Source : the age
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Dutton has targeted Albanese’s integrity by again claiming that Labor plans to legislate a Voice to parliament after the unsuccessful referendum in 2023.
Speaking in Perth, the opposition leader pointed to comments by ministers Penny Wong and Anika Wells as evidence of his claim.
Peter Dutton in Perth this afternoon.Credit: James Brickwood
Earlier this week, Wong told the Betoota Talks podcast that she believed Australia would “look back on [the Voice] in 10 years’ time and it’ll be a bit like marriage equality”. But she later clarified in a statement that the “Voice is gone”.
Yesterday, Wells said that “the Voice in the form that we took to the referendum is gone” and the government respected the outcome but is “always looking for a way to help First Nations people”.
Dutton said: “They have a plan to introduce, by legislation, a Voice [to parliament].
“Now, Australians voted against that. And you would have thought that the prime minister would have been honest. But even on that issue, he’s not being honest.”
Peter Dutton just started his press conference in Perth by focusing his final pitch for votes on Australia’s economy, attacking Labor for price rises in the last three years.
The opposition leader held up a picture of the front page of The Australian from before the 2022 election, which had a photo of Albanese with the headline: “Life will be cheaper under me.”
“This was the prime minister’s main pitch going into the last election,” Dutton told reporters moments ago.
“I haven’t found one Australian who can say that they’re paying less for their power.”
The prime minister is campaigning in Devonport. Here are some pictures.
The PM says Labor candidate for Braddon, Anne Urquhart, has a strong chance of winning the safe Liberal seat.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Liberal volunteers were on the scene too. One chased the PM to heckle him on spending millions on the Voice referendum.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The PM says Urquhart is respected across parliament.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The opposition leader is campaigning the marginal electorate of Tangney in Western Australia.
Watch his press conference below:
Peter Dutton spent the past three years, and first three weeks of the election campaign, deriding Anthony Albanese as a “weak” prime minister.
But after a faltering election campaign Dutton’s characterisation of his opponent has flipped from weak to “liar”.
Both sides label their opponents as dishonest, and there’s nothing new to politics in that. But what is significant is Dutton’s perception of Albanese.
Previously Albanese was cast as the passenger prime minister who was too weak to get a phone call from Trump, couldn’t deliver the Voice to parliament and too weak to stand up to China.
But now, as Dutton’s support slips in the polls and expectations of an election loss rise, Dutton is referring to Albanese as the protagonist in the campaign.
That’s why the Coalition leader is instructing voters to ignore the campaign, treat the election as a referendum on the past three years and focus on the time when Albanese was weak.
Faced with the potential for an election defeat tomorrow night, and a threat of being dumped as Liberal leader, Dutton is casting around for blame.
For more than 90 state and federal elections, Antony Green has been a fixture on the ABC. But as he prepares to call his last election on Saturday night, the 65-year-old is as modest as ever.
“I don’t particularly feel anything, to be honest,” he says. “It’s just another election for me. It’ll probably hit me more when the next bunch of elections come around and I’m not as involved as I was.”
Antony Green sits on the ABC election set ahead of what he says is his last election.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
In fact, trying to get any kind of sentiment out of him ahead of the big day, is near impossible.
He is a big music fan, does he listen to anything to pump himself up? “No, Friday is devoted to rehearsals and avoiding interviews.”
The PM believes Labor “absolutely” has a chance to win the safe Liberal electorate of Braddon as Senator Anne Urquhart looks to replace retiring Liberal MP Gavin Pearce.
“She’s someone who’s respected across the parliament,” Albanese said of Urquhart as they sat at a local bakery.
The PM with Anne Urquhart in Tasmania.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Albanese said winning Braddon would be a tight contest but that “there’s a lot of working-class people here” who understood the importance of policies such as same job, same pay.
The PM took the time to fulfil locals’ selfie requests during the brief campaign stop.
Albanese’s visit to Devonport has not been without its bumps – all part of the fun of a public appearance like a street walk.
A swath of Liberal volunteers followed Albanese and his Labor volunteers down the street, and a man yelled out to the prime minister.
Jodie Haydon, Anthony Albanese and Labor candidate for Braddon, Anne Urquhart talk a walk down Rooke Street Mall.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“Where’s the $450 million you spent on the Voice? It’s a waste of money!” he shouted.
Tangney is the location of Peter Dutton’s first event in Perth today.
He will be joined by Liberal candidate Howard Ong, who is challenging Labor MP Sam Lim for the seat he holds on a small 2.8 per cent margin.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has broken his silence to endorse a second term for Anthony Albanese as he praised the prime minister’s efforts to secure his release from prison.
Assange, who attended Pope Francis’ funeral in the Vatican last week in a rare public sighting, has almost entirely avoided public commentary since his dramatic return to Australia last June after he struck a plea deal with the US Justice Department.
Julian Assange arrives at Canberra airport last year after agreeing to a plea deal with US prosecutors that led to his release.Credit: James Brickwood
In a statement provided to this masthead today, Assange said that, in the lead up to Saturday’s federal election, many Australians had asked him whether Albanese’s role in his release had been overstated and whether he “has the backbone to stand up for Australians on other tough issues”.
“The truth is, in what became an impressive field of advocates, Albo did more to secure my freedom than any other politician or public figure, even more than the late Pope, whose support was both moving and significant,” Assange said.
