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Debate reboots election campaign

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have turned the election personal, taking verbal jabs at each other as they tried to prove their chops. The prime minister faced the coalition leader at Nine’s Sydney studios for a third campaign trail showdown, moderated by A Current Affair host Ally Langdon. Things got off to a subdued start as both leaders extended condolences to Catholic Australians following a day-long break in campaign activities in response to the death of Pope Francis.

AAP Newswire

Australia

Democracy has no bounds: remote voters have their say

Helicopters, charter planes, boats and four-wheel drives play a key part in ensuring thousands of Australians can exercise their right to vote this federal election. The Australian Electoral Commission has started rolling out dozens of mobile polling teams to almost 500 remote communities nationwide as early voting gets under way ahead of the May 3 poll.

AAP Newswire

Australia

Albanese reveals trust in Trump

Anthony Albanese has declared he trusts Donald Trump, as Peter Dutton attempted to distance himself from the US president during the second debate of the election campaign. The pair were asked whether they trusted the leader of Australia’s most...

AAP Newswire

Australia

Russian base claims cause concern

Peter Dutton denies he made false statements after being accused of “verballing” the Indonesian president after reports Russia wants to station war planes in Australia’s northern neighbour caused widespread concern. Indonesia unequivocally ruled out any Russian military presence to Australian ministers and diplomats, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, following a report Moscow had sought permission from Jakarta to station military planes.

AAP Newswire

Australia

11 Apr 2025

AUKUS ‘cannibalising’ budget

Australia’s nuclear submarine deal won’t be sunk by tariff-driven cost blowouts, Anthony Albanese says, as Labor is accused of “cannibalising” the defence budget. More than a third of the steel and aluminium used in US ships and submarines came from partners including the UK and Canada, which have been hit with tariffs, a US lawmaker said.

AAP Newswire

11 Apr 2025

Australia

09 Apr 2025

Fatal chopper crash ‘was preventable’

A catastrophic mid-air helicopter crash was preventable if a litany of technical and safety issues had been rectified before four people were killed and nine injured. Four people died and nine people were injured when two helicopters collided mid-air on Australia’s Gold Coast Broadwater in January 2023, during the peak of the busy summer holiday season.

AAP Newswire

09 Apr 2025

New Zealand

08 Apr 2025

China threat spurs NZ splurge

Long derided as asleep at the wheel on the strategic threat of China, New Zealand is now awake and getting in behind Australia. That’s the assessment of Dr Malcolm Davis, senior defence strategy analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, on the release of New Zealand’s latest and long-awaited Defence Capability Plan.

AAP Newswire

08 Apr 2025

Australia

04 Apr 2025

Albanese to tour flood-hit areas

People unable to work due to flooding in Queensland’s west will have access to financial help, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will announce during a campaign visit. Albanese will visit flood zones on Saturday, where he will announce the federal government has approved the disaster recovery allowance. It provides up to 13 weeks of income support for eligible workers and sole traders who have suffered a loss as a result of the natural disaster.

AAP Newswire

04 Apr 2025

Australia

03 Apr 2025

Tariffs on Australia have ‘no basis in logic’

Australia will bolster its industries and take its export business elsewhere, as the prime minister slammed a new round of blanket US tariffs as “totally unwarranted”. President Donald Trump singled out Australian beef in a long list of complaints about America’s trading partners, ahead of announcing 10 per cent tariffs on all Australian goods sent to the US. This and other global levies will take effect from midnight US time after he laid out his “Liberation Day” plan at the White House.

AAP Newswire

03 Apr 2025

Australia

Dutton: Students ‘guided into agendas’

Teachers have been accused of indoctrinating students as the coalition flags public service cuts and withholding state funding in an education overhaul. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was criticised for “taking a leaf from the Trump playbook” after suggesting some teachers were pushing an agenda with their students, hinting federal funding should be tied to how classes were taught. “We should be saying to those that are receiving that funding, that we want our kids to be taught the curriculum,“ he told a Sky News forum.

AAP Newswire

Australia

Campaign shifts as US tariffs loom

Australia will not weaken its biosecurity protections to appease US concerns, the prime minister has assured, as he shifts focus away from an expected underwhelming rates decision. On the eve of more US tariff announcements, President Donald Trump’s office has released an annual report that highlighted various trade barriers imposed by Australia on American goods like beef, pork, chicken, apples and pears aimed at preventing pests and viruses.

AAP Newswire

Australia

Labor gains ground on Coalition

Labor has surged ahead of the Coalition in polling, with primary support for the conservatives on a slump, as leaders begin crisscrossing the nation on the campaign trail. A national Newspoll survey conducted for The Australian newspaper, has the incumbents leading the Coalition 51 per cent to 49 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis ahead of the May 3 election. The Newspoll survey with 1249 voters was conducted from Thursday to Saturday, after the 2025/26 federal budget on Tuesday and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s reply speech on Thursday.

AAP Newswire

Australia

Libs campaign takes on multicultural flavour

The pageantry of the Assyrian New Year provided the background for Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton to spruik his vision for middle Australia - but not everyone was onside. Targeting Western Sydney seats within the city’s mortgage belt, Mr Dutton spent Sunday with Liberal candidates from the area to promise the cost of living would be better if he was prime minister. How much better remains unknown as he has refused to release the figures he said prove his gas plan would reduce electricity prices.

AAP Newswire

Australia

Labor ‘on cusp of majority’

Labor is in the box seat to form the next federal government, with new polling showing it’s within just one seat of forming a majority as the election campaign gets under way. The latest YouGov modelling shows Labor set to win 75 seats at the May 3 election, while the coalition would win just 60 seats. Parties need to get 76 seats for a majority, but the modelling showed a reversal of fortune for Labor, who was trailing in a similar poll released in February.

AAP Newswire