Australian politics and news recap: Richard Marles hoses down Russian base rumours, saying it’s ‘not true’

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has labelled Coalition’s housing measures rivalling Labor’s recently announced plans as “a cost-of-living con job”.

Both parties have been sledging each other’s approaches since they unveiled their measures at their respective launches on Sunday.

The PM had unveiled a plan to build 100,000 new homes over five years to address supply, while the Opposition Leader announced a mortgage tax deduction scheme to help first-home buyers with affordability.

“The choice on housing is very clear,” Dr Chalmers said while speaking with Mr Albanese and Housing Minister Clare O’Neil on Tuesday in Melbourne.

“Under Labor, higher wages, lower taxes and ongoing help with the cost of living.

“Under Peter Dutton, higher taxes, lower wages and no ongoing help with the cost of living.

“What we’re seeing from Peter Dutton is a cost of living con job.

“The relief that he wants to provide in the near term will be clawed back by higher permanent taxes on every Australian taxpayer, lower wages and as I said, no ongoing help with the cost of living.

“This is from Peter Dutton - a cost-of-living a con job.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed Australia is seeking further information about reports Russia is attempting to set up an air base in Indonesia north of Darwin.

“We have a good relationship with our friends in Indonesia, and we’re seeking further clarification,” the PM said on Tuesday.

“Our friends in Indonesia, the relationship has never been better than it is right now.

“What we’re seeking is proper clarification. That’s the way you deal with international relations.

“We are seeking further information from Indonesia about it.”

Revelations Russia had sought permission for Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft to be based at the Manuhua Air Force Base at Biak Numfor in the Indonesian province of Papua had been posted on respected military website Janes on Tuesday.

Speaking in Romsey, Victoria, Peter Dutton has lamented the PM’s diplomacy over suggestions Russia has requested to store assets in Indonesia, near Darwin.

“This would be a catastrophic failure of diplomatic relations if Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese didn’t have forewarning about this before it was made public,” Dutton said.

“This is a very, very troubling development and suggestion that somehow Russia would have some of their assets based in Indonesia only a short distance from, obviously, the north of our country.

“We need to make sure that the Government explains exactly what has happened here. Did the Prime Minister know about this before it was publicly announced by the president of Indonesia?

“And what is the Government’s response to it? The Prime Minister and the Foreign Affairs Minister should have the depth of relationship with Indonesia to have had forewarning of this.

And if they haven’t, I think they need to explain to the Australian people what has gone wrong here. Because this would be a very, very significant development and a negative one that’s obvious to all of us.”

Housing minister Clare O’Neil has called Peter Dutton’s housing policies as a “dud” and there was “no comparison” to the “running crack” that Labor were undertaking to address housing affordability.

Ms O’Neil made the remarks while speaking alongside Anthony Albanese in the electorate of Cooper while visiting constructed homes funded from Labor’s Social Housing Accelerator program.

“We are building more homes. We are helping renters get a better deal. And we are getting more homeowners into ownership,” she said.

“There is absolutely no comparison between the housing policies being offered at this election between Labor and Liberal.

“We have, on one hand here, a government that is actually taking a running crack at addressing the underlying causes of the housing crisis in our country - $43 billion which will be invested mainly in building more homes for our country.

“In contrast, we have this ridiculous set of policies that Peter Dutton has come up with from God knows where - it’s actually wild.

“If Peter Dutton’s plan will build fewer homes with more expensive housing for the country, making our housing crisis worse.”

At a press comnference in Melbourne, the Prime Minister has promised that “Under Labor, there will be more homes and smaller deposits”.

“Under Peter Dutton, there’ll be fewer homes and higher prices,” he said.

“I want to help first-home buyers into homeownership, and particularly young Australians into home ownership.

“But I’m also a big supporter of social housing. And one of the things we did was to have a $2 billion social housing accelerator.”

Russia has reportedly lodged an official request to base several long-range aircraft in Indonesia’s easternmost province near Darwin.

The increase of Moscow’s Indo-Pacific military footprint has prompted the attention of Australian officials who are reportedly investigating the development.

