Australian election 2025: Anthony Albanese, Peter Dutton campaigning on day 13 of May 3 federal election
The latest twist in Donald Trump’s tariffs war has led to China reaching out to Australia, in another distraction for the leaders on the campaign trail.
A surprise move from China and Donald Trump’s latest stunning twist in his tariffs war has sidetracked Anthony Albanese on day 13 of the May 3 election campaign.
The Prime Minister started off the day in Far North Queensland, after a visit late on Wednesday to the seat of Leichhardt that takes in Cairns and Cape York, which Labor is hoping to win.
However, US President Trump’s tariff war has again been a distraction from election campaigning, after he overnight paused the reciprocal tariffs for 90 days for most countries, but hiked China’s tariff to 125 per cent.
All countries are still facing the baseline 10 per cent, including Australia.
China has called on Australia “to join hands” with them to defend global trade against the US tariffs, which have caused chaos on global markets.
“Under the circumstances, China stands ready to join hands with Australia and the international community to jointly respond to the changes of the world,” China’s ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian said in a statement to Nine newspapers.
Mr Albanese rebuffed the offer.
“We will speak for ourselves. Australia’s position is that free and fair trade is a good thing.”
Mr Albanese again reiterated that his government was continuing to advocate for a zero tariff from the US.
“It is quite clear from the response of the markets that the announcement is doing harm to the United States, it is doing harm to its prospects of employment, inflation, all the key figures as well,” Mr Albanese told reporters.
“We will continue to advocate that Australia’s tariff rates should be zero.”
Relations between Australia and China are still tense, despite the recent end of Beijing’s on trade war against Aussie goods, including wine, beef and lobsters.
Those issues were highlighted after Chinese navy warships engaged in live fire testing in the Tasman Sea without alerting Canberra, and a research ship sailing near Australian subsea cables.
Earlier Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the Albanese government “would pursue Australia’s national interests”, saying it was focused on diversifying Australia’s trade markets.
“We’re not about to make common cause with China, I can be completely clear on that,” Mr Marles told Sky News on Thursday, while welcoming the stabilisation of the relationship.
“We’re pursuing Australia’s national interests.
“We’re not going to be holding hands with China in respect of any contests going on in the world.”
Dutton’s response to China offer
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton later sidestepped answering whether Australia should accept China’s offer.
“Australia should have a strong trading relationship with China, it’s in our mutual interests,” Mr Dutton told reporters in Melbourne.
“I believe that we can work very closely with China on building our trading relationship and have a respectful relationship with China.
“As a country, we have to stand up for our interests and we can’t do that with a weak Prime Minister who’s having his strings pulled by a junior Coalition partner in Adam Bandt, a radical, and who would spend money on everything but defence.”
Albo heads to the Top End
Anthony Albanese is in the Top End on his first trip to the Northern Territory since campaigning began nearly two weeks ago.
Darwin has loomed large over the election since dueling announcements last week by Mr Albanese and Peter Dutton over the future of the Port of Darwin, which both leaders agree should be returned to Australian-approved hands.
It also comes after a bruising loss for the NT’s Labor branch who lost control of the government last year to the Country Liberal Party.
At a federal level, Labor is looking to hold on to the seat of Solomon, which is currently held by Luke Gosling.
A veteran, Mr Gosling was first elected to the Darwin seat in 2016, before being re-elected in 2019 and 2022.
The trip also marks the last state or territory the Prime Minister had left to visit since the election was called on March 28.
Peter Dutton traveled to Darwin shortly after he announced plans to return the Port, which was leased for 99 years by Chinese backed Landbridge in 2015, but is yet to campaign in the ACT.
Dutton’s shares ‘confronting’ experience at suicide scenes
Peter Dutton has given a rare personal glimpse into his former career as a police officer, which involved “confronting” suicide cases.
“We’re all impacted by our life’s experiences,” he said.
“I will never forget delivering a message to a mother one night, and her scream still stay with me (after) her son had died by suicide.
“Anything that we can do as a country, we should be doing that and more to provide support to frontline services and to clinicians and today to the researchers.”
