Albo backs 5.1% wage rise, pre-polling reveals early results
Anthony Albanese said he would back a minimum wage increase in line with inflation, now running at more than 5 per cent, as the results of a new survey of 5600 pre-poll voters have been revealed.
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Anthony Albanese said he would back a minimum wage increase in line with the rate of inflation, just hours after he refused to support the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ push for a real wage hike.
It comes as a survey of 5600 voters at pre-polling centres in key seats across Australia have revealed just how close this election battle really is.
While the major states are favouring the Coalition, the Greens are scoring enough of the vote to help Labor win government, though Clive Palmer and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation could help conservative forces.
Mr Albanese is in Victoria where he has campaigned alongside the state’s polarising premier, Dan Andrews, and where Mr Albanese will make a major announcement about how Labor will fund Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has spruiked the Coalition’s defence credentials, while sledging Labor for promising what he calls a “magic wand” to help accelerate wage growth – and for throwing money at the states.
And Jacquie Lambie has flustered Channel 9’s Karl Stefanovic during a breakfast television chat about her campaign merchandise.
Follow all of Tuesday’s political coverage below.
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REVEALED: HOW 5600 HAVE ALREADY VOTED
The battle between Labor and the Coalition is neck and neck in NSW, while early first preference polling in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania is favouring the Liberal Party.
Local News Corp journalists have been surveying voters who have cast their ballots at pre-polling booths across the country, targeting key seats.
Already more than 300,000 have voted on day one of the pre-polling, well up on the 120,000 who attended on day one in 2019.
Cost of living, as expected, has emerged as one of the key issues, including housing affordability and soaring rents.
Minor parties like the Greens have captured about 7% of the vote, which will favour Labor, while Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party is polling at just 3 per cent, despite the millions he has spent on the campaign including billboards promising save people’s homes with 3% interest rates, and huge increases in the pension.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party is also tracking along with single figure voting results.
Some voters said they were voting for minor parties because they were sick of the infighting between Labor and Liberal, as evidenced by the heated clash between Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese in Sunday night’s ‘Great Debate’.
ALBANESE WANTS A 5% WAGE RISE
Mr Albanese said he would back a minimum wage increase in line with the rate of inflation, just hours after he refused to support the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ push for a real wage hike.
As employers warned against granting the ACTU’s revised $42-a-week minimum wage claim, saying it would entrench high inflation and send swathes of small businesses “to the brink”, Mr Albanese refused to support the unions push, instead saying “people can’t afford to go backwards”.
Hours later, Mr Albanese said he would “absolutely” support a wage hike of 5.1 per cent to keep up with inflation, saying he believed the “minimum wage should at least keep up with the cost of living”, the Australian has reported.
Mr Albanese has been a relentless critic of stagnant wage growth under the Morrison government, alleging it is part of the Coalition’s economic strategy.
The Labor leader has placed real wage growth at the core of his election strategy. On Tuesday morning, Mr Albanese was offered the opportunity to throw his support behind the ACTU’s Annual Wage Review claim, but declined to do so. “The Fair Work Commission makes its own decisions but people can't afford to go backwards,” Mr Albanese told ABC Radio National.
Pushed about whether that meant he supported the 5.5 per cent increase to the minimum wage, Mr Albanese again refused to do so. “No, the 5.5 (per cent) is higher, of course, than the inflation rate. What I say is that people can't afford to go backwards,” he said.
Mr Albanese has been lambasted by economists for taking a “magic pudding” approach to the cost of living, threatening to tip Australia into a wage-price spiral that will lead to higher interest rates and reduced standards of living.
The push was slammed by economists as potentially inflationary and also contradicts the work of Mr Albanese’s own shadow assistant treasurer whose academic work found that large increases in the minimum wage can cut employment.
Mr Morrison immediately accused Mr Albanese of “just running off at the mouth” on Labor’s wages policy.
Mr Morrison said the Labor leader was “making things up on the run about what he thinks wages should be” without “actually thinking through the consequences of the things he’s talking about”. “(Mr Albanese is) just running off the mouth on important issues like our national economy and national security,” he said.
ANDREWS: PM HAS ‘RIPPED OFF’ VICTORIANS
Premier Daniel Andrews has attacked Mr Morrison for “ripping off” Victoria and declared the state would be better off under Labor.