Revelations Russia had sought permission for Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft to be based at the Manuhua Air Force Base at Biak Numfor in the Indonesian province of Papua had been posted on respected military website Janes on Tuesday.

“The request was received by the office of Minister of Defence Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin following his meeting with Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu in February 2025,” it stated.

The Manuhua Air Force Base, which shares a runway with the Frans Kaisiepo Airport, is just 1300 kilometres away from the Australian mainland.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had labelled Australia’s relationship with Indonesia “stronger” than ever on Monday.

Anthony Albanese is getting more reach with his TikToks than Peter Dutton or Adam Bandt, new analysis shows.

Views on the Prime Minister’s videos are outpacing the Opposition Leader by 6:1 and the Greens leader by 9:1, according to influencer marketing platform Fabulate.

They found Mr Albanese was posting far more, but also his content was travelling further on average and driving significantly more engagement in terms of likes and comments.

“One of the defining things about TikTok is that it’s not solely your follower account which determines how far your videos go,” said Nathan Powell from Fabulate.

“Clearly the Albanese team have learnt a lesson or two about TikTok and are following best practice on the platform, which is posting consistency and having clear content pillars to message to your audience.”

Mr Albanese’s TikTok has 36,200 followers and a 6.9 per cent engagement rate.

Mr Dutton has 31,600 followers and a 6.29 per cent engagement rate, while Mr Bandt has 18,400 followers and a 13.22 per cent engagement rate.

Peter Dutton has spoken with locals at a fuel station in the seat of Hawke out of Melbourne to promote his fuel excise policy.

A local truck driver was among those to chat with the opposition leader and said while he was still undecided, herding Mr Dutton’s election promises could sway his vote to the Liberals.

“I feel as though in Australia you should have the right not to vote,” he said.

“But then without voting you can’t have a say, so I’m still on the fence with who I’ll vote for at this stage. That (speaking to Mr Dutton) was helpful and yes, he probably would get my vote.”

The service station stop marks Mr Dutton’s 10th during the federal election campaign as he seeks to place Coalition as the party to protect Aussies hip pocket.

Mr Dutton has previously been criticised on the campaign for not meeting with the general public, with both parties sticking to controlled interactions due to security concerns in the wake of previous protests.

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Andrew Faulkner, who drove up to the Rockbank service station with his family was just trying to fill up his truck when he had the rare chance to ask Peter Dutton what was on his mind.

Peering through the bowsers at the commotion around the Opposition Leader as he filled up a campaign van, Mr Faulkner was initially reluctant to question Mr Dutton but then began to speak his mind.

He asked Mr Dutton about his family’s problems getting an answer out of the NDIS for his disabled child.

“I have a disabled child, we’ve spent $18,000 on doing reports and then the NDIS don’t read the reports, Mr Faulkner said.

“They sent out an email saying we don’t have time to read the reports, so why do the reports need to be done?” he said.

“Can we get your details and I’ll chase it up for you?” responded Mr Dutton.

“Thanks very much for your time,” said Mr Faulkner as he returned to the driving seat.

“We’re trying to give you 25 cents a litre off your diesel” Mr Dutton then said.

“I reckon!” he said, when asked if Mr Dutton had won him over with his interaction.

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Peter Dutton has dismissed questions about disunity within Coalition after Nationals Bullwinkel candidate Mia Davies broke ranks by publicly backing Labor’s flagship critical mineral and hydrogen production tax incentive policy.

The former WA Nationals leader has said she’s disappointed Coalition opposed the policy in the 2024 federal budget and would have argued in favour of it if she had been in the Coalition party room at the time.

Mr Dutton deflected questions on Ms Davies’ potential ole in the Coalition if elected into the new outer Perth seat, where she’s in a tight three-cornered contest with Liberal candidate Matt Moran and Labor’s Trish Cook.

He instead backed his candidate Mr Moran to have success in the electorate.

“In relation to WA, we’ve been clear about our policy,” he said.

“Matt Moran is doing a fantastic job in Bullwinkel and I believe he’ll be elected as the next member.

“If he does that, then we are one step closer to getting rid of a bad government.”