Mr Dutton dropped into a Lifeline Centre in Abbotsford, Melbourne to pledge $15m over five years to Suicide Prevention Australia which will go to research efforts.
He said he hoped the funding announcement would help bolster research and support workers and volunteers on the front line.
“There are many Australian families, many of us, who have been touched in different ways by suicide, and there are many families who are living this very day with somebody that they love very much, who they’re incredibly concerned about,” he said.
The Coalition’s health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said the most recent budget handed down by Jim Chalmers had scrapped funding from July 1 onwards.
“Now is not the time to take funding away from this really, really important work,” she said.
Another servo stop for Dutton
Peter Dutton tour of Melbourne tour continues, with another servo stop.
The Dutton bus has pull up to a 7/11 in Caulfield in the seat of Macnamara, held by Labor’s Josh Burns on 12.2 per cent.
For those playing at home, this is the sixth petrol station in seven days, however the southeast servo is slinging petrol for 205.9c for unleaded and 228.9c for premium fuel – the most expensive so far.
‘Can we just proceed and ignore’
A climate change protester has tried to crash a debate between Energy Minister Chris Bowen and his opposition counterpart Ted O’Brien.
The National Press Club debate is being held at a location in Canberra that was not disclosed publicly, over security fears.
Protesters have heckled both the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader at different times during the two weeks of the election campaign.
Mr O’Brien had just started his opening, when a person could be heard yelling “When are you going to stop!”
An unruffled Mr O’Brien simply said: “Can we just proceed and ignore.”
Debate moderator, NPC president and Sky News election analyst Tom Connell, reset Mr O’Brien’s time.
The protester was removed.
Dutton stonewalls on candidate vetting
Peter Dutton has been peppered with questions around candidate vetting, after issues emerged with several pre-selections.
Whitlam hopeful Ben Britton was disendorsed on Sunday for comments that women shouldn’t serve in combat roles.
Liberal Party leader Mr Dutton said the party has also since learnt of other views and allegations which had yet to be publicly disclosed.
Reports have also emerged of issues with another candidate.
Asked on three occasions whether he was “happy” with that candidate, Mr Dutton said: “That much is obvious”.
He then went onto attack Mr Albanese for lying to Australians over Labor’s promise to reduce energy bills by $275.
“Anthony Albanese is out there saying he won’t form government with the Greens. People know he’s lying about that,” he said.
“The Prime Minister’s been lying about the Mediscare campaign.
“We increased hospital funding by 16 per cent we increased education funding from $13bn to $25bn and the Prime Minister is out there looking Australians in the eye, saying, we did the opposite but the numbers show that he’s lied.
“I don’t think the Prime Minister is somebody who can be trusted. Now, to your point, he hasn’t been convicted by a court, but maybe he will, because if he keeps going like this, you can’t trust this Prime Minister anything that he says.”
Asked about vetting standards, Mr Dutton said the Liberal Party had “selected some amazing people”.
The allegations come after candidate nominations closed at midday Thursday, meaning parties will no longer be able to replace hopefuls once the deadline has lapsed.
Labor steps up DOGE-y attack on Libs
Anthony Albanese rounded out his fourth stopover in Queensland with another sledge at the Opposition after Jim Chalmers accused the Coalition of being “DOGE-y sycophants” who take their “instructions and policies” directly from the United States.
The Prime Minister was coy when asked to directly compare the Peter Dutton to US President Donald Trump and the sweeping cuts made by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), but called on voters to “draw their own conclusions” on Thursday.
“Peter Dutton, if you look at policies, people will be able to draw their own conclusions, I think, on where some of the public service cuts, some of the rhetoric comes through,” Mr Albanese said.
“Some of the culture wars that have attempted to be started … People will look at similar policies around the world, and they will make their own decisions.”
Health Minister Mark Butler took things one step further, accusing Mr Dutton of wanting to “Americanise” Australia’s healthcare system amid warnings from Labor the Opposition would make cuts to health and education – claims they the coalition have said are wrong.
