Australian news and politics recap: Albanese hits out at Dutton for lack of detail, Coalition says it's clear

Cheekily asked which premier he dislikes the most, Anthony Albanese said he liked them all.

Especially the Labor ones, but he still gets on with those in the other camp, he said.

The favourite was “obviously” Roger Cook.

“I do know where I am, of course,” Mr Albanese said in Perth.

Harvey asks the PM how the Government can justify giving everyone tax cuts when it’s staring down the barrel of a $40 billion deficit.

“One of the most courageous things we’ve done ... is took what was going to be a $9000 tax cut and halved it $4500 ... to make sure everyone got a tax cut,” he says.

“We have deliberately made that decision. It was a tough decision to make.”

Albanese also points out that the Government will lower the marginal tax rate from 16 per cent down to 15 per cent next year.

None.

The Prime Minister told The West Australian’s Ben Harvey he was “very satisfied” with his current cabinet and couldn’t choose one he would hand over to Peter Dutton if he had to.

“I wouldn’t swap any of my people,” he said.

Cue a smile from his cabinet members in the room.

The West Australian’s chief reporter Ben Harvey has asked the Prime Minister whether things are getting more ‘brutal’ in politics.

“It probably is, in some ways,” Albanese says.

“Campaigns are always hard, and they should be. We should be tested during a campaign.”

“The world won’t wait around for Australia, that is not the way it works,” Anthony Albanese said.

“Instead, new jobs and industries will go right past us.

“That is what is at stake on the third of May.

“That is the choice for Australia and Western Australia.

“At this election, Labor is asking for the opportunity to keep building. To continue to work with the Cook Labor government here in WA.

“Building a stronger, more diversified, more resilient economy. Building our prosperity and security, for ourselves. Building Australia’s Future, together.”

The PM has promised to keep the WA goldfields transport on track.

“Today I announce that a re-elected Labor Government will invest $2.5 million to help make this happen,” Anthony Albanese said in Perth.

“At the moment, the Commonwealth, through the Australian Rail Track Corporation, owns and maintains the rail line from the South Australian border to Kalgoorlie.

“And as part of our Labor Government’s commitment to WA, we are prepared to take direct control of those parts of the network that the Liberals privatised, including the Eastern Goldfields Railway.

“This will ensure this vital line is maintained to the proper standard.

“And it will cut costs for producers and consumers and boost productivity in every link of the WA supply chain.”

Anthony Albanese gets more excited about Intermodal Freight Terminals than most, he admits.

“But these are truly transformative projects,” he said.

“They take us away from the model of last century, where everything produced in regional Australia had to be loaded onto a truck or a train and travel all the way to a capital city warehouse before it could go anywhere else.

“Instead, these terminals are built at the intersection of crucial infrastructure.

“Away from suburban roads and daily commuters to enable the seamless transfer from road to rail to shipping export.”

“It will be underpinned by two key mechanisms,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

One being national offtake agreements and the other being to build stockpiles in Australia.

“The Offtake Agreements will be voluntary contracts that Government signs with either new or existing projects, where the Commonwealth commits to purchase agreed volumes of priority minerals,” Mr Albanese said.

“The security held in those assets will be part of the Strategic Reserve.

“We will also invest $185 million to cover the initial establishment costs of physical stockpiles of these priority minerals, on Australian soil.

“We expect these to be relatively small and time-limited but the ability for government to stockpile is an important safeguard against market pressure as well as interventions from other nations.

“It means Australia has the power to sell at the right time, to the right partners, for the right reasons.”

The PM has detailed his previously announced Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve.

“The Strategic Reserve will mean Government has the power to purchase, own and sell a priority sub-set of the 31 critical minerals found here in Australia.

“This will deliver greater certainty for industry and strengthen Australia’s standing as a trusted and reliable trading partner.

“It will mean we can deal with trade and market disruptions from a position of strength.”

Spruiking WA’s critical minerals sector didn’t take long for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

“Australia is home to some of the largest critical minerals deposits on earth, just about the whole periodic table,” he said.

“These critical minerals, including light and heavy rare earths, are essential to high-tech manufacturing, the digital economy, artificial intelligence, data centres and clean energy technology.

“At a time when so much is unpredictable, this is one area where we know for sure which way the world is headed.

“The terrain is all mapped out. Now, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to stake Australia’s claim.”