Prime Minister Anthony Albanese drops major election date hint
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has appeared to let the federal election date slip before backtracking his comments.
National
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hinted the upcoming federal election will be held in May 2025.
Mr Albanese dropped the date during a Sky News interview while in Peru for the APEC 2024 summit before downplaying his comments.
When asked about the possibility of a March election, Mr Albanese gave the impression that the election would be held in May.
“We’ll go to an election sometime between May and I don’t talk with any state premiers or journalists about when those options might be,” Mr Albanese told Sky News.
“But we have a budget scheduled for March and the election will be in May,” Mr Albanese said.
Mr Albanese backtracked slightly when asked directly if the election would be in May.
“Well, that’s when it’s due. It could be beforehand,” he told Sky News.
The Prime Minister’s personal ratings have hit a new low and the leadership contest narrows to its closest margin yet, a Newspoll conducted for The Australian revealed last week.
While Mr Albanese still holds the lead as preferred prime minister, there is now only a four-point gap separating him from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in that role.
Mr Albanese’s pitch to younger voters with the announcement of $16bn in debt relief for student loans has been popular but the past four weeks have been a headache for the federal government, dominated by debate over free flight upgrades for MPs.
The re-election of Donald Trump and the implications for the domestic political contest have also had an impact raising the question of strength of leadership.
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