Australia election 2025 live: Dutton pressed to explain Coalition contradictions on migration, EV tax breaks and public sector cuts
Dutton claims ‘our policy has not changed’ on EVs
Next, Dutton is asked to clarify his position on scrapping the EV tax breaks, when he said two days ago that he wouldn’t repeal them.
Dutton says he’s been “clear” that the Coalition doesn’t support a tax on the Ford Ranger and other heavy petrol using cars.
That was the answer I gave and you referred to that we will not support the big tax on cars. I have been clear about that and clear in relation to policies on EV, our policy has not changed.
Asked if the Coalition repealing the EV tax break would be retrospective, Dutton wouldn’t answer.
Key events
Henry Belot
Analysis: Coalition plan would reduce size of Canberra’s APS workforce by 59% by end of decade
A few moments ago, Peter Dutton said the Coalition’s plan to reduce the size of the public service by 41,000 jobs would only impact Canberra-based positions.
According to the Australian Public Service Commission, there are 68,435 public servants based in the nation’s capital. That’s roughly one-third of the overall APS workforce.
Based on those figures, removing 41,000 positions from the Canberra based workforce – through a mixture of voluntary redundancies or natural attrition – would reduce its size by 59% by the end of the decade.
Dutton has previously ruled out cuts to defence agencies, which would likely also include intelligence agencies, and frontline positions that directly deal with the public. That would mean the impact would likely be more pronounced in other policy departments.
Dutton told the press conference the Coalition had been “very clear” that all the 41,000 positions would come from Canberra. He then added another detail:
Some of those positions of course have not even been filled yet so they are projected numbers.
When asked by a reporter “how many real positions would you cut?”, Dutton called for the next question.
Environmental protesters target Dutton venue in Hobart
Protesters from the Bob Brown Foundation are outside the venue where Dutton held his press conference in Hobart.
Dutton was inside the Catholic Care building to speak to reporters, after hosting a round table there on domestic violence. The protesters were heard shouting:
Our climate is under attack. What do we do?
No toxic fish farms! End native forest logging!
Save the maugean skate.
The group has been calling for an end to salmon farming in Tasmania. It’s a hot-button issue, with Anthony Albanese also stepping in with rapid legislation to protect salmon farming in the Macquarie Harbour.
Dutton won’t bite on question on trans women
A reporter tries to ask Dutton whether the domestic violence support also covers trans women, and whether he believes trans women are women.
We discussed gender as well and that is an important discussion as well and we can provide support through programs as we are seeing now.
Pressed on whether a trans woman is a woman, Dutton makes reference to the recent supreme court case in the UK, and says:
I think a woman is defined as as an adult female, and that’s the best, the definition.
Asked again by the reporter to define a woman, Dutton says, “I’ve answered that question”.
Dutton faces questions over public servant cuts if Coalition wins
Peter Dutton is copping a fair bit of heat in this press conference, and is pushed again on the Coalition’s public service policy. A reporter asks how many public servants would be sacked in Hobart if the Coalition wins: they say there’s currently 3,800 public servants working in the city.
Dutton says, “none”.
The Coalition has promised to cut 41,000 public servants over five years and Dutton’s now clarified that those will all be cut from Canberra.
Reporter: There’s 3800 Commonwealth public servants living and working in Hobart… how many of those jobs would you like to see go…
Dutton: None. We’ve been clear about that
Reporter: You have policy reducing the public service …
Dutton: In Canberra, we’re not reducing the public service …
Reporter: Only in Canberra?
Dutton: We’ve been very clear about that.
What did Peter Dutton say about EV tax breaks on Monday?
Things get a little stickier for the opposition leader on the EV tax break issue. Here’s what was said on Monday:
Reporter: Labor’s fringe benefit tax exemption for electric vehicles has blown out by hundreds of millions of dollars compared to what was first forecast. Would a Coalition government repeal the EV tax break?
Dutton: No, we’ve said that what we’re opposed to is the government’s big tax on hybrids.
Dutton says today that there’s been “no policy change”.
There has been no policy change, no discussion about that policy this week, it has been long-standing since we took the decision, I answered the question in relation to the tax.
Dutton says to the reporter,
I think we’re better off just to accept we have a difference of opinion but there’s been no change in policy.
