Coalition pledges to remove EV tax break two days after Dutton ruled out scrapping it – as it happened
Key events
What we learned, Wednesday 23 April
Emily Wind
Many thanks for joining us for another whirlwind day on the campaign trail – here are all the main takeaways from day 27:
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A Coalition government announced that if elected, it would boost Australian defence spending to the 3% of GDP over the next decade – the figure demanded by the Trump administration of America’s allies.
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Peter Dutton refused to specify where the additional $21bn in pledged defence spending would be allocated, nor where the money would come from, committing only to releasing the Coalition’s costings before the 3 May election.
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Speaking to reporters, the shadow defence minister, Andrew Hastie, said Australia can’t take security from the US for “granted”.
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The defence minister, Richard Marles, labelled the Coalition’s announcement as a “pathetic whimper”, and the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, demanded answers from the Coalition and for them to release their costings.
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Liberal frontbencher Jane Hume has promised the Coalition’s costings will come “next week”. The opposition’s election commitments now total more than $50bn – not including the new defence announcement, according to Labor analysis.
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Dutton committed to redoing security checks for thousands of Palestinians from Gaza granted visitor visas in Australia, and doubled down on introducing questions on antisemitism in citizenship tests.
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The Coalition also confirmed it would axe Labor’s tax breaks for electric vehicle drivers – just two days after Dutton ruled out scrapping it.
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Labor announced $78m to fast-track the qualifications of 6,000 tradies, as Anthony Albanese visited his electorate of Grayndler in the morning.
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The prime minister also campaigned at Collie in WA, at the site of a proposed nuclear site from the Coalition that he says Dutton “refuses to visit”.
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The health minister, Mark Butler, went head-to-head with the shadow minister for health, Anne Ruston. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, also faced off for the second time.
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More than half a million voters have already handed in their ballots, according to the Australian Electoral Commission.
Krishani Dhanji will be back with you bright and early tomorrow morning. Until then, take care and enjoy your evening.
AEC identifies person behind unauthorised pamphlets targeting Allegra Spender
The Australian Electoral Commission says it has identified a lone individual allegedly responsible for distributing unauthorised pamphlets in Wentworth, targeting Allegra Spender.
In a statement tonight, the AEC said it would not be providing the name of the person, but it has confirmed the individual acted alone and has never been affiliated with any party, and is not contesting the election.
A written undertaking has been sought and received by the AEC from the individual responsible for the unauthorised pamphlets that they will not distribute any further copies of the material or any other unauthorised electoral matter during the 2025 federal election period. The AEC accepts this undertaking and at this stage does not consider an injunction is required.
The AEC said it is “considering its litigation options” and a final decision would be made after the election.
Voters are reminded to stop and consider the source of all messages relating to the 2025 federal election.
Coalition pledges to remove EV tax break, two days after Dutton said it wouldn’t
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The Coalition has confirmed it would axe Labor’s tax breaks for electric vehicle drivers – just two days after Peter Dutton ruled out scrapping it.
On Monday, Dutton was asked if the Coalition government would repeal a tax break available to drivers who purchase an EV worth less than $91,387 through a novated lease. Here was his response:
No, we’ve said that what we’re opposed to is the government’s big tax on hybrids.
(That back-end of the statement was a reference to penalties for breaches of emissions caps under new vehicle efficiency standards, which Dutton has promised to scrap.)
But today, the tax breaks were seemingly back on the chopping block after the Coalition included them in a list of “wasteful spending” it would repeal if it won the 3 May election.
The press release – which was issued under the name of Dutton, his shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, and the shadow finance minister Jane Hume – read:
The Coalition will: Unwind Labor’s taxpayer-funded and badly designed electric car subsidies, saving upwards of $3bn over the forward estimates and $23bn over the medium term.
Dutton makes 13th campaign visit to a petrol station
Here’s the latest from the pool reporters on the ground, as the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, makes his 13th campaign visit to a petrol station – this time in Perth’s outer northern suburbs.
Dutton was driven into the fuel stop by Liberal candidate for Pearce, Jan Norberger. A ute driver loudly revved his engine as Dutton and Norberger filled up at the bowser and chatted about the opposition’s pledge to temporarily halve the excise on fuel.
Norberger said cash-strapped voters in the suburb of Alkimos, about 40 minutes north of Perth’s CBD, had to drive long distances and would benefit from cheaper petrol.
If you’re a pensioner here, you drive.
Dutton, who had his tie removed and had two buttons undone on his white business shirt, has been hitting up service stations across Australia since early in the campaign.
He was initially criticised for failing to hammer home the fuel policy announced days before the campaign. Dutton paid $56.92 for the petrol, did not ask for a receipt, and told the service station worker that his business would receive a boost from the excise reduction.
The opposition leader’s son Tom joined him for the event but was not involved in any way. Senator Linda Reynolds was also in attendance.
Peak body critical of Coalition’s plan to reinstate childcare activity test
The peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children says the Coalition’s plan to reinstate the childcare activity test is “incredibly disappointing.”
Catherine Liddle, the CEO of Snaicc – National Voice for our Children, says this would further disadvantage vulnerable children who stand to benefit from quality early childhood education and care the most.
Reinstatement is a damaging move that will ultimately set back Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children … Many families require affordable childcare to be in place before they can re-enter the workforce – this policy puts them at a disadvantage.
Closing the Gap starts with our children and with the most recent data update revealing that outcomes around developmental readiness for big school are worsening, we simply cannot afford to remove equitable [early childhood education and care] subsidies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
Griffin Longley from Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign also said the Coalition’s plan would prevent 126,000 children from accessing early childhood education.
The activity test was designed as an incentive to get into work but it did the opposite. It made life harder for families already facing significant hurdles and that is why it was abolished. Bringing it back from the dead would further disadvantage children who can benefit most from early childhood education, setting them up for success at school and beyond.
Join host Matilda Boseley and political reporter Josh Butler live on Tell Me More!
Guardian Australia’s Tell Me More live streams are your chance to ask your burning election news questions to the people who wrote that news in the first place.
The federal election is now 10 days away, it’s starting to feel a bit scary real. But do not worry if there’s stuff you are still confused about – this is a no judgment zone and there are no silly questions.
This evening our host Matilda Boseley is joined by political reporter Josh Butler to recap the past week of political news and answer anything and everything you still don’t quite understand.
If you have a question you want answered, simply pop it in the comments on YouTube or TikTok or email australia.tellmemore@theguardian.com.
Man charged for alleged NSW justice department data breach
Moving away from the election campaign for a moment:
A man has been charged after an investigation into the alleged unauthorised access of the NSW department of community and justice online registry website.
In March, cybercrime squad detectives began investigating the unauthorised access to 8,769 restricted documents held by the NSW DCJ between 29 January and 20 March.
The source of the compromise was identified as an account linked to a registered user of the online registry. At about 6.30am today, officers executed a search warrant in Maroubra and seized two laptops.
A 38-year-old man was arrested and taken to Maroubra police station, where he was charged with accessing/modifying restricted data held in a computer, as well as using a carriage service to menace/harass/offend and stalk, relating to an outstanding warrant.
He was refused bail to appear in Waverley local court tomorrow.
Alleged assault outside polling booth in Sydney
An elderly man was allegedly assaulted at a polling centre in Sydney’s inner west earlier this afternoon.
NSW police said the alleged assault occurred around 1pm in Ashfield, with paramedics treating a man in his 80s. He was taken to Royal Prince Alfred hospital in a serious condition.
A 17-year-old boy was arrested at the scene and taken to Burwood police station where he is assisting with inquiries, police said.
A crime scene has been established and will be examined by specialist police. Anyone with information, who was in the area at the time or who has dashcam or mobile footage is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Husic says Coalition defence announcement ‘like policy through a Costco aisle’
The industry and science minister, Ed Husic, was also up on Afternoon Briefing just a moment ago to weigh in on the Coalition’s defence announcement. He said:
What we got from the Coalition today [was] just an announcement to say that they would spend more. They cannot tell us where money is coming from and they cannot tell us where they will spend it.
Host Patricia Karvelas said the Coalition had indicated it would repeal Labor’s tax cuts to pay for more defence. Husic said this still doesn’t answer what the defence investment will be spent on.
They have a shopping list of things that they might spend it on and it sounded like when I was listening to the opposition leader it was kind of like defence policy through a Costco aisle – I will take this, I will take that – but he is not committing to it, and then suggested that we will not make procurement decisions in the middle of an election, when just a few weeks ago he announced the policy to buy F35s. Another backflip …
This is not defence policy, it is a bumper sticker and that reads ‘we will spend more’.
Should Australia contribute troops to the ‘coalition of the willing’ peacekeeping mission in Ukraine?
Andrew Hastie said Peter Dutton had already ruled this out and that there’d been “no formal offer” and “no formal strategy”.
Being an Australian who has been sent by former governments to serve overseas in a war zone, one thing I have learned is that I always want to know what our political leadership is trying to achieve. And so I think it is a very reasonable expectation that there is an offer, number one, and a clear strategy …
We want to continue training Ukrainian troops as we have done in the UK and send leading technology to give Ukrainians the edge in battle, and we will continue to discuss this issue with world leaders – or at least Peter Dutton as prime minister will. So I do not think there is any inconsistency. We will not send young Australians and put them at risk without a clear plan or strategy.
Hastie says Trump is ‘hard to predict’ and Australia must be able to defend itself
Earlier today, Andrew Hastie said Australia can’t take security from the US “for granted”. Asked what he meant by this, Hastie said Australia has always had a strong relationship with the US – but “leadership matters.”
And President [Donald] Trump is rebalancing the terms of trade and security with all of their partners, and so the message for us is we need to be able to be strong on our own two feet.
Yes, we have a deep relationship with the United States, but a lesson from Ukraine is often times you have to demonstrate strength yourself if you want your friends to help you.
Hastie said that on “all the other touch points” Australia has with the US it is very strong, but “President Trump is someone who is hard to predict and we need to be able to defend ourselves.”
We want to have a good relationship with Indonesia, with Malaysia, with Papua New Guinea, with the other Pacific islands, with Singapore. These are all important partnerships, and by investing in our defence force as well, we help them with their security too.
Hastie denies Coalition plan to lift defence spending to 3% of GDP inspired by Trump
Let’s go to the shadow defence minister, Andrew Hastie, who just spoke with the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing about the Coalition’s defence investment announcement.
The Coalition’s policy is to get defence spending to 3% of the GDP by 2035 – the exact figure nominated by the Trump administration. Host Patricia Karvelas asked if this was inspired by the request from the Trump administration for nations to reach that figure?
But Hastie said “not at all,” instead saying the “world has changed over the last five years”.
We’ve seen the rise of authoritarian powers, a war in Ukraine, we have seen strategic disorder in the Middle East and President Trump is reposturing the United States with America first, so the world has changed and Australia needs to be able to stand on its own two feet.
Patrick Commins
Mutual accusations of lying at treasurers’ debate
The sparring between Jim Chalmers and Angus Taylor in today’s debate threatened to get bogged down in mutual accusations of lying.
The flashpoint was around income taxes, and was set off by Chalmers saying taxes would be higher under a Dutton government (the Coalition have said they won’t support Labor’s promise to cut the lowest marginal rate).
Meanwhile, Taylor accused his opposite number of fiscal profligacy, but was unable to explain how the Coalition planned to pay for its expensive campaign promises, not least this week’s commitment to a major and long-term lift in defence spending.
Chalmers, for his part, said cost of living pressures were easing and there were better times ahead. As Donald Trump’s trade war casts a shadow over the global economy, Chalmers said now was the “worst time to risk” a Coalition government.
The most important thing we can do in this difficult global environment is make our economy more resilient. And we make our economy more resilient by rebuilding incomes, tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer, rolling out ongoing cost-of-living relief, and (making) our industries deeper and broader.
Taylor shot back, saying:
That picture might help the treasurer but it’s not what people are experiencing around Australia.
Patrick Commins
Taylor promises he would return ‘common sense’ to workplace rules as treasurer
Angus Taylor has promised a Coalition government will remove the roadblocks to businesses investing and hiring, saying as treasurer he would return “common sense” to workplace rules, slash red tape, and fix regulatory “overreach”.
In a sometimes spicy debate with Jim Chalmers hosted by the Business Council of Australia and the Council of Small Business earlier today, Taylor said: “we’re seeing regulatory overreach in this country, it’s holding back investment, it’s holding back productivity and the prosperity of all Australians.”
Referring to the Coalition’s plans to cut the public service, Chalmers responded:
I think if Angus really wants faster approval times, then sacking 41,000 people, some of whom are responsible for processing approvals, is a strange way to get around it.
Taylor again asked voters whether they were better off than they were three years ago, and spruiked the Coalition’s plan to make the instant asset write-off permanent for small businesses.
He stopped short of saying that as treasurer he would lower the corporate tax rate, but appeared to leave the door open to what was obviously a very receptive audience.
Coalition pledges more and cheaper flights into Darwin by relaxing foreign airline restrictions
Elias Visontay
The Coalition has put forward a plan to boost tourism and connectivity for Darwin by allowing foreign airlines to operate domestic flights to and from the Northern Territory, loosening laws that they say have kept air fares sky-high to the top end.
The opposition transport spokesperson, Bridget McKenzie, said that if the Coalition forms government, it will establish a two-year trial in the NT allowing cabotage – the name for the right of a foreign airline to sell tickets to commercial domestic services within another country.
Currently, only Australian airlines – an industry in which Qantas and Virgin Australia dominate more than 98% market share – are permitted to operate and sell tickets to domestic flights. An exception also exists for New Zealand carriers.
Under the cabotage trial, the Coalition is hoping foreign airlines, likely carriers based in Asia, would operate flights into Darwin as a first stop in Australia, and then fly on to any other Australian destination, with airlines able to sell tickets to that internal leg to locals or tourists as though they were a stand-alone domestic flight. Darwin has previously hosted non-stop Qantas flights to and from European cities.
Qantas and Virgin Australia have been staunchly opposed to loosening cabotage restrictions. In its submission to the aviation green paper in 2023, Qantas warned if foreign airlines could operate domestic flights, they would only run on the busiest routes such as Sydney-Melbourne.
However, the Coalition’s proposed trial would be limited to the NT, in a hope to challenge the dominant airlines currently serving Darwin domestically, with domestic air fares to and from the Top End notoriously expensive. It estimates it will uplift the NT economy by $101m during the trial, and bring in an additional 25,000 additional tourists. McKenzie said:
The Coalition wants to get the cost of NT flights down to boost tourism and increase options to travel to see family or do business with other states. Air travel is not a luxury for the Northern Territory – it’s a necessity. This policy is a practical, strategic step to fix what Labor has failed to address: connectivity, competition, and opportunity for the Top End.
Bowen questioned if cost of Coalition’s nuclear plan could be below $600bn
A reporter asked about a report from the Smart Energy Council, saying the Coaliton’s nuclear plan could cost $600bn – but in a best-case scenario could cost $116bn.
So if the Coalition gets it right, could the cost be below $600bn?
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, argued the Smart Energy Council had found “massive holes” in the Coalition’s plan, saying:
For example, they don’t have a first of a kind premium and they assume for a 40% smaller economy … They have assumed no aluminium, no steel making, no heavy industry, because that is what a 40% smaller economy looks like.
There are holes all through their costings. You could make the case the Smart Energy Council has been conservative because when you look at the cost blowouts right around the world … there are massive cost blowouts in nuclear, and Peter Dutton and Ted O’Brien have no answers.
PM says Coalition plan to ditch activity test will disadvantage women
Anthony Albanese is now criticising the Coalition’s plan to get rid of the activity test, saying this would disadvantage women seeking to get back into the workforce.
All of the analysis says the activity test stops women with kids being able to get back into the workforce and participate, and therefore benefit not just themselves and their families but benefit the economy as well …
This is in opposition that, if they have any policies, they are either taken from overseas or they are taken from the reversal of reforms we have put in place.
PM calls out lack of detail in Coalition’s defence announcement
The prime minister has taken another question on the Coalition’s defence investment – interjecting “what is it that they have announced?” – and said Labor has announced $57bn additional funding for defence over 10 years.
Anthony Albanese continued, saying:
I haven’t seen any specific programs from this defence announcement today. I find it extraordinary that you try to get a headline with a big number, and then there’s nothing of what the big number should be invested in. What is it that they are saying we should invest in our capability, and how should we pay for it? They’re the big questions which are there now.
We’ll always continue to invest in our capability. Later this year we will begin, for example, producing missiles made here in Australia. So there are manufacturing benefits behind our defence industry programs as well.
PM says Dutton’s team ‘in hiding’ for most of campaign
Anthony Albanese was asked for his thoughts on the Coalition’s defence investment, announced today, and their nuclear plan, in comparison to what Labor is spending?
The prime minister said Peter Dutton was “unable to say where the money would come from, except for confirming that they will put up income taxes”.
This election campaign is a choice between Labor, that will lower your income tax, and the Coalition, that will increase your income taxes – but that doesn’t cover the amount that they’ve announced as well. So on top of that, there’ll be more cuts needed.
On the defence investment from the Coalition, Albanese said Dutton “also hasn’t been able to say what the money would be used for.”
It’s extraordinary that you make this announcement with a very large figure in the tens of billions of dollars [and] you can’t say what you will use the money for …
This is an opposition that have not done the hard work – whether it’s defence policy, whether it’s nuclear policy – they can’t explain any of how it would actually roll out. And then they have a team that, for most of the campaign, are in hiding and haven’t been able to come forward at all – and [Andrew] Hastie is just one example of that.
