Anthony Albanese under pressure to rule out Greens deal as Peter Dutton is open to negotiating with crossbenchers
Anthony Albanese is under pressure to rule out a deal with the Greens after Peter Dutton openly said he would be willing to negotiate with key crossbenchers in a minority government.
Federal Election
Don't miss out on the headlines from Federal Election. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Anthony Albanese is facing growing pressure to rule out a deal with the Greens after Peter Dutton declared he would be open to negotiating with key crossbenchers in the likely event Australians elect a hung parliament.
The Prime Minister threw down the gauntlet by starting the first full day of the campaign in the Opposition leader’s north Brisbane electorate, but soon found himself under pressure to rule out a deal with the Greens just as the minor party was hosting a “stop Peter Dutton” event a few suburbs over on Saturday.
Greens leader Adam Bandt, who headlined the anti-Coalition rally in South Brisbane, said he would be “astounded” if Mr Albanese refused to co-operate with his party to secure a majority.
He revealed the Greens would ask for a multi-pronged policy package from a re-elected Labor government, including putting dental and mental health into Medicare, free GP visits, rent caps and wiping all student debt.
But when asked if Labor would do a deal with the Greens to secure power, Mr Albanese said Labor was focused on forming government in its own right before pointing to his record in his own inner-city Sydney seat of Grayndler.
“I have kept the Greens out, running against them time after time,” he said.
“I have been very clear that what I’m seeking in a majority government including the electorate of Dickson”.
In stark contrast to Mr Albanese dodging the question, Mr Dutton tackled the issue of minority government - the outcome multiple national polls have deemed the most likely result of the 2025 election - head on, vowing he would negotiate with crossbenchers in good faith if necessary.
“The guarantee that I can give is that we will negotiate in good faith if that’s the circumstances put before us.”
Mr Dutton said he has “a very good relationship with many” crossbenchers, and referred to Queensland MP Bob Katter as a “great man.”
But he had sterner words for some of the Teal MPs swept into office in 2022, whom he claimed were Greens falsely masquerading as Liberals,
“Some are pretending to be disaffected Liberals, but they’re really Greens, like Monique Ryan and Kate Chaney,” he said.
Mr Dutton said Ms Ryan, who holds a seat in Melbourne, and Ms Chaney, who is Perth-based, “won’t support a Coalition government if there is a minority government to be formed after the election”.
Ramping up the pressure on Labor, Mr Dutton warned voters, that in order for Mr Albanese to win the election, he’d have to do a deal with the Greens.
“If you’re voting for Labor at this election, you’re voting knowing there can only be a Labor-Greens government, and that is a disaster for the economy,” he said.
Asked if he expected Mr Albanese to begin backdoor negotiations with the Greens during the five-week campaign, Mr Bandt said he was relying on the outcome of the election to leverage a deal.
“I think we’re going to wait and see what the election outcome delivers and what people deliver,” he said.
Meanwhile the Prime Minister and Opposition leader were separately interrupted hecklers as they made their way around Mr Dutton’s home state of Queensland with both camps also adding in a pit stop at breweries -- in Bundaberg for Labor and Brisbane for the Liberals.
An anti-migration citizen journalist crashed the Prime Minister’s press conference while climate activists from Rising Tide crashed two of Mr Dutton’s engagements.
At the XXXX brewery in the federal seat of Brisbane where the Liberals are hoping to regain the seat after losing it to the Greens in 2022, a climate activist snuck in to yell at Mr Dutton about his nuclear power plan.
Later that day the Opposition leader stopped off in his own seat of Dickson for a community event before visiting the Labor-held electorate of Moreton in Brisbane’s south for a lunch event with local Chinese Australians where he pledged $225,000 to the Queensland Chinese museum
Mr Albanese also started his day in Dickson, describing his opponent’s home turf as “Queensland’s most marginal seat with a one in front of it”.
The PM was swarmed by supporters at a Fitstop gym where he kissed babies and posed for photos before spruiking the government’s Urgent Care Clinics.
He finished the day with a local infrastructure announcement on the NSW south coast in the seat of Eden Monaro, held by Labor’s Kristy McBain, pledging $16 million to upgrade the Bega Valley war memorial swimming pool.
More Coverage
Originally published as Anthony Albanese under pressure to rule out Greens deal as Peter Dutton is open to negotiating with crossbenchers
Single dad exposes dire Aussie crisis
A single father’s appearance on the ABC’s flagship Q and A program has exposed just how dire life is for so many Aussies in the country’s cost-of-living crisis.
‘Divisive rhetoric’: Mosque where every politician but Dutton is welcome
A prominent Brisbane mosque says Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is not welcome due to past comments on Muslim communities.