Going all the way: Anthony Albanese vows to serve full term if he wins 2025 election

Anthony Albanese says he will serve a full term as PM if he leads Labor to another election victory, as he defends his first-term economic record and rejects claims his cost-of-living spending is counter-productive.

Anthony Albanese meets residents of Kununurra in the WA Kimberley on Thursday. Picture: PMO

Anthony Albanese says he will serve a full term as Prime Minister if he leads Labor to another election victory, as he defends his first-term economic record and rejects claims his cost-of-living spending is counter-productive.

The Prime Minister said it was “spin” to suggest inflation was above 3 per cent, while arguing lower government spending ­during the cost-of-living crisis would have led to more Australians being “punished”.

Anthony Albanese in Western Australia on Thursday. Picture: Paul Garvey

In an interview with The Australian, Mr Albanese declined to commit to setting a pathway for compulsory superannuation payments of 15 per cent, despite it being in Labor’s policy platform.

He also revealed Peter Dutton – who this week condemned the Prime Minister for voicing his support for longer electoral cycles – personally raised his potential backing for four-year terms during a private conversation.

The Australian understands Mr Dutton told Mr Albanese he was open to a conversation about progressing a four-year-term referendum but the Prime Minister “closed it down”.

There are some Labor MPs who believe Mr Albanese will look towards a succession plan if he wins the next election, particularly if the government falls into minority. Cabinet ministers who would likely be in the running to succeed Mr Albanese include Jim Chalmers, Tony Burke, Richard Marles and Tanya Plibersek.

Labor MPs were concerned Mr Albanese was leaving voters with a clear impression he was planning for his retirement when it was revealed last year he had spent $4.3m on a beachside home in the suburb Copacabana on the NSW central coast. But when asked if he would serve a full term, Mr Albanese was unequivocal.

“Yes,” he said.

As he ended a week-long tour of resources states to kick off the election year on Thursday, Mr ­Albanese unveiled more than $200m in West Australian housing and infrastructure projects, after pouring $7.2bn into Queensland’s Bruce Highway.

Visiting Kununurra, near the WA border with the Northern Territory, Mr Albanese said the spending announcements were “about building Australia’s future”.

Amid criticism from economists and the Coalition that ­government spending has exacerbated the inflation challenge, Mr Albanese said higher levels of unemployment and a recession were not the Labor answer to bringing inflation down.

“We are never better off in seeing people punished,” he said. “And my government was committed to … I said no one left behind. We weren’t going to say ‘no you are on your own’.

“And you can’t divorce an economy and statistics as if they don’t impact on people.

“What we have done is doing what we can to look after people during what has been turbulent economic times.

“If Peter Dutton had got his way there would have been no ­energy-price relief, no cheaper childcare, no cheaper medicines, no tax cuts for all.”

When challenged over whether interest rates would have come down faster if there was lower government spending, Mr Albanese said: “There would have been more unemployed, more people hurt”.

Mr Albanese reiterated his claim the government had brought inflation into the ­Reserve Bank’s 2-3 per cent target band, despite headline inflation being artificially lowered by temporary electricity rebates.

When the Australian suggested real inflation levels were above 3 per cent, Mr Albanese said: “There is a 2 in front of (the inflation figure), notwithstanding the spin, there is a 2 in front of it.”

Mr Albanese denied the RBA board was focusing on underlying inflation when deciding on ­interest rates.

“No they don’t say that; they say they include that,” he said.

Official figures released on Wednesday showed headline inflation at 2.3 per cent while underlying inflation – which strips out volatile products and temporary factors – was 3.2 per cent, above the RBA’s target.

RBA governor Michele Bullock. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

As recently as November, RBA governor Michele Bullock said she would “look through” the reduction in the headline measure when considering interest rates as it had been distorted by Labor’s power bill rebates.

“Over the past year, part of the decline in headline inflation has been due to temporary factors such as electricity rebates and declining fuel prices,” Ms Bullock said in November. “While these temporary factors have undoubtedly helped many Australians, our approach is to look through them to some extent to better understand where inflation will settle in the medium term. The best way to do this is to look at underlying inflation.”

Mr Albanese said the government was fiscally prudent, despite failing to outline revenue measures or spending cuts to offset increased election promises to spend more on health, education and childcare.

While December’s mid-year economic forecast showed the budget was on track for a decade of deficits, Mr Albanese said the government had delivered two surpluses and reduced the forecast debt levels that was inherited from the Coalition.

He said the Coalition was standing in the way of revenue measures that could improve the budget position, including Labor’s proposal to increase taxes on superannuation balances with $3m or more. “We stand by our record of economic responsibility,” the Prime Minister said.

“It stands in stark contrast to what the other side have done.”

He cited the case of high-end super: “We have a modest measure they are standing in the way of,” he said.

Mr Albanese ran off a list of the government’s economic achievements. “There is a million jobs that have been created, a million on our watch, the first time in a term,” he said.

“Real wages are increasing, you have wages increasing higher than inflation four quarters in a row. You have had two budget surpluses. Our economic record is very strong.”

Mr Albanese with Labor candidate Karen Wheatland and Kununurra children on Thursday. Picture: PMO

The superannuation guarantee is set to reach 12 per cent in July, with Labor’s policy platform requiring the government to set a pathway for it to rise to 15 per cent.

Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones in 2022 said the government would examine a pathway to a 15 per cent super­annuation guarantee towards the end of this term of parliament.

Mr Albanese would not commit to setting a pathway to raising the superannuation guarantee past 12 per cent and government sources said there were “no plans” to do so in the next term of parliament. “We will announce all of our policies at an appropriate time,” he said. “It should have been at 12 per cent earlier. That is one example of a Coalition policy that has led to, in this case, less ­retirement income because of that delay.”

Mr Albanese on Tuesday ­reiterated his in-principle support for four-year terms, which he brings up nearly every time he is asked about the election date.

Despite saying in the past that he was willing to consider ­supporting four-year terms – which would require a successful referendum – Mr Dutton criticised Mr Albanese for voicing his support for less regular elections.

Mr Albanese said Mr Dutton’s latest attack on him showed the Coalition was all about politics.

“The only person who has raised in a discussion four-year terms is Peter Dutton, with me. I never raised it with him,” Mr Albanese said.

“It is typical of him … no media conferences, no accountability, just these thought bubbles ­including against things he himself says he supports.”

Mr Dutton said he did not trust Mr Albanese to be able to lead a successful referendum.

“The PM has zero capital in the bank with the Australian ­public after the debacle that was the voice referendum and after a term when Australians can’t nominate a single achievement of the Albanese Government,” Mr Dutton said. “In that context, the PM’s thought bubble on breakfast TV on another referendum on four year terms isn’t serious; it’s actually embarrassing.”