Coalition will not support Labor’s critical minerals reserve
The opposition claims Labor’s critical mineral reserve announcement is a “refit and rehash reannouncement”. Dutton says the Coalition has supported critical minerals output “from the start”, but is calling Labor’s plan a “reannouncement with no delivery”.
We’re not supporting the plan because it is a refit and rehash and renouncement with no delivery.
Critical minerals are absolutely essential for us and for our partners and whether that looks like an off-take agreement or whether it looks like an agreement to stockpile it to work with the US in the UK in Japan, etc we will work all that detail and in government.
Earlier in the presser, Dutton was asked about what more he’d do to secure a deal with the US to avoid the latest round of tariffs. He said again the election was a choice between leaders and used the question to attack Labor’s critical minerals announcement today.
Pressed further, he brought up defence manufacturing again, but couldn’t say any more on how he’d use that to entice the US.
Dutton says PM ‘sleeps well at night’ despite living ‘not too far’ from Lucas Heights
Our reporter Sarah Basford Canales asks Dutton about his refusal to visit communities that live where the Coalition has proposed seven nuclear sites during this election campaign. That’s despite, she says, him visiting 13 petrol stations to talk about the fuel excise cut.
Dutton at first jumps on the mention of the petrol stations to spruik the party’s excise policy.
Basford Canales pushes back and asks whether he’s done that in the last 25 days (he hasn’t). Dutton says he’s been to “three communities”, including Collie in Western Australia.
Within those communities we listen to views and made [our] policy clear.
He then makes a strange reference to Anthony Albanese living near Lucas Heights (which is home to a nuclear medicine facility).
It is a proven technology accepted by the prime minister in relation to nuclear submarines and as you know the prime [minister lives] not too far from Lucas Heights. He sleeps well at night.
A quick google maps check says Marrickville and Lucas Heights are just under 30km apart.
Dutton claims ‘our policy has not changed’ on EVs
Next, Dutton is asked to clarify his position on scrapping the EV tax breaks, when he said two days ago that he wouldn’t repeal them.
Dutton says he’s been “clear” that the Coalition doesn’t support a tax on the Ford Ranger and other heavy petrol using cars.
That was the answer I gave and you referred to that we will not support the big tax on cars. I have been clear about that and clear in relation to policies on EV, our policy has not changed.
Asked if the Coalition repealing the EV tax break would be retrospective, Dutton wouldn’t answer.
Dutton says ‘our policy is not changed and will not change’ over Coalition recognising West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
Dutton is also asked to clarify comments over the opposition’s position on recognising West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Recognising West Jerusalem as the capital was a Scott Morrison-era decision that was reversed by Labor when it came into power in 2022.
Yesterday Dutton said in a press conference, “We don’t have any plans to change the current arrangements.” (Which was assumed to mean the Coalition wouldn’t change the current arrangements to recognise Tel Aviv as the capital.)
But a spokesperson for the Opposition leader told some media the Coalition had no plans to change its current position, which is to recognise West Jerusalem.
Dutton says:
I said yesterday that our policy is not changed and will not change.
Dutton promises permanent migration to be cut by 25% if Coalition elected
To questions, the first one in on the Coalition’s migration plan. The reporter points out that the current permanent skilled intake is just over 130,000, but the shadow immigration minister this morning said that skilled migration would be cut to 150,000 – so is the Coalition actually proposing an increase?
After a bit of back and forth, Dutton says he has “not seen the comments made this morning” but promises permanent migration will be cut by 25%.
Cash says Coalition’s national domestic violence register will help agencies make informed decisions and share information
Ley attacks Labor for not reaching its promise to deliver 500 domestic and family violence case workers across the country.
I know that women are critical periods of their lives when they needed help, when they needed assistance, were not able to find that help.
The shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, then steps up to address the measures included in the $90m of funding.
She says the Coalition will set up a national domestic violence register, to help agencies to make informed decisions and allow states and territories to share information.
At the moment, there is no national domestic violence register… What we’re going to do is work the states and territories to pull together the information they have so that it any given time those police and those agencies across Australia have all of the information that they need.
She says two new offences will be created to stop offenders being able to use a mobile phone or computer device to intimidate or spy on a partner or family member.
