Australia election 2025 live: Ruston dismisses ‘ridiculous’ claims by dumped Liberal candidate that NSW division out to roll Dutton as leader
Ruston rules out reports of factional attempt to move Dutton on post-election
As we reported earlier, Ben Britton – who was dumped by the Liberal party as a candidate for the NSW seat of Whitlam after some controversial views were revealed by the Guardian – called his dumping a “witch hunt” and accusing the NSW division of stabbing Peter Dutton in the back.
Anne Ruston was asked about this, and whether there is a factional attempt to do the numbers to try and move Dutton on post-election?
She ruled this out, and said “nothing could be more ridiculous.”
Peter Dutton is doing an amazing job of leading the Coalition into this election and keeping a coordinated team together in the last three years.
Key events
Ruston ‘confident’ in Coalition’s economic track record when asked about recession potential
Peter Dutton today said that Australia is heading to a recession under Labor.
Asked if the Coalition could stop a recession if elected, Anne Ruston told ABC Afternoon Briefing:
The track record of a Coalition that stands head and shoulder above any Labor government this country has had is we are good economic managers and our track record shows that.
After listing a number of Coalition economic measures, she was asked again – could a Coalition really avoid Australia going into recession if it wins on 3 May? Ruston said:
We are confident that the strong plan we are putting to the Australian public at this election is something that will make sure that Australia’s economy is absolutely strong … I’m confident we have a proven track record of economic management.
Shadow health minister responds to government’s $1bn mental health plan
The shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, is up on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing to respond to the government’s $1bn mental health plan.
The investment would include upgrading or establishing dozens of Medicare, Headspace and youth mental health centres. Ruston said the Coalition welcomed some measures, but should have gone further:
The thing I was most disappointed about today is … that access to Medicare-subsidised mental health sessions – that were slashed in half by the Albanese Labor government in January 2023 – they haven’t been reinstated.
We also were disappointed that they didn’t match our commitment to set up a world-leading institute to make sure that the decisions around making sure we’ve got the world’s best response to mental health, particularly for youth, was able to be managed and coordinated through that body.
Asked whether the Coalition would match Labor’s commitment to grow the mental health workforce, Ruston answered:
In relation to mental health, it’s a specialised workforce, so we want the sector to advise us how best to address this. We won’t make kneejerk policy announcements three weeks out from an election.
Calls mount for RBA to intervene with jumbo rate cut
Odds are shortening for the Reserve Bank to cut rates by 50 basis points at its next meeting, AAP reports, as global financial turmoil weighs heavily on Australians.
Though most economists do not view an Australian recession as a realistic chance, the prospect of lower growth and higher unemployment as a result of Donald Trump’s tariffs has raised expectations of an outsized RBA cut.
Deutsche Bank today became the first major bank to tip Australia’s central bank to lower rates by half a percentage point in May.
Australia is relatively well positioned to weather the direct impact of US tariffs, but is vulnerable to a slowdown in key trading partners in Asia, especially China, said chief economist Phil O’Donaghoe.
An aggressive RBA response is appropriate, and consistent with precedent.
Markets have priced in the chance of a 50 basis point cut at 96%.
Economists Greg Jericho and Stephen Koukoulas and Greens senator Nick McKim called for the RBA to use its powers to convene an emergency meeting and cut rates immediately. McKim said:
People are hurting already, and every week of delay increases the risk of a recession which will hurt Australians even more.
Under the Reserve Bank Act, the chair of the monetary policy board – which is the central bank’s governor, Michele Bullock – may convene a meeting at any time.
Emily Wind
Good afternoon! Emily Wind here, I’ll be taking you through all the rest of the political action this evening.
Krishani Dhanji
That’s it from me today, thank you for following along on the blog with us!
There is plenty more to come, including the leaders’ first debate tonight in Sydney.
I’ll leave you in the very capable hands of Emily Wind who will bring you that debate and all other political shenanigans this afternoon.
Andrew Messenger
Queensland energy minister orders review of emissions and renewables targets
Queensland’s energy minister has signalled the LNP government will amend legislation setting emissions and renewables targets.
David Janetzki gave his first big speech in government at the Queensland Energy Council on Tuesday.
He announced that the government’s new Productivity Commission will consider the state’s target of 75% by 2035 which was legislated in Labor’s Clean Economy Jobs Bill. The LNP backed that bill, but not a second which establishes a renewable energy target.
“Emissions targets must be credible to gain public confidence. And this referral will guide sound public policy and provide certainty to investors. We are committed to delivering net zero by 2050,” Janetzki said.
He was pressed on whether the government would amend or repeal the bill to amend the targets in a later press conference.
