By Shane Wright
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has fired the starting gun for the federal election, outlining a cradle-to-the grave policy agenda leaning heavily on education and health, while claiming the country had weathered a global economic storm on his watch.
Revealing what is likely to be the government’s election slogan of “Building Australia’s Future”, Albanese used a campaign-like rally in Adelaide to make a third major education promise in three days, committing to 100,000 ongoing fee-free TAFE places a year.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will face off in Parliament on Monday with questions over flight upgrades likely to dominate.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The TAFE commitment follows promises to overhaul the university sector by increasing the income threshold for HELP loan repayments and wiping $16 billion from outstanding student debts.
All would start after the next election. Within the government, expectations are either for Albanese to go to the polls in March – which could be called in early February – or in May.
Much hinges on the Reserve Bank, which most economists in Australia expect to start cutting official interest rates after its February 17-18 meeting. Financial markets, however, are tipping rates to start falling in mid-May.
In front of party faithful in Adelaide, where Labor holds five of the city’s six federal seats, Albanese said the 100,000 fee-free TAFE places, to start from 2027, would be an ongoing commitment by Labor to underpin the economy over coming decades.
“[It means] more tradies to build more homes. More apprentices getting a start. More carers to look after our loved ones. More opportunities for Australians to train and retrain in a changing economy,” he said.
“We know that TAFE and university are equally important to our workforce and equally vital to our future. And the choice to enrol in one or the other should be driven by one consideration alone: what is best for the student.”
Senior Liberal frontbencher Simon Birmingham accused the government of trying to spend its way back into power.
“This is simply a cash splash from Anthony Albanese – an attempt at trying to corner or hoodwink an electorate ahead of an election from a government who has ultimately overseen the inflationary environment that has put so much pressure on young Australians and ultimately all Australian households feeling that inflationary pressure,” he told Sky News.
Albanese used the address to unveil the government’s planned slogan, “Building Australia’s Future”. It follows the 2022 election at which Labor asked people to “Vote for a Better Future”.
In a clear allusion to the coming election, Albanese said the government would next year ask voters for the opportunity to “continue to serve the greatest country in the world – and the chance to make it greater still”.
That would be achieved, he said, by “building on the strong foundations we have made, building together, building to last, our Labor government building Australia’s future”.
The economy and cost-of-living issues will be a dominant part of the campaign. The government is under pressure on a range of fronts, from the levels of inflation and interest rates to house prices and rents.
Albanese said it was the government’s management of the economy that had brought inflation down from more than 6 per cent in early 2022 to under 3 per cent in the most recent consumer price report.
He said real wages were rising, more than a million jobs had been created since Labor took office, the government had delivered back-to-back budget surpluses and the gender pay gap had narrowed.
“While there are still challenges to meet, still problems to solve, still people under pressure who need our help, when we look at the economy today, we can see new reasons for optimism and new proof the worst is behind us,” he said.
“Together, we have faced a global storm, and we have navigated it the Australian way, the Labor way.”
Albanese, and his agenda, will be tested on Monday when the House of Representatives resumes sitting. The prime minister will face questioning from the Coalition over 22 flight upgrades he took with Qantas and his relationship with the airline’s former chief executive, Alan Joyce.
On Sunday, Education Minister Jason Clare became the latest minister to admit receiving a flight upgrade, for a personal trip he took from Sydney to Singapore in 2019.
Clare said he had sought the upgrade, which had been previously declared.
“That was a situation where I had just got out of hospital,” he told Sky News. “I had surgery on my leg, and yes, I asked for an upgrade, and I was assisted by Qantas. You might remember that I had a melanoma on my leg. I had to get it cut out. My family were overseas, and I caught up with them as soon as I was allowed.”
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.