albanese; Peter Dutton to campaign on economy
Press pack trailing Albanese lands in Brisbane for first stop of campaign
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The press pack trailing Anthony Albanese has touched down in Brisbane in the first stop of the five-week election campaign.
Queensland is a conservative stronghold, with Labor holding just five of 30 seats in the sunshine state.
It was also the epicentre of the “Greenslide” at the 2022 federal election, where the Greens picked up three Brisbane seats in a historic result for the party.
Labor is desperate to win back Griffith from the Greens’ Max Chandler-Mather and is also optimistic about its chance in the nearby electorate of Brisbane.
Coincidentally, the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, will also be in Brisbane on Saturday for an anti-Peter Dutton rally with MPs and members.
Dutton made his opening pitch of the campaign from his home city on Friday.
Key events
Tink says Queensland is ‘dark horse’ in 2025 election
Asked if she thinks she can make a dent in Peter Dutton’s vote, Kylea Tink said “Queensland is the dark horse in the 2025 election” – pointing to the fact Anthony Albanese has arrived there as his first stop on the campaign.
Ellie Smith is running here in Dixon and she is a cracking candidate. What is most telling about it is that she is running because her community has asked her to.
It’s not like myself or anybody from the Community Independents Project, or anybody from Climate 200, had anything to do with this seat actually turning around and going ‘maybe we want somebody else to actually represent us’ …
The two major parties have gotten too lost in pursuing their own political ideologies, so Community Independents is about taking your voice and your vote back.
Tink on power of crossbench: ‘Many of us were discounted in 2022’
Outgoing independent MP Kylea Tink has been speaking with ABC Afternoon Briefing this afternoon.
As we reported earlier, she will travel to Queensland this weekend to support independent candidates – including the one aiming for Peter Dutton’s seat – after being appointed director of the Community Independents Project.
Tink said people were “shocked to see the size of the crossbench grow” after the 2022 election.
We had the largest crossbench in the history of Australian politics and we have proven to have been a constructive force in politics in the last two years … In 2022, many of us were discounted and seen as a bit of a flash in the pan.
Equality Australia warns of travel to the US
Equality Australia has warned certain members of Australia’s LGBTQ+ community against travelling to the US.
In a travel advice document, it says the advice applies to those with a gender X marker on their passport, with identity documents with gender markers or a name different to those assigned at birth, and those with a track record of LGBTQ+ activism.
Travel to the US carries serious risks that should be considered before planning any travel, particularly if you fall under one of the above categories.
It outlined a number of potential risks, including the refusal of a visa, denial of entry, mistreatment and arbitrary detention. The document also lists advice for prior to travelling, during travel, with resources for further information.
Krishani Dhanji reported in January that gender-diverse Australians applying to stay in the US long-term could face visa delays and be forced to use their gender designation at birth on forms following Donald Trump’s executive order on gender.
There have also been calls extending beyond the LGBTQ+ community to avoid travel to the US.
Burney says government needs to be involved in truth-telling, but it’s not ‘be-all and end-all’
Linda Burney was asked if she was accepting that the government could not pursue a process for truth-telling because of the no vote, and if she believed others should instead pursue a community-led process.
She answered:
When you look at the different models of truth-telling around the world – and in fact in Australia you have a judicial type processing, for example [in] Victoria; they don’t all have to be like that.
There is a place for that, but there is also a place for communities to be empowered to look at their story, to be involved with the historical society, the schools, local government, different community groups.
I think government does need to be involved, but it is not the be-all and end-all of truth telling.
Burney takes aim at Dutton for ‘walking away’ from ‘decades of bipartisanship on Aboriginal affairs’
The former Indigenous affairs minister Linda Burney is also up on ABC Afternoon Briefing – and said it was going to be a “hard election for everybody”.
The former Labor MP announced her departure as minister last year, and she stayed on as the member for Barton until the election – meaning she has now officially left parliament.
She labelled Peter Dutton as “incredibly divisive” and said it was “unforgivable” for him to walk away from “decades of bipartisanship on Aboriginal affairs”.
Burney said the “devastation” from the outcome of the voice referendum is still felt, and the issue would not go away:
The issues of constitutional recognition will not go away, and they didn’t start in 2017 with the Uluru statements. They started decades ago and they will go on for decades.
Asked about Anthony Albanese’s previous comments on Makarrata, and if she was disappointed, Burney answered:
I understand the practical realities of the no votes. I see the Northern Territory new government, I see the Queensland new government walking away from treaty and truth, but Aboriginal people will not walk away from those things.
Election analyst on decline of primary vote, influence of Trump and early predictions
Election analyst John Black has been speaking to ABC Afternoon Briefing about the “steady decline” in the primary vote by the two major parties, ahead of the upcoming election.
He said it has been trending down consistently over the past 20 years, but now there was a “dramatic drop down to 15 seats at the last election won on primary votes.”
There was only eight ALP and seven Coalition members of parliament sitting elected on primary votes. Every one of the others, 136, were determined by who did not like them all that much and voted for other parties and begrudgingly cast a preference … to them … I think we will see the same sort of thing this time.
