Federal election 2025 as it happened: More than $85 billion wiped off the ASX; Chalmers flags interest rate cuts

Thanks for reading today’s rolling coverage of the election campaign. This is where we’ll end today’s live updates. Join us early tomorrow as we bring you all the action from the second week of the election campaign.

As you kick off your evening, here’s a wrap of the headlines you need to know.

• Treasurer Jim Chalmers declared that the impacts of Donald Trump’s tariffs would be manageable for Australia and flagged further interest rate cuts were expected. This came as Treasury released new analysis showing tariffs would “permanently lower” Australia’s GDP, with economic output predicted to fall by 0.1 per cent and inflation to rise by 0.2 per cent.
• Investors wiped $97 billion off Australia’s sharemarket, which closed 4.2 per cent lower in a dramatic plunge driven by growing fears that US President Donald Trump’s trade war would spark a recession in the world’s largest economy.
• Majority government could be within reach for Anthony Albanese as Labor opens up its lead over the Coalition after week one of the federal election campaign, polls show.
• Kooyong’s sitting teal MP Monique Ryan took a swipe at her main rival, the Liberal Party’s Amelia Hamer, after we revealed today that Hamer owned two investment properties — including a million-dollar flat in London — despite publicly presenting herself as a renter.
• Pauline Hanson backed her daughter, Lee Hanson, who is competing for a Senate seat in Tasmania under One Nation.
• Albanese hit out at Dutton for his “extraordinary position” on working from home and claimed he was pretending the program would not proceed.
• Dutton said sorry for the now-dumped Coalition public service policy. “We’ve made a mistake in relation to the policy. We apologise for that,” he said.
• Albanese and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan held their first campaign media event together in Melbourne, ducking questions about whether Allan’s flagging popularity would be a drag on federal Labor.

Thanks and see you again tomorrow.

A timely reminder: the deadline for enrolling to vote at the May 3 federal election is 8pm tonight (your local time).

This will be especially important for anyone who has moved house since the last vote, or who recently turned 18.

It’s a fairly simple process, you just need to go to the Australian Electoral Commission website: aec.gov.au.

The Australian dollar has fallen to its lowest point in five years as a trade war between the country’s largest economic partners – China and the United States – reaches a fever pitch.

Trading at just US59.33¢ on Monday morning, the dollar recovered to just over US60¢ by the afternoon as expectations rose of further instability in a trade war sparked by Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.

On Friday, China slapped a uniform 34 per cent tariff on US imports, spooking the Australian market and lowering the dollar to levels not seen since the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

How will this affect Australian consumers? Those travelling overseas, buying goods from international suppliers and importers are likely to feel the hit to the dollar the hardest, according to Diana Mousina, deputy chief economist at AMP.

Since April 1, the dollar has fallen against the currencies of the most popular travel destinations for Australians. Read more here.

Investors have wiped $97 billion off Australia’s sharemarket, which closed 4.2 per cent lower due to growing fears that US President Donald Trump’s trade war would spark a recession in the world’s largest economy.

The ASX200 index closed deeply in the red on Monday, plummeting by 324.5 points or 4.2 per cent, to 7343.3 points.

The drop in the local sharemarket erased about $97 billion in value from the ASX200, and it came as markets also plunged across the Asian region.

Japan’s Nikkei index fell more than 6 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped more than 11 per cent.

The Australian dollar also fell below US60¢ as investors fretted over the potential hit to the world economy from the escalating trade war sparked by Trump’s tariffs.

When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took a break from the campaign trail to offer crisis-management advice for a badly behaving South Sydney mascot Reggie the Rabbit, it should have been a sign that sport and politics don’t mix.

But the news that a cameraman was left “bloodied” by a ball kicked by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton – hoping to show his athletic prowess just days after the prime minister fell off a stage – suggests the Liberal leader didn’t get the memo.

If you watch the build-up in the casual kick-to-kick at a Northern Territory footy ground, Dutton tries to act natural – but anyone who has tried to pass a soccer ball back to some schoolkids while wearing dress shoes can sense the unease in his movement. He should know better.

From Bob Hawke to John Howard and beyond, have a read of our look back at the sometimes bloody history of Australian politicians’ attempts to win our hearts and votes through sport.

Pauline Hanson has enlisted her daughter, Lee Hanson, to try to carry on One Nation’s influence in parliament while defending her decision against claims of nepotism by saying her three sons aren’t up to the job.

“I wouldn’t have one of my sons in parliament, so it’s about qualifications and ability,” Pauline said.

Pauline Hanson (right) said she hoped her daughter Lee would extend One Nation’s legacy.

She recruited her only daughter, Lee, to carry on her political legacy as she neared retirement and the populist right-wing party competed for relevance in the Senate with Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots.

“My time in politics is coming to an end, and I’m not gonna say when that’s gonna happen, but I want the people coming through that are going to carry on my legacy,” said Hanson.

Lee is a new Senate candidate for Tasmania. Read more here.

They’d never say it in public, but at every election, both major parties identify a handful of seats they expect to lose.

This time around, Labor is downbeat about hanging on to the Melbourne seat of Aston and the Sydney seat of Bennelong, while Coalition strategists concede the seats of Bradfield (northern Sydney) and Wannon (western Victoria) look tough to hold.

The races that could decide the outcome of the 2025 election.Credit: Matthew Absalom-Wong

But then there are the seats in which everyone expects a proper contest, and by the end of the campaign, even once-safe seats can look chancy if the ground game by the opposition is good.

Read more here about the 12 seats we think are worth watching this campaign.

From battlers to basket-weavers, Australian politics has produced a rich vocabulary to describe different voter groups.

Some are simple tags, such as protest voter or disenchanted voter. Others draw on gender, social class, occupation, cultural traits and even location.

When Australians cast their ballots on May 3, attention will switch from campaigning politicians to the nation’s diverse array of electors.

Read more here about some key types of voters likely to turn up at polling booths and feature in the post-election analysis.

Some of the Australian federal election voter types.Credit: Matt Davidson

Kooyong’s sitting teal MP Monique Ryan has taken a swipe at her main rival, the Liberal Party’s Amelia Hamer, after we revealed today that Hamer owned two investment properties — including a million-dollar flat in London — despite publicly presenting herself as a renter.

“It’s disappointing that Ms Hamer tried to deceive the people of Kooyong,” Ryan said in a statement this afternoon.

“The issue here isn’t that she owns two properties; it’s that by painting herself as a millennial renter, she misled people by not disclosing she was also a property owner and landlord.”

A Liberal Party spokesman said: “Monique should spend less time moralising others and more time explaining why she voted with the Greens 77 per cent of the time.”

Read more about Hamer and follow all the action in the seats of Kooyong, Goldstein, Wills and Bruce in our Victorian hot seats live blog here.

It can be hard keeping on top of where the major party leaders have gone and how much money they’re promising in the election campaign, so we’ve been keeping a close eye on every movement and spending promise made – and we will continue to do so every day before the election on May 3.

Today Albanese visited the Labor-held seat of McEwen, just north of Melbourne, while Dutton was in the marginal Adelaide seat of Boothby, which Labor won at the last election.

Use our interactives below to see where Albanese and Dutton have travelled and find out the cost of their election promises.