Key events
Chalmers says Labor ‘engaging’ with US amid reports PM can’t reach Trump
Nine newspapers report Donald Trump is aware the prime minister has been trying to call, but hasn’t yet picked up the phone.
Trump was asked by Nine papers during a doorstop whether he would speak to the PM:
They are calling and I will be talking to him, yes.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is doing the media rounds this morning, and is asked on News Breakfast how much contact the government has had with the White House.
Chalmers says the government is “engaging” (something they’ve been saying since January).
We’ve made it really clear, James [Glenday], for some time now that we’re engaging with our counterparts in the US as the Australian people would expect us to. We’re speaking up for and standing up for our national economic interest.
He won’t provide any details on why that call hasn’t been taken.
Labor might be buoyed by the success of the progressive Liberal party in Canada’s election yesterday, but Chalmers won’t say whether they’re hopeful that the result can be replicated here.
He does use the opportunity to attack Peter Dutton, claiming the Coalition is trying to “import” policies form the US.
Ours is a different country and a different contest, but I think Australians do know that Peter Dutton has been importing his policies, his politics, his slogans from the United States, and Australians don’t want to see the Americanisation of our health and our education or our politics.
Coalition to release costings tomorrow – Ley
Sussan Ley has confirmed the Coalition’s costings will be released tomorrow, as the party is put under pressure to reveal how they’ll pay for their promises.
Labor has been attacking the Coalition for not having yet revealed its numbers, claiming the opposition will have to “cut” services to pay for their nuclear plan.
So far the Coalition has said it opposes more than $100bn of Labor spending and promises to rewind programs like the housing Australia future fund and the rewiring the nation fund. Ley told Sky News:
Not long to wait now. Pete [Stefanovic], the costings will come out tomorrow, but let’s not forget on the matter of costings, Labor has spent $5 billion in 20 days trying to buy this election.
Good morning,
Krishani Dhanji here with you, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.
We have just three days to go now, and Anthony Albanese and much of his frontbench will be in Canberra today for the PM’s press club address. That will be the main focus of the Labor camp.
Meanwhile, Peter Dutton is starting the day in Melbourne, which we know will be crucial for the Coalition, and there are several seats the party has its eyes on to win from Labor.
It’s getting exciting folks!
Housing crisis has never been worse – Anglicare
The affordability of rental properties has dropped, according to the latest snapshot survey complied by Anglicare Australia, and it paints a bleak picture of the rental market.
The quick findings of the survey (which looks at 51,238 rental listings) found that:
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352 rentals (0.7%) were affordable for a person earning a full-time minimum wage.
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165 rentals (0.3%) were affordable for a person on the age pension.
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28 rentals (0.1%) were affordable for a person on the disability support pension.
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Three rentals (0%), all rooms in sharehouses, were affordable for a person on jobseeker.
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No rentals were affordable for a person on youth allowance.
The results come at the tail-end of an election cycle where both the major parties have been silent on rental issues.
Anglicare Australia’s executive director, Kasy Chambers, said:
Australia’s housing crisis is the worst it has ever been.
We keep hearing that this election is about living costs, but housing is the biggest cost facing Australians. The housing crisis is climbing the income ladder, and people on lowest incomes don’t stand a chance.
She said there were 74 electorates in Australia without a single affordable rental for someone on the minimum wage.
Chambers called for capital gains tax and negative gearing deductions for new investors to be phased out over 10 years.
Instead of spending billions on tax breaks for investors, the government should be building the housing we need.
If the next parliament fails to take action, this crisis will only get worse.
Trump says he ‘will be talking’ to Australian PM
Donald Trump has confirmed he’s aware that Anthony Albanese is keen to talk to him about tariffs – and says he’s planning to place a call.
The US president made the comments while leaving the White House today. Asked by a reporter if he would be “speaking to the prime minister of Australia at all”, Trump responded:
They are calling and I will be talking to him.
Ask Me Anything podcast election special
In this special Ask Me Anything edition, our political reporter Krishani Dhanji and economics editor Patrick Commins give you the answers you need on everything from energy policy to where the prime minister should live and how your preferences work.
Listen here:
Welcome
Martin Farrer
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Krishani will take the reins.
Anthony Albanese has congratulated Canada’s newly elected prime minister, Mark Carney, who rode a wave of anti-Donald Trump sentiment in the country to win a comeback victory for his Liberal party. One political strategist says this morning that he will be watching the results closely to see how the Trump factor affects Australia – whether it’s a drift against the kind of rightwing policies championed by Peter Dutton’s Coalition or whether the trend away from the two major parties is reversed as voters “seek security”. More coming up.
Albanese will address the National Press Club in Canberra today as he continues with his campaign amid another poll – this time in the Nine newspapers – showing him comfortably ahead by 53-47 on a two-party preferred basis. Dutton, meanwhile, begins his day in Melbourne.
One key issue on the campaign has been housing and the crisis in the sector is “the worst it’s ever been”, a leading charity has warned as it urges governments to step up and build. Fewer than one in 100 full-time workers on the minimum wage can afford places to rent, the annual rental affordability snapshot for Anglicare Australia has found. Also today we’re expecting the latest inflation data.