Responding to Mr Morrison’s comments that Opposition Leader Albanese would be a “pushover” when dealing with Labor premiers, a scathing Mr Andrews said “the record is very clear”.
“Under Scott Morrison, every federal dollar that Victorians get from the miserable Morrison government, we ought to bow our head and treat it like it’s foreign aid,” he said.
“We have been ripped off by this Liberal National government and instead of Mr Morrison talking about these issues he ought to have been here delivering for Victorian workers and families.”
Mr Andrews also dismissed Liberal speculation he had not been seen on the campaign trail until now because he was believed to be a drag on the Victorian Labor vote.
“The thing about the federal Liberal Party is they say lots of things and they do very little,” he said.
Mr Andrews, who has faced calls to resign over his evidence before an anti-corruption probe, took few questions before handing back to the federal leader.
“At the end of the day, this is Albo’s press conference and back to (him)” he said.
It comes as the PM accused Anthony Albanese of throwing money at the states, saying Australians did not need a “pushover” in the Lodge.
It comes after Mr Albanese on Tuesday committed $2.2bn over five years to help the Victorian Government build its signature Suburban Rail Loop project.
Mr Morrison seized on the announcement to accuse the Opposition Leader of caving in to demands from Labor premiers.
He said Australia did not need a Prime Minister who was a pushover.
“We’re already starting to see that whether it’s a Labor government in Queensland or indeed we’re seeing it with the Victorian government today,” Mr Morrison said.
The Prime Minister also called on Labor to release full costings into their policies after concerns were raised about their policy to pay for high-achieving teachers.
“Where’s the money coming from?” He said.
“During this campaign he has not submitted one of his policies for costing by the official costing independent agency in this election. “We’ve submitted all of ours.”
RUDD NOT ‘SAFE; FOR AUSTRALIA: MORRISON
Scott Morrison has sought to deflect questions on his government’s integrity policy by arguing Kevin Rudd was not a “safe” change from John Howard, trying to draw the same comparison to Anthony Albanese.
The Prime Minister was grilled on Tuesday over his previous comments about the New South Wales anti-corruption commission being a “kangaroo court” and Labor’s push for a federal integrity agency.
Standing alongside him was NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, who has previously said he disagreed with the comments.
Mr Morrison said he did not support with the way the NSW model worked, claiming that people had their reputations ruined before any findings had been made.
“I don’t think that’s a good process and I’m not alone in that,” he said.
“I’ve also made this point that the issue you’re dealing with on integrity are different at a federal level than they are at a state.”
Mr Morrison went on later to paint himself as a safe choice to lead the country by attacking the legacy of the first Rudd Government.
“Election day and who you choose is going to have a very significant impact,” he said.
“I’ll give you an example of how. When I first ran for parliament in 2007, if I’d gone and knocked on people’s doors down there in the Sutherland Shire and I said, ‘If you elect Kevin Rudd, 800 boats will turn up with 50,000 people on them and 1,200 people will die, they will put in place policies that will set fire to roofs and put in place overpriced school halls and they’ll completely crash the budget’ … If I’d said that to people, they would have locked me up. That all happened.
“They changed to a Labor government from a strongly performing Howard-Costello government.”
Mr Morrison was standing alongside his candidate for Bennelong Simon Kennedy, who sought to clarify comments he made about vaccine mandates for workers having previously told a group of anti-vaccination advocates he was against them.
“I’m pro science, pro vaccines,” he said.
“Some weeks ago, or months ago, I expressed the comment that I was anti-blanket workforce mandates.
“Days after that, the NSW Premier lifted the blanket prohibition orders which I fully support.
“I stand by that and I stand by people’s freedom of choice.”
PM STANDS BY DEVES
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is still standing by Liberal candidate Katherine Deves after backtracking from an initial apology.
Ms Deves said it was the “correct terminology” when she described transgender children as “surgically mutilated and sterilised”.
When asked about her remarks, Mr Morrison said he wouldn’t use similar language but said it was a “significant surgical procedure”.
This is despite the fact that children under 18 cannot undergo gender reassignment surgery.
“What we’re talking about is gender reversal surgery for young adolescents,” Mr Morrison said.
“The issues that have to be considered first and foremost are the welfare of the adolescent child and their parents and their parents, we can’t pretend that this type of surgery is some minor procedure.”