The two relevant pieces of legislation will be reviewed during the course of the year … we’ve committed to repeal the renewable energy targets. The legislation, which both contains the emissions and renewables targets, will be reviewed during the course of the year as we develop the energy roadmap.
The government will order the Productivity Commission – which has not yet had members appointed to it – to conduct the review, rather than the existing Clean Economy Expert Panel.
Janetzki also declared that Queensland’s fleet of coal fired power stations will not close in 2035 as legislated under Labor and a plant due to close in 2028 will have its life extended.
Shadow defence minister defends 2018 comments against women in combat roles
During Peter Dutton’s press conference a bit earlier, he was asked about ex-Liberal candidate Benjamin Britton’s views on women serving in the ADF, and the views of his own shadow defence minister, Andrew Hastie, who said back in 2018 women shouldn’t be on the frontline of combat.
Dutton said you could see his record as defence minister on this issue, with women serving in any role in the defence force, and said “Andrew Hastie’s view is the same as mine”.
Does this mean Hastie’s view has changed?
A spokesperson for Hastie has told Guardian Australia in a statement:
Mr Hastie’s comments about combat roles in the Australian Defence Force were made more than seven years ago based on his own experience serving in the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR).
There is no intent to change personnel policy in the Australian Defence Force regarding combat roles. The Coalition, however, will insist on the highest physical and mental standards for those who service in our combat units, as must have the best fighting capability to defend our nation.
Nationals leader says civil rights ‘need to be put aside’ to protect community
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, says the civil rights of an individual “need to be put aside” for the safety of a community, in response to concerns over youth crime.
Crime is an issue the Coalition has put some focus on, and it was a key election issue for Queensland (Littleproud’s home state).
We have hit a tipping point where the civil rights of an individual need to be put aside for the civil rights of a community. When a community doesn’t feel safe, you have to act and you have to make sure there’s a deterrent and a consequence.
In my home state again [Queensland], I would encourage every state to do this, we’re going back to outback camps where we are rebuilding these young people with a life skill. Not putting them behind barbed wire but
sending them to remote places, giving them a skill and purpose in life.
He’s talking about a commitment of the Queensland LNP government last year to send young people deemed “at risk” of committing a criminal offence to so-called “reset camps” – a program youth advocates have condemned.
Those camps were trialled in the state a decade ago, but were shut down in 2015 by the former Labor government after a scathing report criticised their cost and effectiveness.
Hanson-Young says Dutton ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ as she warns of ‘Trump-style chainsaw’ cuts if Liberals elected
Markets have been predicting more rate cuts by the RBA as global uncertainty grows.
Hanson-Young says families need support right now, and says the RBA should respond to these unprecedented economic times.
She also loops in concerns over public service cuts and says Australia “cannot be affording Donald Trump-style chainsaw” cuts to the public sector.
Let me be really clear, the wolf in sheep[’s] clothing is Peter Dutton. You cannot trust him. He says one thing one day and another thing the next. What we do know that the Liberal party if they get their chance, they will cut everything to the bone and in … these economic circumstances, in these economic times, that is the last thing that Australians want to see.
Greens call on RBA to meet and drop rates immediately
Speaking of the Greens, they’re calling today for the Reserve Bank to call an urgent meeting to drop interest rates now, rather than when the bank next meets in May.
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is speaking from Parliament House:
Give families the relief they need … the economy the relief it needs. This is a very serious problem. It is fuelled by the antics and terror of Donald Trump and Australia has to be upfront about that. We need the government and the RBA to be working in tandem to do everything they can.
I call on the RBA today, get off your hands, call a meeting … get this done this week.
Hanson-Young has also welcomed the government’s announcement on mental health, and says more support is needed to help young people in particular.
The Greens are still pushing the government to also add dental into medicare – which Mark Butler was asked about this morning. He said Labor is “ambitious” for better dental coverage but their focus right now is “strengthening the Medicare that we’ve had for 40 years”.
A little less in the spotlight on the campaign trail will be the Greens, who are fighting tooth and nail to keep their three seats in Brisbane (and hope to claim more elsewhere).
So just how have the three new Greens MPs been faring in their electorates? How popular are they amongst their voters?
Our reporter Ben Smee took a ride across the electorates and spoke to some of the key players:
All is quiet …
Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton seem to have largely shut up shop for the afternoon as they prepare for their first head-to-head debate tonight. (That’s not to say the election trail will be quiet over the next few hours).
They’ve both made it through today largely unscathed:
Anthony Albanese unveiled a $1bn mental health plan and talked about how important that investment would be – though a climate protester did interrupt the press conference near its end.
Peter Dutton spruiked his fuel excise promise and turned up the heat on the economy and the risk of a recession. He was forced to faced off with more questions over his work from home policy backflip and a questionable now-ex-candidate.
