Australian news and politics recap: Coalition releases full costings, takes aim at Labor’s ‘lies’

Prime Minister Anthony Albanase has been given a rock star welcome at Winthrop Primary School in Perth.

Attending with WA Premier Roger Cook, the PM ran towards the excited crowd of kids who were eagerly awaiting his arrival.

Mr Cook introduced the kids to his important guests, starting with “Hugo’s mum”, who happens to be the state MP Kim Giddens.

Mr Albanese then took questions from three students, who wanted to know what the best part of being PM was, what his daily schedule was like and what his plan was for a better future.

“I feel like I’ve been campaigning for 11 years!” Mr Albanese told one of the kids.

Federal Labor will govern with a clear majority while the coalition will suffer its worst election result in 80 years, if YouGov’s final poll before the election comes true.

YouGov’s modelling points to an 84-seat win for the government, out of 150 lower house seats, to return Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to The Lodge for a second term. The winning party needs 76 seats for a majority.

Under this scenario, the Coalition will drop to 47 seats - a net loss of 11 - meaning Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will have led his party to its worst seat total since 1946.

Liberal frontbenchers David Coleman, Michael Sukkar and Dan Tehan would all lose their seats.

All of the sitting independents are tipped to retain their seats, while independent challengers are tipped to win Calare, Cowper, Wannon and Bradfield from the Coalition.

Read the full story.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said on Thursday that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will not make it to the end of another term if he wins the Federal election.

Mr Dutton also speculated that if Mr Albanese loses the election, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek would have an “unholy row” over Labor’s top job.

When asked by 2SM host Chris Smith if he would step down if the Coalition lost the 2025 election, Mr Dutton said, “We are going to win on Saturday.

“Firstly, let’s save our country from three more years of Labor,” he said.

“We’re going to do it because we’ve put in the hard work.

“We’ve been an incredible united opposition and we have the policies which, I think, will address the cost of living pressures, realise the dream again of home ownership for young Australians and make sure that we can keep our country and our community safe and we’re the only alternative at this election going forward with a policy to clamp down and to wipe out bikie gangs and others who are bringing drugs and illicit tobacco across our borders and that’s what’s made our communities less safe.”

Anthony Albanese is visiting Winthrop Primary School with WA Premier Roger Cook this morning, in the seat of Tangney.

The two will speak with principal Karina Meldrum before meeting students from Years 4, 5 and 6.

Tangney is Labor’s most marginal seat in WA.

This is the PM’s fourth visit to WA during the campaign, underscoring the importance for Labor of holding onto all of its nine seats in the State.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says the start date for the Coalition’s nuclear plan is “too far away to contemplate”, explaining why it took a back seat in his 2025 Federal election campaign.

“It’s just not been a huge issue at this election, either for or against,” Mr Dutton told Chris Smith on Sydney’s 2SM during a Thursday morning interview.

“I think people have prioritised other issues and that’s probably where the campaign’s concentrated.”

During a campaign stop in the teal-held seat of Kooyong on Wednesday night, Mr Dutton was heard saying nuclear was “not a big vote driver this election… people are voting on cost of living.”

“It doesn’t start till 2035,” he added.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has spoken on Sydney’s 2SM about Labor’s policy relating to unrealised capital gains tax.

“If parents and grandparents are concerned about it, then they really should be having the conversation with their kids and grandkids,” Mr Dutton responded.

“If you have an asset that is in superannuation, for example. You might have a farm in a self-managed super fund, you might not have much cash in there at all.

“It’s like saying to a salaried worker, we want you to pay your tax before you get paid each week.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had been told not to attend an interview in Brisbane on Thursday over security concerns.

ABC Brisbane’s Mornings host Steve Austin told listeners on Thursday that an in-person interview had been cancelled after Australian Federal Police (AFP) advised there was too much risk.

The Opposition Leader instead called into the station for his breakfast radio interview.

Neither Mr Dutton nor Austin provided a specific reason or incident that prompted the AFP advice.

Mr Dutton’s Dickson electoral office has been vandalised several times ahead of the election.

Mr Dutton described it as a “senseless crime” costing taxpayers thousands of dollars in clean-up bills.

“(It’s a) senseless crime that doesn’t achieve anything,” he told Austin on ABC.

“That taxpayers end up paying for the cleanup and refurbishment.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says his office did not ask for the support of the controversial Exclusive Brethren to help the Coalition campaign.

Reports have emerged that members of the religious sect - whose members don’t vote, and have hardline views on abortion and homosexuality - have been volunteering for Liberal candidates.

Mr Dutton has previously batted away questions about whether it’s appropriate for members of the sect to volunteer with the party and says members of all religions have been involved in campaigning.

Asked today specifically whether his office asked for the sect’s support, he said “no” and quickly moved on.

The Prime Minister has been asked a bunch of strange questions on Sydney radio on Thursday morning.

Anthony Albanese has been asked about whether he takes illegal drugs and if he knows the identity of an Only Fans star.

Steering the conversation away from whether Australia should legalise marijuana:

“I’m off the beers at the moment. I’ve been since 1 January,” Mr Albanese told Kyle and Jackie O.

“I’ll put my hand up and say, there been a few exceptions, you know, my birthday and when I cut, how about this for a policy we did, freezing the excise payments, the tax essentially on beer for two years. That was pretty popular. And I had, I had to, I’d never be when I was announcing that.”

Mr Dutton is asked why during the campaign he has not stood beside David Crisafulli, the LNP Queensland premier, and one of the most popular politicians in the country.

He says he is great friends with him and a “huge supporter of David” but that “we are fighting this election on federal issues.”

“I think David has done a great job to try and clean up Labor’s mess here in Queensland,” he says, adding that Queenslanders understand what Labor did to the local economy.

“That’s why they changed government. Also because crime and bail laws were out of control, as is the case in Victoria at the moment, as is the case in the Northern Territory,” he says.