Australia election 2025 live: Dutton gives one-word views on JD Vance, Tanya Plibersek and Malcolm Turnbull in ‘Pictionary’ campaign event
Stuck on an island with Albanese and Chalmers? Dutton would ‘swim’
Sarah Basford Canales
An image of Tanya Plibersek is shown on the screen and Peter Dutton responds with one word: “greenie”.
An image of US vice-president JD Vance is next. Dutton says he was “disgusted” by the scenes coming out of the White House when Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was scolded by Vance and Donald Trump.
Finally, he’s shown a picture of Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers and asked to respond with one word about what he would do if he was stuck on an island with them.
“Swim.”
Key events
Man dies after boating incident in southern Tasmania
Moving away from politics for a moment: A man has died after a boating incident in southern Tasmania this morning.
Around 8.45am, a boat with two men on board experienced engine failure and was struck by large waves.
One man was able to return to safely to the shore. He was taken to the Royal Hobart hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The Westpac rescue helicopter, police and civilian vessels searched the area for the missing man, who was located along with the overturned boat about 9.40am, Tasmania police said.
Our thoughts are with the man’s loved ones. A report will be prepared for the coroner.
Natasha May
Psychiatrists matter won’t be resolved until mid year
The doctor’s union will not take any further strike action in NSW, allowing the separate dispute over the state’s public sector psychiatrists’ pay to continue to be heard in the Industrial Relations Commission, a court has heard.
After three days of industrial action organised by the doctor’s union, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (Asmof), ended at 10pm last night, Asmof’s council has voted to comply with the IRC’s orders not to take any industrial action for three months. The union is currently in negotiations with NSW Health over the pay of the state’s junior and senior doctors.
Asmof’s lawyer, Luke Forsyth, tendered an affidavit in the IRC court in Sydney this morning from the union’s executive director, Andrew Holland, that the union would comply with the commission’s undertaking and not take further strike action.
The union’s decision to proceed with strike action initially in defiance of the order saw hearings delayed in a separate matter in which Amof is representing the state’s psychiatrists who are seeking a special levy to increase their pay by 25% to stem the flow of specialist doctors leaving the public system.
In the directions hearing this morning in the psychiatrists matter, Justice Chin said in light of Asmof’s undertaking the commission was “in a position to to program this matter for finalisation”.
The expert evidence in the psychiatrists matter will be heard on 7 May, and closing submissions will be heard on 19 June.
As mass resignations of psychiatrists occurred at the beginning of the year, the state government had sought an expedited arbitration from 17 to 21 March. Those hearings were postponed early on 10 March due to NSW Health’s objections to Asmof’s expert evidence. The postponed hearing dates were then further delayed due to the union’s aforementioned industrial action.
Many psychiatrists had transitioned to visiting medical officer contracts, taken leave without pay, or deferred their resignations awaiting the outcome of the IRC proceedings, which will not be known until after closing submissions are heard on June 19.
Albanese says ‘nonsensical’ Dutton plan to axe vehicle efficiency standard fines won’t lower fuel costs
As we posted on the blog earlier, Anthony Albanese has said Peter Dutton’s promise to axe fines for car companies in breach of vehicle efficiency standards is a “nonsensical” position from an opposition whose main campaign pitch is to lower fuel costs.
You can now read the full story on this from Dan Jervis-Bardy, below:
Emily Wind
Acting NT chief minister says Territorians left ‘in limbo’ by Labor over Port of Darwin
The acting chief minister of the Northern Territory, Gerard Maley, says the federal government has left Territorians “in limbo” about its plans for the Port of Darin.
Visiting Darwin today, Anthony Albanese said the government was “prepared to use compulsory acquisition powers” to get the Port of Darwin back in Australian hands, but he said there were interested parties the government was negotiating with.
Maley said in a statement that the PM “was again non-committal” about federal Labor’s plans for the port if it won the election.
For weeks, Mr Albanese and [Solomon MP Luke] Gosling have talked a big game on the future of Darwin Port, a critically important strategic asset, yet have delivered no certainty for the port, its workers and the community. Today was the perfect day for them to clear the air but all we heard was more spin.
Maley said that in recent weeks, as the landowner of the port, the NT government “has heard nothing from the Albanese government about their plans”.
A Dutton Coalition government, if elected, has detailed how it will bring Darwin Port back into Australian hands. It is time for Anthony Albanese and Luke Gosling to put up or shut up.