The economy and cost of living will no doubt be central issues heard in the debate tonight, which will be on Sky News. But don’t worry my good free-to-air friends: Emily Wind will be blogging here for you.
Natasha May
NSW health minister says doctor industrial action having impact on surgeries and other services
The NSW health minister, Ryan Park, is giving an update on the impacts of the doctors’ industrial action.
The government’s estimate is that around 3,500 doctors have so far taken industrial action, which is likely to change over different shifts in coming days. As a result, NSW health have so far cancelled 370 surgeries and closed 21 beds.
There have also been 400 outpatient clinics and services cancelled. “We are seeing impacts across the board,” Park said.
Park said the government met with the union yesterday to try resolve junior doctors’ pay issues separately, but the union did not take up the offer.
Park said the government wanted to offer a quick increase in pay as quickly as effectively as possible for junior doctors whose pay gap with counterparts in other states he acknowledged is most important as “they are not on significantly high wages.”
Park said the union did not want to separate the two issues out between junior and senior doctors’ pay.
Jordyn Beazley
Civil liberties organisation alarmed NSW police officer signed non-disclosure agreement with federal police over Sydney caravan ‘fake terrorism’ plot
A civil liberties organisation has said it is “alarmed” and “deeply” concerned by yesterday’s revelations that a senior NSW police officer signed a non-disclosure agreement when told information about the “fake terrorism” caravan plot in early February.
The NSW deputy police commissioner, David Hudson, told an upper house inquiry that the officer signed the NDA when he was informed by the AFP “around the 10th February” the motivation of the “mastermind” behind Sydney’s “fake terrorism” caravan plot was to influence prosecutions. Other investigators were then informed about the mastermind’s alleged motivation on 21 February.
Monday’s revelation – which one NSW MP labelled “extraordinary” – came during the first hearing for the inquiry into when the premier, Chris Minns, and members of his cabinet knew that the caravan found laden with explosives in January on the outskirts of Sydney was not a terrorism event. Rather, state and federal police have since alleged, it was part of a conspiracy by organised crime to divert police resources and negotiate reduced sentences.
The inquiry was launched due to concerns that parliament was “misled” before controversial hate speech and anti-protest laws were passed in late February.
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties (NSWCCL) said more questions need to be answered, including whether the NDA was still in effect on 21 February when controversial legislation was rushed through parliament, and if it prevented information from being disclosed to Minns and members of his cabinet.
Tim Roberts, president of the council, said:
The NSWCCL is alarmed at the use of an NDA in this incident. It is essential to the restoration of public trust in our parliament that the inquiry gets to the bottom of whether it in any way contributed to keeping the public in the dark that the Dural caravan was a criminal hoax, not a terror attack like we were led to believe.
More on this story here:
Cait Kelly
Following Labor’s promise to increase mental health funding by $1bn this morning: welfare advocates at the Antipoverty Centre have pointed out that data published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows around a third of adult suicide deaths are people on just two Centrelink payments.
One in five people who die by suicide are on the jobseeker payment, while 14% are on the disability support pension.
Antipoverty Centre spokesperson and DSP recipient, Kristin O’Connell:
We know that the welfare system – through appallingly low Centrelink payments, abusive “mutual” obligations and compulsory income control – is causing widespread mental ill health and fuelling suicide. We know this because of the extraordinary number of people in distress who seek help from the Antipoverty Centre and because the statistics tell us so.
If people were not in such enormous financial distress, services would have more capacity for those of us who have complex psychosocial conditions – conditions that are also exacerbated by the fact that we are trying to survive without enough money to live.
We need Centrelink payments above the poverty line. We need “mutual” obligations and parasitic (un)employment services providers abolished. And we need the government to support our mental wellbeing by acting instead of forcing us to tell them this over and over and over.
Crisis support services can be reached 24 hours a day: Lifeline 13 11 14; Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467; Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78; Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636
Dutton refuses to rule out recession under his leadership
While earlier Peter Dutton said there would be a recession under a Labor government, he wouldn’t rule out that there could still be a recession under his leadership.
When asked to promise he could steer Australia away from a recession, he said:
What I can tell you for almost two years families have lived in a recession already in the country, they’ve gone backwards under this premise so when you say who’s delivered a recession, the prime minister has. The treasurer has.
He was also asked why he hasn’t visited a single proposed nuclear site, and whether that’s an indication the Coalition will drop that policy.
Dutton said he’s not going to backflip on it:
We [will] bring in the best technology in the world which is being embraced by the Labor party in the United Kingdom, China is building 29 nuclear power stations as we speak… We’ll have reliable power, cheaper power, not the three times power price we are paying at the moment.
If you need a reminder on what the nuclear policy would actually do and what it means for the climate, Graham Readfearn’s got you covered:
