Latest news with #MartinFarrer
The Guardian
30-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Australia election 2025 live: Peter Dutton to reveal Coalition policy costings; house prices rise again
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Good morning and welcome to our live election blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Krishani Dhanji will take over. Our top story this morning is on the 'handshake' deal by the Nationals to move One Nation up its preference list that could help win the New South Wales electorate of Hunter. The deal has been made despite Pauline Hanson's candidate being known for calling public health officials 'little Hitlers' and promoting a conspiracy theory that the climate crisis has been used to control every aspect of people's lives. The Coalition will release its long-awaited policy costings today, claiming that they will show the budget would be more than $10bn better off and debt would be $40bn lower over the next four years than under Labor. A re-elected Coalition government would have to slash net migration of students and temporary skilled workers by 90% to reach its 'impossibly heroic' goal of reducing net migration to 160,000 next financial year, a Guardian analysis shows. The median price of a home has risen for the third month in a row, according to data this morning from the research firm Cotality. The median value of an Australian dwelling increased about $2,720 in April, according to Cotality's national home value index. More coming up. Share
The Guardian
28-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Australia election 2025 live: Dutton claims to see ‘turning of the mood' in his favour and again accuses media of bias
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the best of the overnight stories and then it'll be Krishani Dhanji to guide you through the day. With the final few days of campaigning to go, our latest Essential poll shows Labor still holds an election-winning lead by 52-48 points over the Coalition on a two-party basis. The survey also reveals Peter Dutton's personal approval rating has slipped for the fourth poll in a row. More details coming up, plus what the latest Roy Morgan poll shows, and one pollster – a former adviser to Scott Morrison – who sees hope for Dutton. We'll be on their trail again, with Anthony Albanese campaigning in Brisbane today, while Dutton will be starting the day in Sydney. But the opposition leader remains defiant. In a Sky News interview last night, Dutton renewed his criticisms of the journalists covering his election campaign, describing reporters as 'activists' and 'so biased' in coverage of his numerous stumbles and slip-ups at press conferences in the last month. We have more details, including the Coalition leader reiterating one of his favourite talking points: that those polls showing him trailing Albanese are wrong. Plus: Liberal candidate for Bennelong, Scott Yung, insisted last night he has done nothing wrong in terms of past questions about disclosing campaign donations or the use of social media influencers, saying he had always acted 'in accordance with the law'. More coming up. Share
The Guardian
25-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Australian election 2025 live: Greens call for lower retirement age
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it'll be Rafqa Touma to take you through the day. The Greens are out of the blocks first today with another of their policy announcements, this time a policy that would lower the retirement age to 65, and boost the age pension to above the poverty line. Adam Bandt says Australia is a wealthy country and people should not suffer poverty in their old age. More coming up. As thoughts turn to actually voting – and some have already done so – we have a guide to the minority parties on your ballot paper – the ones you might want to back and the ones you might not want to see in the Senate. More coming up. In the week when the Coalition launched its policies to tackle domestic violence, our reporters have asked every police jurisdiction how it assesses risk in family violence offenders to get a better understanding of how the system should work. More coming up. Share
The Guardian
23-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Australia election 2025 live: AEC breakthrough in anti-Spender pamphlet investigation; Labor reveals men's health policy
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Martin Farrer Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it'll be Krishani Dhanji with the main action. We have an exclusive story this morning reporting that Indonesia's ambassador met senior Australian diplomats on Tuesday – and on the same day Anthony Albanese accused Peter Dutton of damaging the bilateral relationship over claims Russia was seeking a military presence in the region. After spruiking his plans to boost defence spending yesterday, Peter Dutton turns to the problem of domestic violence today as he announces a suite of policies to tackle the scourge. He will say that a Coalition government would criminalise the use of mobile phones to threaten and track partners and create a national register to allow police to share information about violence offenders. Today Labor is pushing its policies to improve men's health with a $32m investment boost – more on that soon. And the AEC has identified the person who sent thousands of unauthorised campaign pamphlets threatening to 'expose' the independent MP Allegra Spender and 'what she stands for'. More on that too coming up. Labor has outspent the Coalition on television advertising, figures out today reveal, but Clive Palmer's Trumpet of Patriots party has spent more than everyone on YouTube, where he has forked out more than $4m. The Gaza war will be a factor in many federal election contests such as Tony Burke's south-west Sydney seat of Watson where Muslim voters 'sick of being ignored' are expected to make their anger felt. Share
The Guardian
22-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Australia election 2025 live: Peter Dutton to pledge big boost to defence; Labor claims Coalition election cash splash over $50bn
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with some of our top overnight stories before I hand the news baton to Krishani Dhanji. Peter Dutton has blamed poor polling during the election campaign on Labor attack ads rather than his own performance, including two mistakes and ditching a policy to force some public servants to work from their offices. The third debate was a mostly lacklustre affair that livened up when the leaders were asked to name the other's biggest lie. Nine's three-person panel awarded the contest to Dutton by a vote of 2-1. The opposition leader launches a big defence policy today, with a promise to lift defence spending to 2.5% of the economy. More on this soon. Amid more turmoil on the world's financial markets thanks to Donald Trump's economic policies, there are concerns that the Australian Treasury has underestimated the threat posed by the US trade war after the International Monetary Fund slashed its outlook for Australia's economic growth in 2025. It forecast annual output will be $13bn lower this year than predicted in January and that real GDP growth will drop to 1.6%, from 2.1%. More coming up. And in more money matters, we're reporting this morning that Australians would have to wait 70 years for affordable housing if property values follow the 'sustainable growth' path advocated by the two major parties. A leading economist calls the claims a 'con'. Share