New Zealand simplifies visa rules for travellers from Pacific island countries
In some news from across the ditch, and via AAP: Travellers from Pacific island nations will find it easier to travel to New Zealand after changes to visa rules.
Movement from much of the Pacific to either Australia or New Zealand is expensive and onerous, with most citizens of most countries required to apply for visitor visas.
NZ today announced changes that will make travel easier: waiving visa requirements for nationals of Pacific Islands Forum member countries who already have Australian visas, and extension of visitor visas from 12 to 24 months.
The changes fall short of the holy grail for Pacific Islanders – visa-free travel of the sort that Australians and New Zealanders benefit from when they travel through much of the developed world.
However, this remains a possibility. The NZ government is reviewing its visa settings with the Pacific, which could lead to more significant changes to visa settings.
Anthony Albanese was asked about the prospect of visa-free travel for Pacific nations last year at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders summit, saying leaders hadn’t asked him for it.
People haven’t raised visa arrangements, and we don’t have any plans to change the existing arrangements.
Stuck on an island with Albanese and Chalmers? Dutton would ‘swim’
Sarah Basford Canales
An image of Tanya Plibersek is shown on the screen and Peter Dutton responds with one word: “greenie”.
An image of US vice-president JD Vance is next. Dutton says he was “disgusted” by the scenes coming out of the White House when Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was scolded by Vance and Donald Trump.
Finally, he’s shown a picture of Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers and asked to respond with one word about what he would do if he was stuck on an island with them.
“Swim.”
Dutton plays Pictionary, labels Turnbull picture ‘dark and shadowy’
Sarah Basford Canales
One word responses to images are often a favourite of the political interview genre and for good reason.
On stage, Peter Dutton is asked to say one word to a series of pictures flashed up on the screen.
The first image is one of Gina Rinehart and Elon Musk. Dutton breaks the rules, answering the mining mogul has “employed many Australians, pays lots of taxes on it. I have respect for anybody who does that”.
The second image is former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull who once infamously labelled Dutton a “thug”.
Dutton remarks the image is “dark and shadowy” adding he isn’t easily scared of ghosts.
After US stocks fall again, Australian market slides 2.4% before recovering some ground
Luca Ittimani
The Australian sharemarket shed nearly $60bn in value in early trading on Friday, losing half its gains from the previous day as investors come to terms with a trade war between the US and China after Donald Trump’s volatile policy shifts.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell almost 2.4% to an early low of 7,524 points before recovering some ground, as Australian traders responded to their US counterparts’ sell-off on Wall Street overnight.
Health technology company CSL lost more than $6bn in market capitalisation, after Trump threatened to remove tariff exemptions for Australian pharmaceutical products.
Gas producers Woodside and Beach Energy slid and all four major banks lost more than 3% from their share price.
Trade war concerns have weighed on miners Rio Tinto, BHP and Mineral Resources, each facing losses but not falling as far as the lows plumbed earlier this week.
But goldminers have continued to recover value and were among the biggest winners on Friday morning. Australia’s gold exports have so far been exempted from US tariffs.
Sarah Basford Canales
Dutton ready to deal with ‘slings and arrows’ of outrageous fortune
Peter Dutton is joined on stage by the West Australian’s chief reporter Ben Harvey. In his first responses, he says the job as opposition leader is “pretty easy” compared with some of his previous roles.
Dutton also makes another little jab at the newspaper’s editor, Chris Dore, who delivered a somewhat odd welcoming speech earlier.
He says:
I’ve seen some things in my life that make this job pretty easy, regardless of what comes at you. If you know what you believe in, if you know what you stand up for, if you’re prepared to fight for and defend your values, then you know that makes a fairly easy day at work. You deal with all the slings and arrows and derogatory comments and, you know, editors trying to be funny and not succeeding and all of that.
Australian stocks follow US market to open more than 2% lower
Global markets are still shaky with the ASX down more than 2% at the opening this morning.
Overnight, the US S&P500 tumbled 3.4% and the Dow was down 2.5%, after a White House clarification that noted total tariffs on China had been raised by 145%, not 125%, since Trump took office.
Sarah Basford Canales
Classic Dutton: Perth speech mentions national security, domestic violence, strong borders
Peter Dutton concludes his address to the Leadership Matters conference in Perth by saying national security is the “most crucial” issue for the election.
One of the issues that hasn’t been spoken about enough, that perhaps is the most crucial as we go into this election, and that is the issue of national security, and it goes not only to where we are as a country in a precarious century, but it also goes to where we are domestically.
