Albanese planning to call election for May 3 on Friday

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is planning to call the federal election on Friday morning, naming May 3 as the date for Australians to cast their votes amid a policy fight over the Coalition’s decision to oppose the personal tax cuts in this week’s federal budget.

The move draws attention away from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s crucial economic pitch to voters in his budget reply speech on Thursday evening, when he is expected to unveil more help for households without matching the Labor tax cut.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrives for the final question time of the 47th parliament on Thursday.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Several sources familiar with the prime minister’s thinking said he intended to visit Governor-General Sam Mostyn at Government House in Canberra on Friday morning.

The sources, unauthorised to speak to the media, emphasised that the plan was subject to change as it had been earlier this month, when Cyclone Alfred threatened the Queensland coast and forced Albanese to postpone an election that had been pencilled in for April 12.

Calling the election on Friday morning would steal attention from news coverage of Dutton’s Thursday night budget-in-reply address, where the opposition leader could reveal policies on housing, gas supply and migration. But the Coalition has already released its plan to slash fuel excise for a year, giving it days of prominence.

Albanese, who has become buoyant in private about the election, has told confidantes the idea of forcing voters to endure a six-week campaign was “bullshit”, making a five-week campaign before a May 3 poll the most likely option. The latest he could call an election for that date is Monday, the day after he is scheduled to appear on the ABC’s Insiders program.

The Coalition needs about 20 seats to win a majority and make the Albanese government the first one-term administration since 1932.

One senior Labor cabinet minister said that Albanese had emphasised what he views as the government’s strong position in the polls. “If we are on 50-50 at the start of the campaign, that’s potentially an election-winning [majority] for a government,” the source recalled Albanese saying.

“We think there is a chance the wheels will fall off completely for them,” the Labor source said. “They have nothing out there as policy besides nuclear power and free lunches and they’re doing nothing to expand their base.”

Albanese said on Triple M Hobart on Thursday morning that he would announce the election date “pretty imminently”. Adding further weight to the call coming on Friday, the prime minister’s department on Thursday accidentally posted on social media that the government was in caretaker mode, despite the House of Representatives sitting at the time.

The post was quickly deleted, but not before Sky News captured a screenshot. PM&C apologised for the error.

The Coalition on Wednesday voted against Labor’s $5-a-week tax cut in the House of Representatives, opening a fight on economic management and shifting focus from Labor’s recent healthcare policy announcements.

“We absolutely would repeal it,” shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said of the tax cut on ABC Radio National.

The Coalition will offer to halve the fuel excise as a more immediate form of cost-of-living relief, a policy that has been rated as popular in Liberal focus groups this week, particularly in the outer suburbs.

The year-long measure would cost $6 billion and the Coalition predicted it would save a family with one vehicle around $14 a week.

Dutton remains calm about his election prospects, according to people familiar with his thinking, despite a rocky few weeks. He and Taylor are considering announcing their own tax cuts during the election campaign, sources said on Wednesday. 

Internal and public polling has shown a slight improvement for Labor in recent weeks as the Coalition has come under pressure over its thin policy agenda. Victoria continues to trend away from Labor due to an unpopular state government. The Coalition requires a big seat haul of up to eight seats in Victoria, a state in which it holds few seats, because Labor’s vote is holding up in other states such as Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.

After enduring a torrid time at the hands of Queensland voters in the decade and a half since Kevin Rudd was elected in 2007, Labor sources hoped to secure a handful of unlikely gains in Dutton’s home state. Coalition sources rubbished those predictions.

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