Australian news and politics recap: Anthony Albanese forced to defend spending, foreign diplomacy

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher says the Albanese government has brought savings and reprioritisations to over $100 billion since it was elected in 2022, and will find more savings if re-elected.

“So, the costings today: we will find a whole-of-government save in the order of $6.4 billion.

“This will be focused on non-wage expenses - so, not on people or on programs, but on all of the other expenses and resourcing that whole of government has.

“We’ve managed in the first term to find about $5.3 billion in savings in those areas.

“So this is really a continuation of that effort.

“And we have no doubt that we will be able to deliver those savings without impacting, importantly, on the services and the programs that the APS provide.

“The costings that we release today show that we will more than offset our election campaign commitments in every year of the forward estimates.

“We will finish this election campaign with the budget in a stronger position than at the start of the election campaign.

“We have improved the budget position by more than $1 billion comparing the pre-election outlook to the costings that we release today.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says Labor is releasing it’s election costings earlier than usual.

“We are making very clear the cost of Labor’s policies and how we will pay for them much earlier than usual, at the start of the final week of the election campaign.

“Responsible economic management has been a defining feature of this Albanese Labor government.

“Responsible economic managers throughout our first term and responsible economic managers if weget a second term as well.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher are in Brisbane today and are about to hold a press conference to discuss costings.

We’ll bring it to you as it happens.

Mr Dutton is asked about his personal wealth and whether he believes a career in politics is now unreachable for people of a lower socio-economic background.

He says both he and the Prime Minister have worked their way up from similar tough backgrounds to reach their current status in politics.

“We’ve both worked hard … That’s the reality of the Prime Minister’s story as well. He’s worked hard during his working life.

“He’s worked for the Union, he’s worked for the Labor Party, and he’s been in parliament for almost 30 years. He’s worked hard for his community,” he says.

“I started with nothing, and we were able to work hard and sacrifice and build a business, and I’m proud of what we were able to achieve,” he adds.

“We started businesses from scratch and built them up.”

Mr Dutton concludes that both their stories show that politics is open to all Australians.

“I think what it says to all Australians is you can come from any background, and you can achieve leadership in one of the major political parties. You can aspire to be Prime Minister.”

Anthony Albanese has moved on from his brief but eventful visit to the seat of Banks and is now in Cabramatta, in the electorate of Fowler, where received a much more enthusiastic welcome during a street walk with candidate Tu Le.

Ellen Ransley reports locals swamped the PM hoping for a selfie, with Mr Albanese holding babies and chatting with children.

Labor is hoping it can wrest the western Sydney seat back from independent Dai Le.

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International ratings agency S&P Global has warned the Albanese government that Australia’s credit rating is at risk from big-ticket spending pledges during the campaign.

According to S&P, the nation’s top tier ‘AAA’ rating could be jeapordised if election promises result in “larger structural deficits, and debt and interest expenses rising more than we expect”.

The warning came in a report released by the agency on Monday called “Hey Big Spender”.

Australia has long held the top AAA rating thanks to “sound fiscal management … over several decades” S&P said but the agency worries that the current round of election commitments don’t have a clear revenue offset.

The warning comes as public spending across Federal and State governments hits a post war high of almost 27 per cent and the general government deficit reaches 2.5 per cent of GDP - a level not seen since the global financial crisis, notwithstanding the pandemic.

Anthony Albanese has visited a pre poll booth in the electorate of Banks where has been accosted by a pro-Palestine protester linked to Fatima Payman’s Australia’s Voice Party, met a young boy called Eric, and was on the receiving end of a number of drive by comments - including by one man who yelled out “Albo, you sick c***”.

Peter Dutton skirts a question about whether he thinks it’s fair for businesses to charge their customers weekend and holiday surcharges.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously queried the growing practice of cafe owners and restaurateurs hitting customers with surcharges on Sundays and long weekends.

The hospitality sector justifies surcharges due to spiralling wage costs.

Mr Dutton, who is presenting his party as the party of small business and the worker, says the Prime Minister is “completely out of touch with where families are,” arguing that businesses are struggling to be profitable under a Labor Government.

Wages are up by ten per cent, the price of food and groceries by 30 per cent, he says.

“We need to make sure that our employees are taken care of. But equally, we don’t want to see businesses going broke,” he says.

“And that’s the economy under Mr. Albanese, we’ll fix that, because the Liberal Party will always manage the economy more effectively.”

Peter Dutton says Welcome to Country ceremonies should be held at “significant events” like the opening of Parliament.

During last night’s debate, he said he believed the Welcome to Country had become “overdone” and risked being cheapened by being used too often.

He said today he prefered to provide support to practical reconciliation measures in health, education, housing and safety.

“We want to help every Australian, and we want to make sure that we can respect Australians but not to diminish the significance of a Welcome to Country, which I think is taking place and I think that’s the experience of many Australians,” he said.

Later, he is asked whether the acknowledgement of Country played by Qantas whenever its flights land in a new location is an example of overdoing it.

“I think that’s over the top,” Mr Dutton said.

A Welcome to Country is an Indigenous custom where a traditional owner welcomes visitors to their lands – not the whole of Australia – and offers them safe passage. Acknowledgements of Country are different, being statements of respect for traditional owners that can be made by anyone.

Mr Dutton is then asked whether Anzac Day dawn ceremonies are events significant enough to warrant a Welcome to Country.

He replies “no” but says it’s a decision for individual event organisers to make.

The latest scrutiny of when they are appropriate was sparked after far-right protesters in Perth and Melbourne interrupted Indigenous portions of dawn services on Friday.