“Obviously, one of the big concerns in the health sector in Australia is this creeping shift to try and Americanise Australia’s healthcare system,” he said.
“It is no coincidence that Peter Dutton started particularly pointing at the health sector for cuts in the federal public service pretty much the same week that US administration started making sweeping cuts to their health department as well.”
Mr Albanese was speaking from Green Island in The Great Barrier Reef marine park on Thursday following a stopover in Cairns on Wednesday.
The trip is his fourth to the Sunshine State, during which he has slammed Peter Dutton for allegedly abandoning his home state and has championed hopes Labor could retake the Cairns seat of Leichhardt after 15 years following the retirement of its longtime LNP MP Warren Entsch.
His replacement, Jeremy Neal, has been embroiled in controversy regarding old posts, which have since been deleted and for which he apologised for, criticising Covid policies and described China as a “grub of a country”.
Dutton hits key seat
After visiting his father in hospital in Queensland, Peter Dutton has hit the hustings in the crucial outer Melbourne seat of Aston, currently held by Labor’s Mary Doyle on 3.6 per cent.
Manufacturing is again the Coalition’s key message with Mr Dutton set to don on the high vis at metalworks New Touch industries in Bayswater.
Former deputy principal Manny Cicchiello has been tasked with getting the seat back for the Liberals after Ms Doyle won in at a by-election 2023 following the retirement of former Morrison minister Alan Tudge.
Coalition eyes two new wealth funds
The Coalition will establish two wealth funds to drive down government debt and invest in large-scale infrastructure projects by banking 80 per cent of revenue from mining and resources tax receipts.
In what is the Opposition’s biggest economic announcement to date, the Future Generations Fund will target three key areas – reducing Australia’s forecasted $1.2 trillion of gross debt, investing in “productive economic infrastructure” such as improved defence capabilities, and structural reforms.
The government would also be able to use an emergency mechanism to access funds in the case of a national emergency, or economic and geopolitical crisis which will be further detailed in legislation.
Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor and finance spokeswoman Jane Hume will share more details about the announcement on Thursday morning.
Mr Taylor said the funds were an example of “good budget management” that will build a “stronger and safer Australia for future generations”.
Ms Hume said the wealth accounts build on the Howard-era Future Fund which has been continued by successive governments, and has grown to about $230bn.
A Regional Australia Fund will be used to increase funding to projects which aimed at regional, remote and rural communities like local road upgrades, plus affordable childcare, housing and initiatives to increase access to housing.
25 per cent of the 80 per cent resources windfall gains will be directed to this account until it grows to $20bn.
Mr Littleproud said the Regional Australia Fund will divert the “hard word of regional Australians back into the regions”.
“It means we don’t have to fight for funding shortfalls to provide infrastructure in regional areas,” he said.
Outlook for day 13 of election campaign
While the Prime Minister is starting the day on the Great Barrier Reef on Thursday, the Opposition Leader will be back in Melbourne for the third time, eyeing mortgage belt seats held by Labor.
Peter Dutton had spent Tuesday in the western Sydney seat of McMahon, held by Energy Minister Chris Bowen.
It had been a stressful day for Mr Dutton, after his dad Bruce was rushed to hospital after suffering a heart attack just before Tuesday night’s leaders debate.
The Sky News/Daily Telegraph People’s Forum gave the win to Mr Albanese with 44 of the 100 undecided voters backing the Prime Minister to 35 for the Opposition Leader.
Energy policy – another issue worrying households and business – will also finally be in focus with Mr Bowen and Coalition spokesman Ted O’Brien will hold a debate at the National Press Club.
The Opposition Leader on Wednesday said his gas reservation plan to get more gas into the domestic market, to lower prices, would lead to a drop in power bills by “the end of the calendar year” if the Coalition wins.
But Mr Dutton is yet to elaborate on the controversial nuclear reactor policy – including how much it would cost and how it would affect power prices.
Mr Bowen is expected to narrow in on that.
