Australia election 2025 live: leaders enter final day of campaign with Albanese narrowly ahead in polls
Has either major party earned your vote? – podcast
With one day to go before the election, the polls paint a rosy picture for Labor. Governing with a majority is still a live option for the incumbent government – but pollsters have been wrong before, and a late night surprise is not off the table. So, after a long campaign which left many voters frustrated with the lack of big promises and big policy – have the major parties earned your vote?
In our Full Story podcast Newsroom edition, Bridie Jabour talks to editor Lenore Taylor and head of newsroom Mike Ticher about the choices progressive voters face as they head to the polls.
Listen here: Share
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with some of the best overnight stories before Krishani Dhanji will take you through the last full day of campaigning.
It seems like political tensions have boiled over in some areas with New South Wales police launching multiple investigations in the last week into alleged violence, intimidation, harassment and antisocial behaviour related to the election. This has included the smearing of poo across a truck carrying an ad for the Liberal party. More coming up.
A Liberal-aligned thinktank running last-minute anti-Greens advertisements targeting young voters received more than $600,000 from the coal industry during last year's Queensland election, disclosures show. At the same time, Labor and the Coalition have been accused of going to the election on a 'unity ticket' to protect fossil fuels.
In what might well be the last poll before the one that really counts, Labor has a two-point lead over the Coalition on a two-party preferred basis. The Fin Review/Freshwater Strategy poll shows that Labor is on 51.5% to the Coalition's 48.5%. If replicated tomorrow that puts Labor on track for a minority government. More campaign reaction coming up. Share
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The Guardian
a few seconds ago
- The Guardian
Queensland premier rules out changes to coal royalty scheme despite pressure from mining industry
Queensland's premier has ruled out changes to the state's coal royalties regime, often dubbed the world's highest, amid pressure from the industry. David Crisafulli gave his strongest denial yet of any changes at a press conference in Emerald, in central Queensland, ahead of a cabinet meeting on Monday. 'We're not changing that scheme,' Crisafulli said on Monday. 'We've been upfront. I said to you clearly before the election, we aren't touching the royalty regime.' Sign up: AU Breaking News email Introduced in 2022 amid high coal prices, the Labor policy raised more than $10bn for the state budget in a single year. Royalties revenue has since declined alongside coal prices. Under the scheme, miners pay a 20% royalty for prices above $175 a tonne, 30% for prices above $225 a tonne, and 40% for prices above $300 a tonne. Royalty rates in other jurisdictions are typically in the single digits; in NSW, coal producers can be charged as little as 8.8% depending on the type of mine. As opposition leader, Crisafulli ruled out any changes to the royalties scheme during the period covered by the forward estimates, raising the possibility of changes after the 2028 election. The CEO of the Queensland Resources Council, Janette Hewson, said it was 'disappointing' that the industry's concerns 'are not being properly considered'. The state's resources sector has consistently opposed the policy, arguing that it would deter investment and could lead to mine closures. It reportedly spent $40m on advertising attacking the previous Labor government. 'Around a quarter of Queensland coal companies are struggling to break even. The world's highest coal royalty tax rates is a bad policy contributing to that,' Hewson said. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Royalties have been cited the reason for a series of downturns, including by Bowen Coking Coal after it went into administration last month. Coronado Coal also cited the levy as a reason for a reported $73m loss last week. The Queensland Treasury argues that royalties have little effect on profits. Coal and gas campaigner for Queensland Conservation, Charlie Cox, said the industry was wrong to blame royalties for its downturn. 'The truth is, they're being undone by their own product. Whether the coal lobby admits it or not, the era of coal is coming to an end,' he said. 'The problem isn't a policy that puts just some of the money back in Queenslanders' pockets, the problem is continuing to recklessly dig, burn, and export a fossil fuel that is exacerbating the cost-of-living crisis and fuelling climate change'. Crisafulli told media in Emerald that he is 'very bullish about the future of the coal industry in Queensland', because the government would grant it 'certainty'. The central Queensland town of about 15,000 is among the country's most coal-dependent, with about 16.6% of the local labour market employed in 'coal mining', according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. 'We believe in the future of the coal industry. We believe in the future of regional Queensland, and with the confidence that we are giving through the certainty of taxation, regulation and approvals, you are going to see a bright future for the industry,' he said. The government has extended the life of Queensland's coal power plants, and ordered a review of its emissions reduction targets.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Anthony Albanese's handpicked economic adviser issues an urgent message to Australia about working from home
