Labor would create $1000 instant tax deduction, PM says
Anthony Albanese has announced that a re-elected Labor government will create a new $1000 instant tax deduction.
This will guarantee everyone can opt for an automatic tax deduction of $1000 on their work expenses. No paperwork, no box of receipts, no scrolling through your online banking – just tick the box and your return is ready to go.
The PM said that every year, millions of people miss out on claiming deductions they’re entitled to and pay more than they should – and this reform “fixes that – and it fixes it for ever.”
It takes away the hassle of tracking your expenses, especially if you work from home, and it gives you back more of your own money, faster.
Importantly, if you’re in a job where you spend more than $1000 each year on your uniform or equipment, you can still claim a higher deduction in the usual way.
Key events
PM points to stage three tax cut changes
Anthony Albanese said something he is proud of from the past three years is changing the stage three tax cuts:
We had the courage and conviction to change the tax cuts we inherited to make them better and fairer for low and middle income earners.
This was not a one-off, it does not just disappear. It won’t be replaced a year later by higher taxes on everyone, which is what our opponents are actually offering at this election campaign.
PM says Australia should not ‘mimic’ US
The prime minister is now drawing comparisons between Liberal policies and that of the United States, and said:
Why on earth would we try to mimic anywhere else? We don’t want a wager system where people have to rely on tips to make ends meet. We don’t want Australian students burdened by a lifetime of debt. And we never ever want an American-style health system in this country.
Anthony Albanese pointed to Peter Dutton’s claim he could have achieved a different outcome on tariffs imposed by the US – something no other country achieved – and said:
Australia’s health system, every bit of it, it is not some bargaining chip, not a commodity, it is part of our identity. This card is green and gold for a reason … That does not happen all around the world, we cannot take it for granted and a vote for Labor means this card carries even more value.
He held up a Medicare card while saying this, and pointed to Labor’s previous announcement on Medicare:
Albanese says Labor and Liberal plans ‘a world apart’
Anthony Albanese said the Labor and Liberal campaign launches were occurring on opposite sides of the country – and that “our ambitions, our agendas, our plans for the future are a world apart.”
The Liberals want to copy from overseas, Labor stands up for Australia. They talk our country down. We build Australians up. We are optimistic about our nation; they just constantly talk us down …
Trade tensions mean we need to engage in our region and make more things here in Australia, not cut manufacturing. Growing global demand for clean energy means building more renewables here and now, not waiting … decades [for] the more expensive nuclear power.
PM criticises ‘borrowed culture wars we didn’t want under Morrison and cannot risk under Dutton’
Anthony Albanese says that the Coalition is “urging Australia not to go forward, but to go back”.
Keep in mind, that this is not some new generation Liberal team. These are the same people from less than three years ago; the same people pushing the same policies that inflicted a wasted decade on our country.
They want us to go back to that. If anything, they want a more extreme version of that. Back to chaos and confusion, when this moment demands measured leadership, and safe hands.
Back to people working for less, back to neglecting veterans and hounding the vulnerable, back to the phoney conflicts and borrowed culture wars that we did not want under Scott Morrison, and we cannot risk under Peter Dutton …
Amidst all the noise of the Liberal campaign this much is clear, they have not learned and Peter Dutton will never change.
PM touts achievements as ‘building blocks of a good life’
Anthony Albanese is continuing to outline the government’s achievements over its last term, including:
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87 new Medicare urgent care clinics, with another 50 to open
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Wage increase for aged care workers
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Full funding for schools as per Gonski
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Fee-free Tafe
The PM said Australia had “resumed our place as a leader in our region, a neighbour that the Pacific can count on and a nation engaged in the world”.
My fellow Australians, these are the strong foundations that we have laid together. Now we have to keep building – new homes, new infrastructure, new energy, and – more than bricks and mortar – the building blocks of a good life, for you, and for your family.
Albanese plugs government’s achievements over past three years
The prime minister is now listing his government’s achievements from the past three years, pointing to real wages growing, interest rates falling, and more than 1m jobs created – “more than any time in [a] term since federation.”
We choose the Australian way, helping people under pressure all the while building for the future. Navigating the rough seas, while always keeping our eyes on the horizon. That’s why we backed real wage rises for millions of workers, and cut taxes for every single taxpayer, not just some.
