Federal election 2025: Albanese, Dutton on day 32 of May 3 election campaign

News.com.au

27-04-2025

Peter Dutton left the audience of the final leaders' debate gobsmacked when he could not answer how much a dozen eggs cost.
The question during the final election leaders' debate on Sunday night might not have been about policy, but it was the question that went to the heart of the cost-of-living crisis faced by struggling families.
During a quickfire round on the Seven Network's Final Showdown, both Anthony Albanese and Mr Dutton were asked about the cost of a dozen eggs.
The Opposition Leader left audience members stunned by his answer of 'about $4.20,' with some audibly laughing at his guess.
'It was shocking to see how somebody can be so out of touch with a carton of a dozen eggs,' one of the members of Seven's 'jury' said.
'Everybody pretty much burst into laughter when he said that. It was surprising.'
The Prime Minister's answer was closer to the mark, with moderator Mark Riley declaring a dozen eggs would set a shopper back $8.80 from Coles and $8.50 from Woolworths.
'It's $7 if you can find them because it's hard to find them at the moment,' he said.
Mr Dutton's slip was reflected in the result of the Final Showdown, with 50 per cent of the 60 undecided voters giving the debate win to Mr Albanese.
Only 25 per cent of the audience of undecided voters, selected by Roy Morgan and tasked with choosing the winner, chose Mr Dutton as the winner, while the remaining 25 per cent were still undecided.
The audience split on the question on the cost-of-living was more striking, with 65 per cent siding with Mr Albanese, and just 16 per cent siding with Mr Dutton, while 19 per cent remained undecided.
According to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the price of eggs increased by 11.9 per cent between February 2024 and 2025. This was due to the 2024 bird flu outbreak in Victoria which forced Australia chicken flock to be culled by 10 per cent.
The Coalition's campaign spokesman James Paterson defended the response, and said it was an 'objective fact' that 'cost of living has gone backwards on Labor's watch'.
'I want to be respectful of the audience views and their opinions,' he told Seven following the debate.
'Grocery prices up 30 per cent, electricity prices up 32 per cent, gas prices up 30 per cent.
'We have had the worst fall in living standards in Australian history and the worst in the developed world in the last couple of years.'
Asked why Mr Dutton appeared to be unable to get that message 'across to people,' Senator Paterson said he believed Australians were aware that 'this Prime Minister has failed'.
'I think Australians know when they go to the supermarket checkout and it's worse than was just the week before, every week it gets worse,' he said.
'There is no reason to expect a second term Albanese government would be better than a first term Albanese government in reducing the cost-of-living.'
Dutton's egg blunder 'can be forgiven': Hume
The Coalition's finance spokeswoman says Peter Dutton 'can be forgiven' for getting the price of a dozen eggs wrong during the fourth and final leaders' debate.
Going into damage control on Monday, Jane Hume said her boss had not 'made pancakes at home' for some time.
'I think that Peter can be forgiven for not knowing the price of a dozen eggs,' she told Sky News.
'It's been a fair while since he's probably made pancakes at home. He's been very busy on the road, travelling right around Australia, talking to ordinary Australians about what's important to them, and they are telling him that the cost of living has been their number one issue.'
Asked if she knew what the cost of eggs were, Senator Hume said: 'I'm afraid … I absolutely do.'
'After the rally yesterday, I went to my mother's house and cooked bacon and eggs and sausages and baked beans for my kids and for my mother, as I do most Sundays,' she said.
'And unfortunately, the dozen eggs that I bought on the way home were nearly $10, but they were free range, so I think I got stung.'
PM hits crucial election bellwether
Anthony Albanese has become the first leader to visit the NSW Central Coast seat of Robertson – a key election bellwether seat which will be closely watched by election analysts.
The term refers to swinging electorates which predict the outcome of the election. In 2022, it was won by Labor's Gordon Reid, who prised it from longtime Liberal MP Lucy Wicks.
The Prime Minister visited community housing provider Pacific Link Housing to announce the Coast Women's and Children's Trauma Recovery Centre in East Gosford, a new $20m initiative to help victims of domestic and sexual violence.
Mr Albanese was joined by Health Minister Mark Butler, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth, Senator Deb O'Neill and finance Jodie Haydon.
Dutton siding with 'Neo-Nazis' on Welcome to Country: minister
Peter Dutton has found himself siding with 'Neo-Nazis' on Welcome to Country ceremonies, according to a senior minister.
During the final leaders debate on Sunday, the Opposition Leader said the ceremonies were 'overdone', but called them a 'respectful thing to do' in certain formal circumstances, such as opening parliament.
Labor campaign spokesman Jason Clare on Monday said he hoped Welcome to Country ceremonies would not become a 'political football'.
'This is about a bit of respect and organisations and individuals make their own choices about whether they organise welcomes to country,' Mr Clare told the ABC.
'Remember where all of this began on Friday, it spawned out of the actions of Neo-Nazis interrupting an Anzac Day Dawn Service.
'I don't think any of us want to find ourselves on the same side of this argument as Neo-Nazis.'
Mr Dutton has long-held that ceremonies were losing their value, but largely left the matter to opposition Indigenous affairs spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.
Coalition attack dog Barnaby Joyce earlier backed Mr Dutton in a testy morning show appearance with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.
'I certainly don't want to be welcomed back to my own hometown. I think veterans have a genuine concern, if they've signed on the dotted line to sign for this nation, they don't believe they need to be welcomed to it,' he said.
'They've absolutely proven their loyalty to this nation. I think there's time and place for everything, but we've got to be a lot more discerning about how we do this.'
Ms Plibersek took a different view, saying it was no 'skin off anyone's nose to show respect'.
'But as someone who attends a lot of events, I really like learning about the history and culture of the area that I'm visiting,' she said.
More than half of all voters believe Peter Dutton and the Coalition are not ready to govern the nation, according to the latest Newspoll.
The poll, published by The Australian six days before the May 3 election, revealed 62 per cent of the 1254 voters surveyed between April 21 and 24 did not believe Mr Dutton and his team had what it takes to assume power.
This marks a seven point increase from polling done in February this year.
The feeling was strongest among women, with 66 per cent holding little or no confidence in the Coalition, compared to 58 per cent of men.
Things were not much better for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Labor, with only 39 per cent of voters believing the party should be re-elected for a second term.
Both leaders will be stepping up the pace on Monday, with just five days of campaigning left before Saturday's election.
Early polling will also resume on Monday, with 2.4 million Australians having already cast their votes in the four days of pre-polling so far.
Labor defiant on Greens question
Health Minister Mark Butler has maintained Labor 'will not do a deal' with the Greens if it fails to secure enough seats to govern a majority.
There are five days to go before Australians cast their ballots in the federal election.
While polls show Labor's fortunes have changed for the better in the past five weeks of intense campaigning, a hung parliament is still possible.
Mr Butler said on Monday the party remained 'focused on majority government'.
'We think majority government is what Australia needs right now in a globally very volatile, uncertain time,' he told Nine's Today.
'Australia needs stability. We need certainty and continuity. And that's what a Labor government will give them.'
In a jab to the opposition, Mr Butler said Labor was 'not a party of coalition unlike the Liberal Party'.
'Whatever the result, whether it's … a majority or slightly short of a majority, if we are commissioned to form government, we will put Labor's platform to the parliament and we'll put it without any deals,' he said.
Meanwhile, the Greens have been preparing a list of demands to put to Anthony Albanese should he need to strike a deal.
They include blocking new coal and gas projects, expanding Medicare to cover dental health, reforming negative gearing and capital gains tax, ending logging in native forests, and introducing free universal early childhood education.
Liberal candidate forced to apologise
The Liberal candidate in Fowler, a key seat in Western Sydney, has apologised and shut down his Twitter account after it emerged that he'd published derogatory posts about Indigenous Australians.
Vivek Singha's account abruptly became inactive on Sunday afternoon after the ABC contacted the Liberals for comment.
'I apologise for the social media posts, I should not have expressed myself in that way and I sincerely regret doing so,' the candidate said in a statement to the national broadcaster.
The posts in question came during 2023, before the unsuccessful referendum on creating a Voice to parliament.
Mr Singh was not expected to win Fowler, where the independent incumbent Dai Le is mainly facing competition from Labor's Tu Le.