Albanese: ‘Plibersek will be a senior cabinet minister’
Speaking of speculation, the guessing game doesn’t just go to the leadership but also to the makeup of the crossbench – and the cabinet.
While Penny Wong, Jim Chalmers, Katy Gallagher and Richard Marles have all been guaranteed their portfolios, the PM wouldn’t say yesterday whether Tanya Plibersek would stay in hers.
Again Albanese won’t commit to her staying in the environment portfolio if Labor wins on 3 May.
The four leaders get the opportunity to have a direct say in what their portfolios are.
I gave the same answer yesterday that I’ll give today, which is – I expect Tanya Plibersek will be a senior cabinet minister. She’s an important member of my team.
Key events
Albanese promises he ‘won’t ripping into essential services’ to pay for Labor’s housing policies
Neither party has been able to say exactly how they’ll pay for their expensive commitments made over the weekend. The PM is asked: won’t he have to cut if re-elected – or will he rule out that sort of budget repair? Albanese replies:
I rule out doing what they did, which is ripping $50bn out of health, $30bn out of education, ripping money out of the ABC … We won’t be ripping into essential services.
We’ve provided $95bn already of savings. We’ve improved the budget bottom line by $207bn.
Albanese: ‘Plibersek will be a senior cabinet minister’
Speaking of speculation, the guessing game doesn’t just go to the leadership but also to the makeup of the crossbench – and the cabinet.
While Penny Wong, Jim Chalmers, Katy Gallagher and Richard Marles have all been guaranteed their portfolios, the PM wouldn’t say yesterday whether Tanya Plibersek would stay in hers.
Again Albanese won’t commit to her staying in the environment portfolio if Labor wins on 3 May.
The four leaders get the opportunity to have a direct say in what their portfolios are.
I gave the same answer yesterday that I’ll give today, which is – I expect Tanya Plibersek will be a senior cabinet minister. She’s an important member of my team.
Albanese says he will go for a third election if he wins this one after ‘revolving door’ leadership for both parties
Leadership speculation is a favourite game of many, and Albanese has been asked about whether his team might get a little antsy and want to swap him over in the near future.
Earlier today the PM said he’d contest a “third election” if he won this one (ie there’ll be no leadership changes if Labor wins on 3 May).
Albanese in this presser describes the last two decades of leadership in both parties as “a revolving door”:
I’m not looking over my back. I’m looking forward. And we have an incredibly united caucus.
Asked whether he was getting a bit too ahead of himself, Albanese says again he’ll serve a “full term”:
I don’t take anything for granted on May 3. And I don’t know what I’ll be doing on May 4. As I’ve said … I have a bit of a tradition of watching a Star Wars movie on May the 4th.
But I’m trying to climb the mountain here. I’m trying to be the first prime minister since John Howard in 2004 – it’s been 21 years, we’ve had a revolving door.
Albanese says he continues to support Aukus
Albanese is asked whether he would establish a parliamentary inquiry into Aukus, as some have been calling for, including within Labor’s ranks.
Albanese has said consistently he supports Aukus, and has also said he doesn’t see the agreement being compromised under the Trump administration. Albanese says:
I support Aukus. There’s been a lot of scrutiny on Aukus, that will continue to be so there’s these little things called Senate estimates that Katy [Gallagher] sits at for day after day after night after night. There’s a lot of scrutiny there.
Albanese says voters will make their own conclusions on Coalition and Trump comparisons
On to questions, and Albanese is asked whether the Coalition would operate like the Trump administration, considering the number of comparisons between the two. The PM says it’s up to voters to consider:
People will make their own conclusion, but people will see that Peter Dutton chose to appoint Senator [Jacinta Nampijinpa] Price as the shadow minister for Doge [government efficiency] just a few days after Elon Musk was appointed and the Coalition do have substantial cuts in order to pay for their $600bn nuclear plan.