Anthony Albanese said under Labor, “People have the flexibility to work from home – and what’s more, when they get home from work, they have the right to disconnect.”
Women’s economic participation has reached record highs and the gender pay gap is at historic lows. We have expanded paid parental leave and added superannuation to it, and we have established ten days paid family and domestic violence leave.
Albanese tells Labor campaign launch there is ‘still Liberal mess to clean up’
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is now addressing the crowd at Labor’s campaign launch event in Perth.
Like Richard Marles, he began by first acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land and paying respects to elders past, present and emerging.
Albanese said that “each and every day of the past three years”, the government has worked to deliver on its commitments “to repay the trust that people placed in us”.
Three years later, there is still Liberal mess to clean up. Still challenges to meet. There is still uncertainty that we must confront. And we are determined to keep helping and keep delivering for people under financial pressure.
That is what drives us. That is why we seek a second term. Not because we think the job is done but because we know there is still so much work to do.
Cook calls Albanese ‘WA’s partner in Canberra’
Roger Cook has been pitching Anthony Albanese as “WA’s partner in Canberra”. He said:
We see eye to eye. I have known Anthony for a long time. He listens. He has empathy. He has energy and tact. He remembers his roots and is living proof that in Australia, a boy from public housing can realistically aspire to the highest office in the land. Most importantly, he has an actual vision for this country we all love and call home.
WA premier says former Liberal government ‘trashed’ relationships
Back at the Labor campaign launch in Perth, the state premier, Roger Cook, is now speaking.
Cook said Anthony Albanese was a friend of WA, “but importantly, he [has] not been a fair-weather friend”.
No other minister in recent history has invested as much in building their relationship with Western Australia than Albanese, and that is not easy – especially when so much of politics takes place in the eastern states.
Cook also spoke about the former Liberal government and said it wasn’t that long ago that “many of our international blessings were attacked”.
Liberals shattered friends faster than Elon Musk. This affected more than our representation, [it] affected our economy. [It] did its own defence plans for nearly a decade and famously upset the French – the French of all people. [They made] insulting jokes about rising sea levels. They abandoned diplomacy without top trading partner China in favour of aggressive rhetoric. This culminated in a legacy of Chinese tariffs against beef, barley, wine, timber and crayfish.
As an export state, it was an appalling experience. Relationships that took years to build trashed at the expense of local industries and local WA jobs.
Sarah Basford Canales
Dutton wraps up appearance at Liberal campaign launch
Jumping back to the Liberal campaign launch momentarily: After Peter Dutton wrapped up his speech, his wife, Kirilly, and three adult children joined the stage.
The family waved to the crowd before the opposition leader greeted former prime ministers Scott Morrison, John Howard and Tony Abbott, who had been sitting in the front row.
There were plenty of cheers in the crowd.
Morrison was asked by reporters what he thought of the campaign so far.
The former prime minister said Dutton still had three “very strong weeks” to sell his plans to Australian voters.
Marles says Australia ‘doesn’t need to borrow our slogans’ from the US
Richard Marles has also taken aim at Peter Dutton for “trying to copy and paste policies” from the US, saying:
Cuts and culture wars have no place here. He has been caught out this campaign trying to copy and paste policies from overseas to try and win an election here in Australia. In these uncertain times, we need leadership that is considered, not chaotic. Reliable, not reckless. Anthony Albanese is providing leadership Australia needs right now, and Peter Dutton could not more different …
Australia is a great country. We don’t need to borrow our ideas and we don’t need to borrow our slogans either.
Marles says Dutton’s plan is ‘cuts and more cuts’
Richard Marles has highlighted Peter Dutton’s comments that he wants to perform “economic surgery” on the country, and said:
That definitely sounds painful, and there ain’t no way that ain’t going to hurt, because only one procedure Dr Dutton knows how to perform – cuts and more cuts. Medicare, Dutton it will cut it. Energy bill belief, Dutton will cut it. Tafe, Dutton will cut it. New housing, Dutton will cut. Jobs and wages, Dutton will cut it …
Why does Peter Dutton need to cut? Why does Peter Dutton want to make you pay? So he can spend $600bn on his precious pet project: a nuclear power scheme that will take long to finish, cost too much to build and won’t deliver enough energy.