On the influence of Trump, Black argued that if you “position yourself to be criticised by Donald Trump and defend yourself and your country’s honour, then you will do OK in this election.”
Getting criticised by Trump is going to be a big plus, and sticking up for your country an even bigger one.
Body of man recovered from waters in WA
Moving away from politics for a moment: The body of a 79-year-old man has been recovered in Western Australia, after he fell from his kayak into the Drysdale River.
Western Australia police said officers were called to the remote location on Monday, where the man was trapped and submerged. He was part of a group of nine people on a multi-day rafting and kayaking tour.
A multi-agency search operation has been under way since. Yesterday it turned to a recovery mission, and the body of the man was recovered from the water.
Police said the matter has been referred to WorkSafe and a report would be prepared for the coroner.
Det Supt John Hutchison said it had been an “extremely challenging search and rescue operation given the weather, difficult terrain and remote location”.
I would like to thank everyone involved in this incident, and express our sincere condolences to the family of the deceased man.
Media plane following Dutton hasn’t left, expected to leave tomorrow
The election campaign has started, but the campaigns are moving at different speeds on day zero. While the media contingent to follow Anthony Albanese on his campaign has already taken off from Canberra earlier this afternoon and arrived in Brisbane, the media plane following Peter Dutton hasn’t left Canberra yet.
It’s looking more likely that the Dutton media plane won’t take off until tomorrow morning.
For those who don’t know, the prime minister and opposition leader travel the country for their campaign in VIP jets funded by the taxpayer, while a media pack follows them on a separate charter plane (more like a basic passenger jet).
The media organisations pay their own way, with the campaigns responsible for booking travel, hotels and so forth. That’s because they don’t tell the media (or other outsiders) where they’re going next – so the journalists basically get on a plane or bus with little or no idea where the final destination is.
Albanese has brought his media plane to him today, a short few hours after calling the election, likely in anticipation of events being held tomorrow – but Dutton hasn’t yet.
Both men gave press conferences this morning, of course. And as usual in elections, both campaigns keep their plans (including their travel) very close to their chest, not giving much away about where they’re going next or what they’re doing.
Press pack trailing Albanese lands in Brisbane for first stop of campaign
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The press pack trailing Anthony Albanese has touched down in Brisbane in the first stop of the five-week election campaign.
Queensland is a conservative stronghold, with Labor holding just five of 30 seats in the sunshine state.
It was also the epicentre of the “Greenslide” at the 2022 federal election, where the Greens picked up three Brisbane seats in a historic result for the party.
Labor is desperate to win back Griffith from the Greens’ Max Chandler-Mather and is also optimistic about its chance in the nearby electorate of Brisbane.
Coincidentally, the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, will also be in Brisbane on Saturday for an anti-Peter Dutton rally with MPs and members.
Dutton made his opening pitch of the campaign from his home city on Friday.
Labor historian and former NSW Liberal MP weigh in on influence of Trump administration amid election
Labor historian from the John Curtin Research Centre, Nick Dyrenfurth, has been speaking to ABC Afternoon Briefing this afternoon – asked about the influence of the Donald Trump administration.
He said the “real question” is “who is going to stand up for the Australian national interest” in the face of Trump:
He is pursuing an America-first strategy, but if that is the world we’re living in then we need someone who is going to put Australia first – who is going to protect our steel and aluminium exports, who is going to protect our PBS and who is not going to bag the government …
Strong leaders will stand on Team Australia and will not be on the side of team Trump and team Elon Musk during this election. That is the big risk. We need to know that Peter Dutton is going to be on Team Australia.
Former NSW Liberal MP Pru Goward, also on the program, said it was “outrageous to suggest that either party would not stand up to the Trump administration” on tariffs.
Of course everybody is on Team Australia in the end … There is no doubt that the Trump tariffs uncertainty and the material way he operates as a president is unnerving the world.
Youth issues will be ‘overrepresented’ this election, with baby boomers outnumbered for first time
Dr Intifar Chowdhury, a lecturer in government at Flinders University, spoke with ABC TV earlier about the generational trends on display at this election.
She said millenials and gen Z would outnumber baby boomers for the first time, who are down to 33% of the voting cohort.
That means that youth issues … will be quite overrepresented this time around during the election.
Chowdhury said younger generations are more likely to tilt to the left, but we “shouldn’t discount the fact [they] are also more likely to be issue-aligned”.
No major party, including the Labor party, can really bank on the youth vote. It really depends what issue they are taking to the polls.
She said if you compare those aged 18-30 now with those in 1998 – just over 25 years ago – they’re more likely to change votes during the campaign and less likely to consistently vote for the same party.
That adds a volatility to the cohort and, of course, there’s the sheer number.
She said this voting bloc extends from “the upper-bound 45-year-old millennial [to] the lower-bound 18-year-old gen Z”, and there were “a multitude of issues that they are concerned about”.
