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Major parties bet the house on election campaigns · The Front

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  Speaker 1: From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm christinamiot.
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  Speaker 1: It's Monday, April fourteen, twenty twenty five. Taxpayers could be
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  Speaker 1: on the hook for an extra one billion dollars per
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  Speaker 1: year if private berths aren't propped up. Modeling shows private
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  Speaker 1: births could be extinct by twenty thirty if a sustainable
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  Speaker 1: funding model isn't put in place and fast. That exclusive
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  Speaker 1: story from the Australian's Health editor Natasha Robinson is live
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  Speaker 1: right now at the Australian dot com dot au. Anthony
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  Speaker 1: Albanezi would be returned with a hung Parliament if an
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  Speaker 1: election were held today. That's according to new data from
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  Speaker 1: Newspoll and it comes as both the major parties fire
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  Speaker 1: the starting gun on their official election campaigns. Today. The
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  Speaker 1: Australian's National editor Dennis Shanahan pulls back the curtain on
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  Speaker 1: a big day of political theater.
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  Speaker 2: This is a time to keep building and to keep
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  Speaker 2: building with labor.
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  Speaker 3: This election outcome will define the decades to come.
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  Speaker 4: I trust Peter Dutton with every fiver of my being.
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  Speaker 5: Albo is about the next generation, not the next news cycle.
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  Speaker 3: These challenges provide clarity about what we must do as
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  Speaker 3: a nation.
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  Speaker 2: And at this election, our ambitions, our agendas, our plans
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  Speaker 2: for the future are a world apart.
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  Speaker 3: And I will always stand up for our national interest.
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  Speaker 5: The Liberals shed friends faster than Elon Musk. Peter Dutton
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  Speaker 5: is too reckless and too risky to be the prime
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  Speaker 5: minister of our great country Australia.
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  Speaker 4: We have a liar in the lodge.
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  Speaker 2: These ideals are being crushed by a bad Labor government.
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  Speaker 3: At this election. Choose your Liberal or National candidate so
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  Speaker 3: that we can get this great country that we love
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  Speaker 3: back on track.
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  Speaker 6: That is the Australian way, that is the Labor way,
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  Speaker 6: and that is the choice. I'm asking the Australian paintball,
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  Speaker 6: so mate on the third of May.
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  Speaker 1: On Sunday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanezi and Opposition leader Peter
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  Speaker 1: Dutton launched the official election campaigns of the Labor and
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  Speaker 1: Liberal parties ahead of the vote on May three. But
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  Speaker 1: hang on a minute, weren't they already campaigning.
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  Speaker 4: We've been campaigning for months. Really.
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  Speaker 1: Dennis Shanahan is The Australian's national editor.
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  Speaker 4: The reason that they have a campaign launch is to
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  Speaker 4: gain some momentum. There is also a small technical detail
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  Speaker 4: in that the taxpayer funds the campaign up until the
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  Speaker 4: campaign launch, and what has happened of late is that
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  Speaker 4: the campaign launch has occurred in the last week of
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  Speaker 4: the campaign and this term, because of the Easter and
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  Speaker 4: Antik Day holidays, they're both having it early. They've both
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  Speaker 4: had it on the same day. It's very rare to
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  Speaker 4: have both campaign launchers on the same day. But the
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  Speaker 4: Easter holidays is really putting pressure on both sides to
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  Speaker 4: come out a bit earlier, and so the Coalition, realizing
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  Speaker 4: Labor was coming out this weekend, had a little choice
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  Speaker 4: but to come out on the same day.
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  Speaker 1: There you go. Do you think that makes our job
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  Speaker 1: easier or harder?
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  Speaker 4: It makes it shorter anyway, because we can deal with
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  Speaker 4: them both in one day.
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  Speaker 1: The day started with some big policy announcements around taxation.
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  Speaker 3: One off cost of living tax off said, this will
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  Speaker 3: reduce the amount of tax paid by millions of Australians
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  Speaker 3: and it will be up to twelve hundred dollars.
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  Speaker 2: Today I announced that a re elected Labor government will
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  Speaker 2: create a new one thousand dollars instant tax deduction. No paperwork,
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  Speaker 2: no box of reriscins, eat, no scrolling through your online
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  Speaker 2: banking and housing.
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  Speaker 3: A new policy for first home buyers who purchase a
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  Speaker 3: newly built property to live in a coalition government will
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  Speaker 3: allow you to deduct interest payments on the first six
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  Speaker 3: hundred and fifty thousand dollars of a mortgage against your
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  Speaker 3: taxable income. We will allow these deductions for five years
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  Speaker 3: provided you continue to live in that home for that period.
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  Speaker 2: You'll be able to buy your first home with just
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  Speaker 2: a five percent deposit and you won't have to pay
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  Speaker 2: a single dollar in mortgage insurance.
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  Speaker 4: Our government will cover it.