When pushed on the fact that the surgery was not available to minors, Mr Morrison claimed the process could “begin” in adolescence.
PM AT JOBS FAIR
At a Western Sydney jobs fair, the Prime Minister was just one of hundreds of people in the building with lofty career ambitions.
Straight after a tense press conference over his support for Liberal candidate Katherine Deves, Scott Morrison headed to the electorate of Reid to spruik his government’s training and skills plan.
It comes after they announced $5 million for a new technology skills passport to help store details of training and experience and find work faster.
From construction to aged care and hospitality, the event was packed with employers keen to find workers in a competitive economy.
Mr Morrison was quickly mobbed by job hunters keen to get a selfie with the Prime Minister as he toured the stalls.
At one point, he expressed interest in a truck driving job in Kellyville and was encouraged to “send through his resume”.
One person to line up for a selfie was 17-year-old Graeme Hamilton.
He said his father was a doctor and wanted to pass on the message that he thought the Prime Minister had done a good job handling the pandemic.
But Graeme was not keen to get into the same work.
“No way, I want to be an engineer,” he said.
In a potentially awkward moment, Mr Morrison walked past a sign asking “are you looking for a job”.
In reality, he is hoping to hold on to the job he has and Western Sydney electorates could prove crucial come polling day.
BILLIONS FOR MELBOURNE’S RAIL LOOP
The biggest public transport project in Victoria’s history will receive a $2.2bn injection if Labor wins the election, with Anthony Albanese to make the promise campaigning alongside Daniel Andrews for the first time on Tuesday, reports The Herald Sun.
Federal Labor’s commitment to the Suburban Rail Loop is one of its biggest spending pledges made during the election.
But it is well below the $10bn promised by former Labor leader Bill Shorten during the last campaign.
Scott Morrison recently rejected the Premier’s bid for $11.5bn over 10 years to help build the $34.5bn eastern section of the loop between Cheltenham and Box Hill, arguing the project did not stack up.
The Labor leader disagreed, saying it would be city-shaping infrastructure.
“This project will change how Melburnians live and how they interact with their city,” Mr Albanese said.
“I won’t be a prime minister that uses infrastructure to play political games, I will be a prime minister who invests in the projects that matter.”
ALBO CAMPAIGNS WITH ANDREWS – FINALLY
More than four weeks into the campaign, Tuesday’s appearance with Dan Andrews will mark the first time he has appeared alongside the Victorian Premier.
Mr Andrews’ absence had raised questions over whether federal Labor believed Victoria’s harsh lockdowns had turned away suburban voters.
He has also come under fire after it was revealed he was questioned in another anti-corruption probe.
Mr Andrews had campaigned with every Labor State Premier except Dan Andrews.
He has come under increased pressure to stand down amid revelations he has been secretly grilled in the anti-corruption probe.
Last week, when Mr Albanese visited the marginal seat of Chisholm in Melbourne’s east and Cooper in the inner north, Mr Andrews was nowhere to be seen – despite parliament not sitting.
“I certainly will be campaigning with Daniel Andrews during this campaign,” he said last week, after multiple opportunities, including the Medicare rally.
HOW JACQUI LAMBIE FLUSTERED KARL
Jacqui Lambie has committed to a “mixed bag” of preferences in the battleground state of Tasmania.
Senator Lambie will preference Labor above the Liberals in the critical seats of Braddon and Lyons, but in the ultra-marginal seat of Bass Liberal Bridget Archer will be referenced above Labor’s Ross Hart.
In the seat of Franklin, Senator Lambie will preference the Liberals.
Labor agreed to a preference swap deal, preferencing the Jacqui Lambie Network senate candidate Tammy Tyrrell above other parties and independents.
The preference swaps are expected to help Labor retain Lyons and put them in with a strong chance of nabbing Braddon.
As she made another pitch for her party on Tuesday morning, Senator Lambie looked visibly cold, decked out in her party’s merch as she traded banter with Today show host Karl Stefanovic.
“You can get T-shirts, you can get hoodies, you can get hats, you can get stickers … We don’t make bugger all money out of it,” Senator Lambie said.
“It’s about putting the Jacqui Lambie Network out there. Hopefully people vote for us.”
Stefanovic hit back cheekily, saying “I find it hard to believe you don’t have anything risque in your merch catalogue”.