Anthony Albanese 's productivity adviser has suggested too much working from home is bad for the economy. Productivity Commission chair Danielle Wood, who Labor appointed for a five-year term in 2023, said fully remote work was having a bad effect on economic output for every worker. 'Maybe fully remote work might have some drag on productivity,' she told the National Press Club on Monday. 'You miss out on those gains you get from being face-to-face in the office, training and spillovers. 'Hybrid work two or three days a week in the office, two or three days at home seems to not have a negative impact – in fact it might be slightly positive and it introduces great benefits for workers avoiding the commute, much greater flexibility to manage family and life. 'I've described that as a sweet spot for productivity. The market has naturally found that sweet spot.' Ms Wood said Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan's plan to legislate the right to work from work two days a week therefore was unnecessary. 'The market does have a way of finding that sweet spot so if I was to apply a growth mindset to this, I would think, "What's the problem we're trying to solve here?" It's not clear to me there needs to be a role for government in that,' she said. Ms Wood argued that employers who required all staff to work in the office full-time would struggle to retain employees. 'I speak to employers who say, "I want everyone back full time" and I say, "Yep, you can do that but you will struggle to attract and retain staff." 'You have to pay a wage premium.' Victoria's Labor government has this month announced a plan to enshrine the right to work from home if someone could 'reasonably' WFH in both public and private sector roles. More than a third or 36 per cent of Australians worked from home last year, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed. WFH became mainstream in 2020 during Covid lockdowns. 'It has been a very substantial shift that we've seen in the post-Covid world,' Ms Wood said. The issue has become so politically charged that former Opposition leader Peter Dutton had to dump an election campaign policy of making Canberra-based public servants return to the office. Victoria's Labor government last week announced a plan to enshrine the right to work from home if someone could 'reasonably' WFH in both public and private sector roles (pictured is Premier Jactina Allan addressing the Labor State Conference in Melbourne) But in a sign of her political independence, Ms Wood also used her National Press Club address on productivity to call on the government to revisit tax breaks for drivers of electric cars. 'It means winding back duplicative and high-cost policies like such as fringe benefit tax concessions for electric vehicles,' she said. During its last term, Labor removed the requirement for employers to pay a fringe benefits tax if they provide an EV to a staff member under the $91,387 luxury car tax threshold for fuel efficient vehicles. Ms Wood is a key participant at this week's Economic Reform Roundtable at Parliament House in Canberra with business and union leaders.
Press and Journal
an hour ago
- Press and Journal
North-east economic system 'is dying' and communities must not be left behind
The north-east energy industry is 'dying' and must be completely reimagined with community owned resources, according to the region's Green MSP. Maggie Chapman described the challenge of untangling Aberdeen and the wider north-east's oil and gas heritage shortly before industry figures descend on the city for a major conference. Her comments came in her first full interview since she was bumped down the Green party list for election to Holyrood – meaning she is likely to be out of parliament next May. She was asked to reflect on what Greens can say to a region where fossil fuel has driven the economy and created so many well-paid jobs over decades. 'There's a challenge that we, as a society, have in disentangling ourselves from a fossil fuel economy that has been the way that we've existed since the Industrial Revolution,' she said. 'We have a huge task to disentangle ourselves from that. It's not easy.' Ms Chapman, a former Aberdeen University rector, says coal, oil and gas led to an industry which now needs changed. 'We need to get that transition right,' she added. 'And when everything in the north-east, whether we're talking about Aberdeen and the Shire, or we're talking about, the industry around Dundee and Docks and everything that's here, everything's been set up for a system that is dying. 'You know, the fossil fuel economy is on its way out.' A new system, based on clean, community owned and controlled resources, now needs speed up. 'We desperately need to do that in a way that doesn't leave any community in the north-east behind,' she said. 'If we continue to let what happened to the coal miners happen to all fossil fuel workers, then, we've not done our jobs. And I don't mean our jobs as politicians, I mean our job as a society.' The comments come at a time of upheaval in the North Sea and debate about how to support oil extraction while moving to renewables. There is also serious concern about the pace of change for jobs, and the impact of green infrastructure on the landscape, from pylons to wind turbines. The energy industry will gather at the P&J Live conference centre over September 2-5 where the evolution of the North Sea takes centre stage. Organisers of the Offshore Energy Expo and Conference promise to 'set our sights on the next frontier: mapping the journey to a sustainable, better energy future'.