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  Speaker 2: And ten billion dollars to build one hundred thousand new
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  Speaker 2: homes reserved for first home buyers only, no competition from
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  Speaker 2: property investors, just a fair crack for young Australians.
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  Speaker 1: And it was those competing housing policies that really got
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  Speaker 1: people riled up.
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  Speaker 4: Probably better politics than they are policy. There is no
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  Speaker 4: doubt that the housing crisis is a crisis and that
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  Speaker 4: younger people particularly feel like they are shut out. Australians
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  Speaker 4: historically have high rates of home ownership. It is an
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  Speaker 4: Australian dream and there has been a breakdown in the
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  Speaker 4: generations of late where people because of the high cost
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  Speaker 4: of real estate the high prices, the actual pressure from
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  Speaker 4: the lending institutions. It has been much more difficult for
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  Speaker 4: young people to buy a house, mainly because of the
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  Speaker 4: supply of houses, which drives up the price. So what
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  Speaker 4: we saw today from both sides was aimed at younger buyers.
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  Speaker 4: Now the government approach actually pushes up demand. So in
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  Speaker 4: a simple real estate world, that's not such a good idea. Now.
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  Speaker 4: Coupled with that was the labor proposal to build more
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  Speaker 4: homes which would be specifically targeted at first home buyers. Now,
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  Speaker 4: again this sounds good. The problem is that the government's
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  Speaker 4: promises on how building have failed. They have not been
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  Speaker 4: able to build anywhere near the number of houses they
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  Speaker 4: said they would. And yet Anthony Albernes's launch is talking
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  Speaker 4: about what we have done, what we have achieved. It
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  Speaker 4: seems that the promises on housing are essentially more of
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  Speaker 4: the same, targeted at young people with probably even less
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  Speaker 4: chance of success. So I think that politically, yes, it's
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  Speaker 4: appealing to young people, but economically and in a market sense,
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  Speaker 4: it's probably not going to help. Peter Dutton's alternative is
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  Speaker 4: to also offer ten billion help and provide help to
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  Speaker 4: first home buyers. Also though he takes a slightly different
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  Speaker 4: view and saying that we are going to provide five
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  Speaker 4: billion to help count's cut regulation. Now this actually is
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  Speaker 4: sensible policy because it actually says we're not going to
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  Speaker 4: finance land. What Peter Dutton is talking about is saying
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  Speaker 4: we're going to try and make it easier for developers
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  Speaker 4: and for counsels to make more land available address supply.
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  Speaker 4: And now that is better, but still the promises with
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  Speaker 4: all the billions and so forth, probably is only going
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  Speaker 4: to push up demand as well. The other aspect of
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  Speaker 4: all of this, both of them are talking about the
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  Speaker 4: bank of Mum and Dad. Now the bank of Mum
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  Speaker 4: and Dad is the baby boomers and Gen X, So
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  Speaker 4: the question is here, what are they offering in housing
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  Speaker 4: for Gen X and the baby Boomers.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you wrote for The Australian that this narrative that
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  Speaker 1: we've all brought into about young voters being millennials and
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  Speaker 1: Gen Z out numbering older vote is from the baby
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  Speaker 1: boomer generation for the first time is actually inaccurate because
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  Speaker 1: it's written gen X out of the equation entirely. The
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  Speaker 1: housing policies pitched by both Labor and the Coalition are
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  Speaker 1: presumably pitched at that younger cohort. So are they vote
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  Speaker 1: winners do you think? And if so, are they election
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  Speaker 1: winners if gen X hasn't been factored in.
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  Speaker 4: My wife made this point, and we're baby boomers and
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  Speaker 4: we have children and grandchildren in every generation right through
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  Speaker 4: to alpha or most mini alphas. And the point is
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  Speaker 4: that just to appeal to one group is a bit blind,
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  Speaker 4: because baby boomers an ex generation who will say I
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  Speaker 4: want to help the young people and I will vote
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  Speaker 4: for what I think will help them, particularly the bank
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  Speaker 4: of Mum and Dad, as Peter Dutton puts it. So
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  Speaker 4: there are cross generational appeals. But at this stage, as
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  Speaker 4: far as the housing is concerned, most of the emphasis
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  Speaker 4: from both parties has been on the younger voters because
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  Speaker 4: of the housing crisis. It's part of a general emphasis
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  Speaker 4: on younger voters. But I think overall the Labor Party
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  Speaker 4: and the Liberal Party have started to push the housing
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  Speaker 4: crisis too much towards the young Australians.
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  Speaker 1: Labour knows this dance around housing all too well. The
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister's predecessor, Bill Shorten lost what was widely considered
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  Speaker 1: an unlosable election thanks to a fumble on franking credits
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  Speaker 1: and an attempt to limit negative gearing.