“I do Karl,” Senator Lambie replied.
“I’ll have to show you that off camera … You won’t be able to hold yourself mate. You have to calm down a bit.
“Don’t get too excited.”
Stefanovic looked flustered as he fanned himself with his paper notes before Senator Lambie quipped: “not that you can get too risque when it’s minus ten out here”.
HEALTH QUESTIONS FOLLOW LABOR
Mr Albanese has promised Premiers an audience on health funding should he win the election, but has given no guarantee Labor would pump desperately needed cash into state health coffers beyond piecemeal infrastructure commitments.
But Mr Albanese has not yet made a commitment to fundamentally boosting the Commonwealth’s share of health funding, despite the ongoing concerted push by the states for the federal government to pick up 50 per cent of the bill.
The push — to boost the Commonwealth’s share from 45 per cent to 50 per cent — is backed by the Australian Medical Association (AMA) as a move that would make a “meaningful difference” and add about $30bn to the health system over four years.
Mr Albanese on Monday again reiterated a commitment to sitting down “constructively with all state governments” based on their health priorities.
But asked to clarify if there was appetite — considering the nearly $1 trillion government debt — to boost health funding, Mr Albanese repeated Labor’s list of health commitments so far.
This includes infrastructure pledges like the $200m — to be matched by the SA government — for hospital improvements, and the $135m Labor will put toward trialling 50 urgent care clinics across the nation to take pressure off emergency departments.
But Mr Albanese sidestepped any commitment to boost funding instead staying he would “have more to say on health” during the campaign — which has just 12 days more to run.
The federal government did not immediately match Labor’s $200m pledge — to be matched by the state for a total spend of $400m — to upgrade the Flinders Medical Centre at Bedford Park in Adelaide.
South Australian senator and Coalition campaign spokesman Simon Birmingham argued the promise showed the risks posed by a Labor government.
“If you’re going to pay for this at the Flinders Medical Centre, then why wouldn’t you pay for half of the cost of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital build?” he said.
“Why wouldn’t you pay for every other hospital project right around Australia? So that’s the huge exposure that Anthony Albanese has opened up.”
Fresh from a highly-combative second leaders debate, Mr Albanese’s campaign on Monday spanned three states starting with a visit to his alma mater St Mary’s Cathedral College — in the safe seat of Sydney — where he was thronged by excited schoolboys.
In his first visit to South Australia of the official election campaign, the Opposition Leader headed to the marginal seat of Boothby — where the Liberals’ Nicolle Flint is retiring — spruiking Labor’s hospital upgrade pledge before mingling with party faithful at a pre poll booth.
He ended the day in Melbourne.
BRIDGE OFFER IN CRUCIAL SYDNEY SEAT
A congestion busting $220 million bridge upgrade to improve safety and travel time for commuters in Sydney’s north will be built if the Coalition is re-elected, as Scott Morrison seeks to hold onto a must-win Liberal seat.
The Prime Minister will visit the electorate of Bennelong on Tuesday to announce the investment in the Epping Bridge, with funding to be split 50:50 between the Commonwealth and the NSW Government, as the Liberals look to shore up support in the Sydney seat.
Mr Morrison said the bridge upgrade would mean “quicker travel through a usually congested part of Epping”.
“Our plan for a strong economy means we can invest in the roads and infrastructure our communities need,” he said.
“These upgrades will deliver on a key plank of Simon Kennedy’s plan to deliver a stronger future for the Bennelong community.”
Premier Dominic Perrottet said the upgrade was part of a major investment in transport infrastructure in the area to support current and future growth, with the upgrade of Epping railway station complemented by the new Sydney Metro Northwest.
“This project will help relieve traffic congestion in the area as well as improve access and connectivity through Epping Town Centre,” he said.
Liberal candidate for Bennelong Simon Kennedy said the project was an “absolute game changer” for commuters across Bennelong and north west Sydney.
Even though the Liberals hold Bennelong on a comfortable margin of 6.9 per cent, it is feared the retirement of popular local MP and tennis great John Alexander has put the seat at risk.
Labor has increased its campaigning in the seat, which is most known for having been held by former prime minister John Howard.
‘MAGIC’ WON’T GET AUSSIES PAY RISES: PM
Australians desperate for a real wage increase to combat cost-of-living pressures must rely on businesses and not “magic” government intervention, Scott Morrison has warned.