Ley announces $90m in additional funding for anti-domestic violence measures: ‘enough is enough’
Peter Dutton is standing up in front of reporters in Hobart this morning.
The deputy Liberal leader and shadow minister for women, Sussan Ley, begins by announcing $90m of additional funding for domestic violence. (She accidentally says $90bn, before correcting that quickly to million).
[This is] really, really important funding because the scourge of family violence reaches into every corner of this country and into every cohort of Australian society. Every time we recommit with new funding such as we are today, we make the statement that enough is enough.
Almost one woman every week is killed by a current or former partner in Australia. Ley adds that police respond to callouts for domestic violence incidences every six minutes.
Amanda Meade
Viewership rises slightly for third leaders’ debate
The third leaders debate on Tuesday night on Nine had a national television audience of 1.1 million, slightly up from the second debate on the ABC last week which had 1.01 million viewers.
Nine’s “The Great Debate – Election 2025: Australia Decides” recorded a total TV national audience of 1,097,000 and a BVOD (streaming) audience of 93,000.
According to official ratings figures the program had a total TV national reach of 2.1 million.
The fourth and final debate between Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton will screen on Seven on Sunday night.
Nine’s debate was moderated by A Current Affair’s Ally Langdon with questions from Nine News’ political editor, Charles Croucher, Nine Radio’s Deb Knight and the Australian Financial Review’s Phil Coorey.
Benita Kolovos
‘Right-wing bullies’ behind altercation at event, Ryan says
Ryan said she spoke to the woman after the event who was “a bit horrified by the whole thing”:
She was really enjoying the event, it was a really worthwhile thing and she was really angry at these gentlemen for disrupting them.
She said as she spoke with the woman, another candidate called the police and members of the audience and organisers escorted the men out of the library. Asked why she thought they crashed the event, Ryan answered:
It was stupid, pointless posturing, basically by these right-wing bullies …. It was a community forum, where people were having an opportunity to talk to their political candidates about things that they matter to them and these people were just undertaking pointless disruption.
It’s really unfortunate, because we had a similar event at an asylum seekers forum the night before. We’re seeing an increase in incidence of right wing rabble risers basically disrupting community events. It’s really just disappointing.
Monique Ryan describes ‘menacing’ men who gatecrashed Kooyong candidates’ forum
Benita Kolovos
Kooyong MP Monique Ryan was earlier on ABC Radio Melbourne, saying the men arrived about 15-20 minutes into the forum. She said:
I was just answering a question from the audience when I saw three men enter the back of the room and it felt a bit strange. They clearly weren’t there to attend the forum. I’m not sure that they had any great interest in the media diversity in this country and they looked a bit menacing, and they pretty much immediately started shouting and disrupted the meeting for about 20 minutes.
Ryan said the men shouted about anti-immigration, crime and rape, which she said distressed the predominately older audience who were “really taken aback by the events and clearly a bit threatened by them”, including the woman who was filmed throwing a punch at one of the men. She went on:
She was clearly expressing distress. She was kind of screaming, actually. And then she went over to him, and she sort of threw a punch at him. She was a little lady, pretty frail and he was not a small man, and I was really concerned about that, and the potential for that to escalate, where he did give her a push or something like that … I firmly moved her away and asked another member of the audience to look after her.
Peter Dutton’s domestic violence roundtable, through the lens
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is holding a roundtable on domestic violence in Hobart.
As our Sarah Basford Canales brought you earlier, Dutton, along with members of his front bench, are meeting with leaders from CatholicCare Tasmania.
Allegra Spenders asks AEC to reconsider decision not to identify person behind ‘false and defamatory’ pamphlets about her
Teal independent Allegra Spender says she wants the Australian electoral commission to reveal the person that is behind unauthorised flyers being sent around her electorate.
The AEC has been investigating the flyers that are critical of Spender, but have said they won’t identify the person.
Spender said in a statement, that she’s asking the AEC to reconsider that decision.
I am concerned that the AEC has announced that it will not identify the person responsible and will not decide whether to prosecute them until after the election.
This pamphlet made false and defamatory claims against me and deliberately flouted the Australian Electoral laws regarding the authorisation of election material.
I will be asking the AEC to reconsider its decision or explain what compelling reasons it might have in this case to override its responsibilities to inform the public and enforce the law.