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  Speaker 4: The problem for Anthony Albernasi is that he wants to
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  Speaker 4: appeal to the younger voters, those who have maybe attracted
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  Speaker 4: the Greens particularly. At the same time, he is absolutely
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  Speaker 4: denying that he's going to adopt any of the Green
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  Speaker 4: policy on inheritance, on capital gains tax and negative gearing
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  Speaker 4: because he knows who's all of those older voters are
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  Speaker 4: going to be turned off by that and it did
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  Speaker 4: shift the election that Bill Shorten lost in. Anthony Albenese
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  Speaker 4: knows that he's got to balance it, and so he's
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  Speaker 4: got to try and a get Green preferences to win
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  Speaker 4: seats and say I'm not going to adopt Green's policies.
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  Speaker 4: And at the same time, Peter Dutton is saying the
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  Speaker 4: Greens are against everything that we stand for, but they
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  Speaker 4: also stand for inheritance tax, changes, the superannuation capital gains
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  Speaker 4: tax and changes the negative gearing. So he is locking
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  Speaker 4: Anthony Alberenes in with the Greens, handcuffing them together on
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  Speaker 4: unpopular policies for older Australians.
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  Speaker 1: Coming up. The political calculus of both major parties was
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  Speaker 1: on display on Sunday the coalition's election campaign officially kicked
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  Speaker 1: off in the seat of Werrower, where Liberal and National
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  Speaker 1: MPs pumped up the party's credentials in Western Sydney.
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  Speaker 2: Welcome to Western Sydney, the heartland of the Liberal Party.
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  Speaker 4: A fitting place to launch our vision for Australia because
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  Speaker 4: the history of our country has been written here.
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  Speaker 1: Werrower is currently held by Labours and Stanley, and the
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  Speaker 1: party has deep roots there. It's been held by the
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  Speaker 1: ALP since nineteen thirty four, including by former pm GoF Whitlam.
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  Speaker 1: But Labour's pitch was made on the other side of
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  Speaker 1: the country in Perth, making it the thirteenth visit by
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi to Western Australia in this term.
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  Speaker 1: Premier Roger Cook, still basking in the glory of an
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  Speaker 1: historic state election victory, he didn't miss his opportunity to
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  Speaker 1: have a friendly dig at the PM for his near
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  Speaker 1: constant presence.
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  Speaker 5: Now Around three years ago, Anthony Albanezi and the Federal
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  Speaker 5: Labor team convened here in Perth to launch their campaign,
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  Speaker 5: and to be honest, he's barely been away ever since.
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  Speaker 1: But this is no mistake. WA was instrumental in delivering
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  Speaker 1: Labor to government in twenty twenty two, a record it's
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  Speaker 1: hoping to repeat on May three.
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  Speaker 2: Every one of us felling a strange feature together.
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  Speaker 4: This is a defensive move. He has to hold on
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  Speaker 4: to those seats. He may be in trouble in New
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  Speaker 4: South Wales and certainly in Victoria, so he cannot afford
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  Speaker 4: to lose seats in Western Australia. There was some view
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  Speaker 4: to begin with that the Labor Party was in trouble
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  Speaker 4: in Western Australia, that there'd be a big difference between
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  Speaker 4: federal and state. I think that the polling is suggesting
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  Speaker 4: that's not so much the case.
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  Speaker 1: And what about Peter Dutton and the coalition in the
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  Speaker 1: Western Sydney seat of Werrowa. There was a lot of
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  Speaker 1: retoric from Liberal MPs around that region being a liberal heartland,
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  Speaker 1: despite history suggesting otherwise. Was that a good choice?
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  Speaker 4: Oh, it really was the only choice. Brisbane is Dutton's
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  Speaker 4: home state. It is very strong for the LNP and
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  Speaker 4: so it would have been a bit of a wasted
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  Speaker 4: launch to have it in Queensland and suburban Sydney has
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  Speaker 4: always been the heart of Dutton's campaign, so it made
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  Speaker 4: absolute sense for them to launch in Western Sydney, the
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  Speaker 4: fact that it was a very aggressive move in the
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  Speaker 4: seat of Werrower, the old seat of Gough Whitlam. It
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  Speaker 4: is one that the Coalition has hopes of picking up.
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  Speaker 4: And what Peter Dutton is trying to get back to
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  Speaker 4: was that it was the home of the Howard Sattlers.
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  Speaker 4: And of course in nineteen ninety six John Howard was
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  Speaker 4: swept to power by the strength of the vote in
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  Speaker 4: Western Sydney. And when the Liberal Party can do well
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  Speaker 4: in Western Sydney, it does well nationally. And that's why
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  Speaker 4: they've got such high hopes in Western Sydney.
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  Speaker 1: That's why we called you in to be there.
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  Speaker 4: Yes, exactly all the way from Camber.
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  Speaker 1: Dennis Shanahan is The Australian's National editor. You can read
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  Speaker 1: all our experts, reporting and analysis from the campaign trail
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  Speaker 1: anytime at the Australian dot com dot au