The opposition leader says he wants to end the scourge of domestic violence, referencing his time as a police officer, and keep Australia’s borders strong.
In other words, it’s pretty classic Dutton. The opposition leader will now answer questions from the audience.
Sarah Basford Canales
Dutton: Labor ‘at odds’ with Western Australia’s interests
Peter Dutton is pitching the Coalition as the party to enable Western Australia’s boom.
He says “inner city” Labor MPs are stalling gas and coal projects until after polling day because it’s not politically advantageous to win the votes of climate conscious voters in Sydney and Melbourne.
Dutton says:
The reason I say that this is a sliding doors moment at this election is that the options available to you in a two horse race are obvious. The prime minister has … spent his time and the Labor Party [has] spent their time trying to appease inner city Greens voters in Sydney and Melbourne …
The government has made a decision now because Tanya Plibersek and Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen see a focus in New South Wales and Victoria, which means they are at odds with the interests of WA …
Dutton laughs off ‘punch-drunk’ comment; says election is a ‘sliding doors moment’
Speaking at the leadership forum in Perth this morning, Peter Dutton starts off on a light note. After taking a playful hit from the West Australian’s Chris Dore, Dutton returns serve on the editor-in-chief.
I knew Chris from Sydney. It’s like a reformed smoker now being lectured about being an east coaster coming to WA. So Dory, it’s great to be with you. And I feel that, given I’ve probably spent at least as many nights in WA over the last 20 years as you have, I feel we are blood brothers in this cause.
Dutton acknowledges his many colleagues in the room, and then gets down to business, again saying this is a “sliding doors moment” for the country and for WA.
Coalition’s claims of consistently high inflation under Labor compared with other countries debunked
A Liberal Party federal election campaign advertisement blaming Labor for consistently delivering world-leading inflation rates has been debunked by experts, AAP reports.
Thousands of dollars have been poured into promoting videos that claim inflation under Labor has been consistently higher than any major advanced economy.
But economists told AAP FactCheck that inflation has routinely been lower in Australia than in other advanced economies – including G7 countries – since Labor was elected in May 2022.
Australia’s cumulative price growth since global inflation picked up during Covid-19 is also around the middle of the pack when compared with other advanced economies.
The claim appears in YouTube clips targeting voters in marginal seats such as McEwen (Labor held) north of Melbourne, Braddon (Liberal held) in north-west Tasmania and the NSW central coast seat of Roberston (Labor held).
University of Sydney macroeconomist Stella Huangfu said the claim is wrong.
While Australia did record the highest inflation among G7 countries at certain points in mid to late 2024, this occurred only occasionally and for a short period.
Liberal candidate for Bennelong criticised for handing Easter eggs to public outside primary school
Complaints have been raised about the Liberal candidate for Bennelong, Scott Yung, handing out Easter eggs to students at a primary school in his electorate.
Yung handed out the eggs in front of the Lane Cove public school, prompting the school’s principal to officially raise concerns.
The NSW Department of Education is monitoring the matter. The department told Guardian Australia in a statement:
It is unacceptable for any member of the public to hand out Easter eggs, lollies or any other consumable to children outside a school.
A spokesperson for the Liberal party told Guardian Australia Yung was in a public space and offered the chocolate “with parents’ permission”.
Mr Yung was speaking with local parents in a public space about the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on families …
While speaking to the parents he offered their kids Easter chocolate eggs, with parents’ permission, wishing them a happy Easter.
Sarah Basford Canales
West Australian’s editor-in-chief describes Dutton as a bit ‘punch-drunk’
Peter Dutton is in Perth this morning for a leadership forum hosted by the West Australian newspaper and will soon deliver the keynote speech.
The opposition leader was greeted by business leaders and politicians, including the new state opposition leader, Basil Zempilas, at the Crowne Plaza in Perth.
In the crowd were Dutton’s colleagues, senators Michaelia Cash, Bridget McKenzie and Susan McDonald.
The event was opened by the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Chris Dore, who delivered an eyebrow-raising address. Dore spent the first four minutes of his speech repeating negative characterisations of Dutton.
Mr Albanese is match fit, super confident and shameless in mocking and monstering his opponent … and frankly, Mr Dutton has, at times, looked a bit punch-drunk since the beginning of the campaign … in the words of the great 90s philosopher, Kurt Cobain, Mr Dutton, here we are now, entertain us.
It wouldn’t be an Anthony Albanese press conference without the medicare background and a tour of a health facility.
And he did just that this morning – here’s some pics we have of the PM’s day on the trail so far.