It’s a line the Labor frontbench has been using a lot, accusing the Coalition of having “secret cuts” that they’d reveal after the election to pay for policies like their nuclear plan.
Labor attacks Liberal candidate’s earlier slip-up on urgent care clinics
Albanese and the Labor candidate for Lyons, Rebecca White, have taken a stab at the Liberals’ candidate in the seat, Susie Bower, over her apparent slip-up in an interview last week.
Bower was asked whether urgent care clinics would continue to be bulk billed and she said:
So that’s something that we will need to be working out.
It appears she wasn’t properly primed on her policies, because the shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, corrected the record to say they would be bulk billed. Albanese said:
Now, to be fair to the Liberal candidate for Lyons, she probably heard Sussan Ley stand up in the parliament and say that if something is free, then people don’t value it, that that’s the Liberal party philosophy. Well, Medicare is free, that’s the whole idea.
Albanese pushes health as Tasmanian tour commences
Anthony Albanese is up, and no surprises – as Josh foreshadowed, he’s in front of those bright green Medicare banners again. And for good measure he whips out “this little bit of green, gold plastic here”, otherwise known as his Medicare card prop.
There are five urgent care clinics in Tasmania of more than 80 nationally, which Albanese calls an “enormous success”:
This is one of the big contrasts at this election campaign: Labor [is] committed to building Australia’s future, strengthening Medicare, making sure that people are looked after with cost-of-living measures, including being able to see a doctor for free, the reduction in the costs of PBS medicines [to] just $25.
The Coalition has matched Labor almost dollar-for-dollar on their health commitments to bulk billing and the PBS.
Josh Butler
Albanese deploys to Hobart with focus back on health
Anthony Albanese is back to visiting health care centres and is about to arrive at a Medicare urgent care clinic outside Hobart. He’ll tour the facility and then hold a press conference.
Albanese is back in the Labor-held electorate of Lyons, with his candidate, Rebecca White. Labor wants to hold this seat in the face of incumbent MP Brian Mitchell’s retirement, and is also hoping to take the Liberal-held electorates of Braddon and Bass in this election.
We’re also expecting to hear from the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, who has been travelling with the PM.
Labor has set up five urgent care clinics in Tasmania, and has promised another three in Burnie, Sorell and Kingston.
NSW to investigate how to buy back Northern Beaches hospital from private health company
Natasha May
Leaving the campaign trail for a moment…
A NSW taskforce will begin investigating buying back the Northern Beaches hospital from owner Healthscope.
The NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, ordered the taskforce to begin an immediate investigation into the continuing operation of the public private partnership, which was signed in 2014 and was supposed to run until 2038.
The Minns government said it was notified by Healthscope late last week that it wished to hand back the hospital to the NSW public system.
Mookhey says the exit proposal will not be a windfall gain for the private equity owners of the hospital at the expense of NSW taxpayers.
In a joint statement with the health minister, Ryan Park, the two ministers say there will be no impact on health services at Northern Beaches hospital while the taskforce does its work. Mookhey said:
I’m not prepared to sit and wait on this. I want to know the options now, so we are prepared for any negotiations. That’s why I’ve directed the taskforce to begin work immediately. …The Liberals’ privatisation deal at Northern Beaches hospital will be remembered in history as an epic failure.
Park said:
We never would have entered this arrangement and it’s clear the community isn’t satisfied with this model. I understand the community’s impatience, and I recognise the community deserves certainty. It’s important we get this right and this taskforce is a critical first step in untangling a complex transaction left by the previous Liberal government.
While both parties this morning have said they’re tackling construction workforce issues, experts have said there are simply not enough tradies.
The construction industry is facing a shortfall of 80,000 workers, as Labor promises to boost numbers through fee free Tafe places, and the Coalition promises to increase the number of skilled migrants in the construction sector (while decreasing migration overall), and providing more incentives for businesses to train apprentices.
You can read more about that shortfall and the impact it’ll have here:
