Australian Politics

In short:

The Coalition's budget bottom line would be $7.9 billion worse off than Labor's in the first two years of a Dutton government, and $21.8 billion better off in the following two years.

Most of the budget improvement comes from a $17.2 billion public service cut, and a $3.6 billion vaping tax, but migration cuts will cost the budget $4.2 billion and nuclear power will have an eventual $118 billion "off-budget" cost.

What's next?

The Coalition has not offered a timeline for a return to surplus, but Angus Taylor says it would be achieved "faster than Labor".

Peter Dutton is in a serious but stable condition after receiving a welcome to his front door earlier today.

Stopping home briefly while on the campaign trail, the Opposition Leader had a cardiac arrest after spotting a welcome doormat on his porch. After receiving CPR at the scene, Dutton recovered enough to make a statement, saying it was ridiculous that he was unable to get in the door without being subjected to a welcome to his own house.

“It’s getting out of hand. This is my home; I don’t need to be welcomed to it,” he said.

A Sky News viewer has left a giant hole in his computer screen because he doesn’t like being welcomed to his own computer.

59 year old Paul Smith, an Australian patriot, has today lost his cool and punched his screen while booting up the home computer and seeing the home screen say “welcome”.

“I bought this computer brand new from Harvey Norman in 2009, this is my computer and I don’t need someone welcoming me to it!” said a frustrated Paul.

Future Former-Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has responded to recent polls that show many see him as ‘untrustworthy’, by saying that he actually has plenty of ‘trusts’.

This comes as 4Corners revealed that Dutton didn’t disclose his stake in a family trust worth tens of millions of dollars while serving as a cabinet minister, in the sort of factual reporting that gets a news company dubbed ‘hate media’ by Dutton.

“People say trust is earned,” said Dutton, “and my family has earned a lot of money, so I’m clearly worthy of my trusts.”

Context: ABC News: Peter Dutton failed to disclose he was the beneficiary of a family trust, Four Corners reveals

Archive: https://archive.md/rMuVR

In this election, voters are more distrustful than ever of politicians, and the political heroes of 2022 have fallen from grace, swept from favour by independent players.

A Roy Morgan survey has found, for the first time, that Australians are driven more by who they distrust than who they trust.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is the most distrusted figure, outranking even US President Donald Trump. [!!!!!!!!!!!!] He’s three times more distrusted than Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/21256693

archived (Wayback Machine)

Hey auspol. It's about that time again: you know, the one where you have to sit around researching about 15 minor parties that sound distantly familiar to figure out what to put as your bottom preferences.

This year I found my way to a couple of blogs which offer brief and unabashedly biased reviews of the minor parties in the federal landscape. These are not new, I'm just late.

• Blatantly Partisan Party Reviews
• Something for Cate

Both blogs are written from a relatively progressive-left perspective, at least by Australian standards. Inside the spoiler below is what they say about themselves:

While I obviously recommend you come to your own conclusions about the parties, it can be nice to hear what other voters think of them, especially when it's some shit you never heard of before.

Something for Cate especially includes coverage of unregistered groupings, which are a deep black box of nothing to me most of the time.

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/election-2025-i-would-defy-icc-welcome-benjamin-netanyahu-to-australia-says-peter-dutton/news-story/13b13afe4924c246a68cc7b74b72444e

Labor announced it would allow first home buyers to purchase homes with a 5 per cent deposit. It also pledged $10 billion to go towards building 100,000 new homes over eight years — exclusively available to first-time buyers — by way of grants to states and territories, and zero-interest loans or equity investments.

The Coalition's policy would see interest payments on mortgages taken out by first-time buyers on newly built homes be tax deductible for five years.

Economists have been quick to give scathing assessments of some of the latest policies, which they argue will drive up demand, and in turn, housing prices. Chris Richardson labelled the major parties' platforms a "dumpster fire of dumb stuff", while Saul Eslake called the Coalition's planned tax deduction "candidate for dumbest policy decision of the 21st century".

But housing experts say the policies are missing the crucial issue driving the housing shortage.

Multicultural policy is adrift in the election campaign, with the major parties refusing to commit to the changes needed to minimise mounting community tensions

Archive/non-paywall link.

Another election brings another round of promises from politicians trying to win votes, but how many did the last government keep? It’s likely more than you think.

I am genuinely sad that I keep being reminded of:

"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which"

Radio interview of Albanese: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/melbourne-mornings/prime-minister-calls-pro-squatter-candidate-a-disgrace/105181870

News story that this is in relation to: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-16/purple-pingers-jordan-van-den-lamb-squatters-post-senate-elex/105150596

From SBS News YouTube channel:

The Liberal Party has released a 'diss track' titled Leaving Labor, urging voters to reject Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party in the upcoming federal election.

Set against a heavy beat, an unnamed artist calls out the soaring costs of groceries, rent, and everyday essentials in the minute-long rap song.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton admitted he had not listened to the song before its release.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded by saying Labor will not be releasing their own diss track.