As the Prime Minister continued his “khaki election” offensive promoting an $8 billion Defence investment on Monday, he came under pressure to outline how the Coalition would address rising costs and low wages after temporary measures like the fuel excise cut expired.
Mr Morrison also said he was concerned about the ongoing “interference and intrusion” of China in the Pacific, after a leaked draft memorandum of understanding between Beijing and the Solomons to collaborate on maritime infrastructure emerged.
“We’re very aware of what the Chinese government’s ambitions are in the Pacific, whether it be in relation to facilities such as that or naval bases or other presence of their military in the Pacific,” he said.
It comes as the Coalition will on Tuesday commit $5 million to create a new technology skills passport, which will store important details about experience and education in the sector in one place to help employers get Australians into work more easily
Employment Minister Stuart Robert said the government would partner with the Australian Technology Network of Universities to fast-track the rollout of the scheme.
“Critically, the new and innovative partnership aligns with work already underway to achieve the longer-term vision of creating an integrated tertiary system — providing a single point of entry for Australians to ‘rack and stack’ credentials across the university and VET sectors,” he said.
“Where there are skills gaps to fill, we want Australians to have the first crack at getting that opportunity and our skills passport approach will enable rapid upskilling and reskilling.”
In the federal budget, the Commonwealth put $3.7bn towards creating 800,000 new training positions across the country if it can agree with the states and territories on a new national skills deal.
UAP PREFERENCES ‘NO GREAT SHOCK’
Mr Albanese says it “isn’t a great shock” that Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party has swapped preferences with the Liberal Party in key seats Labor is hoping to win.
The UAP will preference Liberal incumbents over Labor hopefuls in marginal Chisholm, Reid and Bass.
The Opposition Leader has taken aim at Mr Morrison for doing a deal with Clive Palmer, despite the Prime Minister’s assurance there was no deal being done.
“In spite of the declarations that have been made that no preference deals were being done, it’s very clear that there have been some arrangements put in place between those minor parties and the Liberal Party,” Mr Albanese told ABC Radio on Tuesday morning.
“But we are not completely shocked by that.”
Back in March, the Prime Minister said it was “not (his) request” to see a deal done with Mr Palmer anywhere in the country.
“I don’t believe there will be a deal,” Mr Morrison said at the time.
Mr Palmer had previously promised his party would preference all incumbents last as part of his campaign against the two major parties.
The UAP’s preference of Gladys Liu, Fiona Martin and Bridget Archer is expected to deliver a blow to Labor’s chances, but Mr Albanese is hopeful people will give their first preference to Labor.
‘IT’S ON’: BLUE SEAT COULD TURN TEAL
Teal independent Monique Ryan has declared “it’s on” as she and Josh Frydenberg go head-to-head in their battle for the high-profile and formerly blue ribbon seat of Kooyong in Melbourne.
Both candidates hit the hustings on the first day of pre-polling on Monday, handing out how-to-vote cards, shaking hands and posing for selfies with Victorians on a leafy street in Hawthorn in Melbourne’s east as the final two weeks of the federal election campaign ramp up.
Among the huge turnout of volunteers for the Liberal Party, the Greens and Dr Ryan’s campaign, were former Victorian premier Ted Baillieu for the Treasurer, and Mr Baillieu’s son Rob campaigning for Dr Ryan.
Playing down their public dispute, the former premier simply said “we disagree” when asked what it was like to be campaigning against his son.
Mr Baillieu was happy to talk up his support for Mr Frydenberg, saying: “Kooyong needs Josh, Victoria needs Josh and Australia needs Josh.
“The poll that counts is two weeks away. I never take anything for granted.”
Despite the latest Newspoll predicting a Labor victory on May 21, with two-party preferred support for the Coalition falling to 46 per cent compared with Labor’s 54 per cent, the Treasurer said the fight for his seat would be close.
“It’s been encouraging the feedback this morning on the pre-poll, but it’s early days,” he said.
“There is only one poll that counts, and that is election day. I’ll be spending a lot of time here on pre-poll, the contest here will be tight.”
Dr Ryan declared she would show up at the same pre-polling station for the next two weeks.“For me, the mood is, you know, buoyant and positive and optimistic. So we’re feeling good,” she said.
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