Treasurers Debate
It’s a return to the spotlight for the two leaders after Treasurer Jim Chalmers and shadow treasurer Angus Taylor took centre stage with a feisty debate on Wednesday night.
The pair fought it out over which side was better to manage the Australian economy as the Trump trade wars threaten a new hit in the cost of living crisis, which is a key issue for voters.
Mr Chalmers closed out Wednesday night’s debate with promises of hope in uncertain times, but warned about “secret cuts” under the Coalition.
“We’ve got a lot going for us as Australians, but there’s a lot at stake,” he said.
“This is a really important moment in the global economy, and we get to decide whether we go to the world more resilient under Labor or more vulnerable under the Coalition.”
Mr Taylor promised voters immediate relief under a Coalition government.
“The key question for this election is, who do you trust to manage the economy?” he said in his closing address.
“We’ve seen in the last three years, Australians have got poorer and it’s clear that Australians can’t afford another three years like the last three.
“Yet that is exactly what Labor is promising.”
Albanese takes campaign to FNQ
One of Australia’s most well-known and most under-threat ecological attractions, The Great Barrier Reef, will be in the spotlight on Thursday for Mr Albanese.
He will travel to Green Island – which has a population of just 20 people – located within the marine park, but also the marginal electorate of Leichhardt, which Labor is hoping to wrest away from the Liberal National Party of Queensland.
Mr Albanese said the reef is one of Australia’s “most precious and unique assets”, with Labor pledging $10m for education and awareness – $6m of which will go to a fund to help schoolchildren visit the site.
Labor has spruiked its investment in Far North Queensland during the campaign, while also accusing Mr Dutton of abandoning his home state.
Mr Albanese appeared with Labor’s candidate for Leichhardt, Matt Smith, in Cairns yesterday. The LNP’s longtime member Warren Entsch is not running again in 2025, with his replacement, Jeremy Neal on Tuesday apologising for a series of now-deleted posts in which criticised Covid regulations, blamed “feminists” for Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss, and called China a “grub of a country”.
Dutton gives update after dad’s heart attack
Mr Dutton has confirmed he had seen his father and he was in “good spirits” after suffering a heart attack about an hour before the first debate of the election campaign.
He learnt his father Bruce had been rushed to hospital in Queensland shortly before facing off with Mr Albanese at Tuesday evening’s Sky News and Daily Telegraph People’s Forum.
Speaking to 2GB on Thursday, Mr Dutton said he had flown to Queensland to see his dad.
While he declined to reveal details about Bruce’s medical condition, Mr Dutton said his father was almost 80 and had worked hard all his life.
“I’ve just seen him up at the hospital, and he’s, he’s in good spirits, so he’s good,” he told Ben Fordham.
“I did speak to the Prime Minister before the debate, and obviously Dad had just gone to hospital, so I didn’t know the true extent of what had happened.”
Asked if his father would have encouraged him to continue with the campaign, Mr Dutton said his dad was a stoic man.
“He was a great student of Churchill and of military history, and taught me from a very young age never to give in, and I’ve lived by that every day,” Mr Dutton said.
“I hope that I’ve been able to instil it into my children as well.”
Real reason behind Lib candidate’s axing
Mr Dutton was also asked about the disendorsement of Whitlam candidate Ben Britton.
The NSW seat is held by Labor’s Carol Berry on a safe 8.3 per cent.
Mr Dutton said that while he respected Mr Britton’s military service as a former paratrooper, the candidate was dumped due to “a number” of views he expressed publicly, as well as other views “not in the public domain”.
Previous comments made by Mr Britton include views that women shouldn’t serve in combat roles in the military.
There were also a number of allegations Mr Dutton said he would share with Fordham off-air.
“There are deeply concerning issues that at play here, that we’ve acted on, that aren’t in the public domain, that are nothing to do with the Australian Defence Force or women serving in the Australian Defence Force,” Mr Dutton said.
“There are very significant issues that we’ve dealt with and out of respect to Ben (Britton) and the whole process, I’m not going to go into those publicly, but they were of concern to us, and we’ve acted on it.”
More to come
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