Caitlin Cassidy
ANU staff support vote of no confidence in chancellor and vice-chancellor
Staff at the Australian National University have overwhelmingly supported a vote of no confidence in the leadership of the chancellor, Julie Bishop, and vice-chancellor, Prof Genevieve Bell, over job cuts and leadership issues.
More than 800 union staff participated in the vote, with about 95% backing the no-confidence vote.
It follows reports published in the Australian Financial Review that Bell held a second job at Intel while in the role, and that the ANU had outsourced work to a firm owned by Bishop’s business partner and longtime political staffer. ANU is also working through a series of job cuts amid a projected budget deficit.
In December a spokesperson for Bell was quoted in the AFR saying that “outside paid work was commonplace for academics” and that her role with Intel had been disclosed to the university council. With respect to Bishop’s business partner, ANU was quoted saying that the communications team had contracted the firm to provide “specialist speech writing knowledge and skills” that were not available within the university.
The NTEU ANU branch president, Millan Pintos-Lopez, said morale at the university was “at rock bottom”.
This is a great university, with great staff and great students. However, we’ve been let down by ANU leadership and this vote result is a clear reflection of that.
ANU’s chief operating officer, Jonathan Churchill, wrote to colleagues that the NTEU vote had “no legal or binding effect”, with appointments decided by university councils.
The final result cannot be considered to be fully representative of the views of the majority of our almost 5,000-strong staff. However, I understand that this is a difficult time for our community and that many of you participated in this exercise to express your sincere views in good faith.
Our leadership team has a lot of critical work to do over the coming weeks and months to continue delivering our reforms in a respectful and transparent way.
Watt confident Labor can form majority government
Murray Watt said he is “absolutely confident” Labor can form a majority at the 3 May election. He told Sky News:
I sincerely believe that we can get there. I think there are a number of seats in which the Coalition is vulnerable and of course, here in Queensland, there are Green seats that we are working very hard to get back as well.
Asked if minority government would be a failure, Watt responded, “I’ll leave that for other people to talk about.”
He was pushed on this again, but gave a similar answer:
Again, I’ll leave it to very smart people like you, Tom, to measure our performance. What we’re doing is try to win every seat we possibly can to form another majority government, and I genuinely believe that we can do it.
Watt weighs in on Coalition’s gas reservation policy
Asked about the Coalition’s gas reservation policy, Murray Watt said this “may appeal to some people” but wouldn’t provide the cheapest forms of energy:
I think what most people are looking for is what is the solution to provide the cheapest forms of energy that we can provide. And as you know, the overwhelming evidence from the CSIRO and others is that the best way to bring power prices down is through renewables. But we recognise we need more gas in the system to back up those sectors.
Labor’s Murray Watt claims Dutton would put Medicare ‘on the chopping block’ to pay for nuclear reactors
The employment minister, Murray Watt, has been speaking with Sky News this afternoon.
He was asked about Medicare, the PM’s decision to brandish his Medicare card at this morning’s press conference, and the fact the Coalition has matched Labor’s signature policy on Medicare.
Watt argued that “everyone considers Peter Dutton to be completely insincere when it comes to Medicare”.
More broadly, the reality Peter Dutton has to face and has to answer to is, how is he going to pay for the $600bn he needs to build nuclear reactors?
He’s got to cut somewhere now. He started last night by confirming that he’s going to cut 41,000 public servants across all areas, from health care to education, to emergency services to veterans affairs. So those massive cuts will have an impact on people, but he needs even more in order to pay for those nuclear reactors, and that’s why Medicare is on the chopping block. Especially when you consider Peter Dutton’s record.
Top Liberal figure could be called in MP’s abuse trial
A Liberal party state director could be called to give evidence as a witness at MP Gareth Ward’s rape trial.
As AAP reports, the 44-year-old member for the NSW seat of Kiama is due to face a jury trial in late May on five charges, including sexual intercourse without consent. He has pleaded not guilty to each count, which related to alleged incidents in 2013 and 2015.
The district court has been told the longtime head of the party’s organisational wing in NSW, Chris Stone, might be required to enter the witness box to give evidence.
Stone has been heavily involved in the party’s campaigns since 2008. The court was not told what his evidence would cover.
Ward has held the Kiama electorate since 2011, winning three elections under the Liberal banner and the 2023 poll as an independent.
He was charged in 2022 over alleged indecent assaults of a 17-year-old at his South Coast home in 2013 and a claim of non-consensual sexual intercourse with a man in his 20s in inner Sydney two years later.
Christopher Knaus
Rightwing campaign group already seeking to raise funds after election announcement
Rightwing campaign group Advance is already seeking to raise funds on the back of this morning’s election announcement.
The group has just sent texts marked “URGENT” to its membership base, warning:
The election is on & the clock is now ticking. The Greens are now radical extremists and Albo is too weak and woke to stop them. We’re fighting back – chip in now!
Advance played a role in defeating the voice to parliament referendum and has grown its financial influence, reporting $15.6m in donations and other receipts in 2023-24, triple the amount from the previous year.
The donations included $500,000 from the Cormack Foundation, a Liberal party investment vehicle.
