Election sledging will get ugly with Donald Trump’s tariff impact

The early salvo shows how much the US President is set to impact Australia’s campaign – potentially dragging it into a hyper-personal jostle between our two prospective leaders.

Analysis: There were no surprises when Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton stood up on Friday and each claimed ‘you’ll be better off under me, and worse off under the other bloke’.

While domestic cost of living was always going to be the clear theme of this election, a third man looming abroad is now set to have a major impact on the campaign – Donald Trump.

The prospect of Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ – when he plans on announcing a raft of tariffs which could throw global trade into turmoil – will land smack bang in the middle of the first week of the election.

And despite Albanese previously chiding journalists by saying he wouldn’t provide “running commentary” on Trump’s announcements, the Prime Minister was quick to refer to the President on Friday in a bid to hurt his political opponent.

Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump haven’t had a recent call about tariffs, but the PM says the government is in contact with the Trump administration on a daily basis.

Albanese confirmed he was likening Dutton’s pledge to slash 40,000 public servants to a similar cutting of government workers in the United States, after he said “we do not need to copy from any other nation to make Australia even better and stronger”.

Dutton shot back at the comparison, saying “the sledge-a-thon is on by the Prime Minister”, claiming Albanese would attack him personally “because he doesn’t have a good story to tell about his three years in government”.

The early salvo shows how much the US President is set to impact Australia’s campaign – potentially dragging it into a hyper-personal jostle between our two prospective leaders.

That came on top of the claims and counterclaims from both sides, with Albanese saying Aussies would be $7,200 worse off under Dutton if Labor’s medicine price cuts, subsidised child care, and incoming tax cuts hadn’t come through.

From north of the Tweed, Dutton returned fire at his press conference – claiming under Labor’s one term in power, prices have risen by 30 per cent for groceries, 34 per cent for gas, and 32 per cent for electricity.

Get ready for those figures to be regurgitated by both sides daily, alongside a smattering of Trump-style personal hostility.

Strap in. It’s going to get ugly.

Originally published as Election sledging will get ugly with Donald Trump’s tariff impact