Tropical Cyclone Alfred could derail the next Australian election.
Before visiting Queensland on Tuesday before the storm, Albanese struck a landmark deal with the NSW Government for a 10-year public school funding agreement that set the stage for him to announce a 12 April election.
The plan would provide a A$4.8 billion injection from the Commonwealth into NSW schools over the next decade in the largest-ever injection fund into NSW schools by the federal government.
The election date was expected to be called this weekend following the announcement but the category 2 cyclone may impact this.
When asked what impact the cyclone may have on the election, Albanese said he isn’t phased by election timing.
“We're governing and that's what we're doing today,” he said.
“I know there's others are interested in election timing.
“What I'm interested in is getting things done on behalf of the country. This is a big announcement today.”
This sentiment was echoed by Labor frontbencher, Clare O’Neil who told Sunrise that the election date was the “furthest thing” from Albanese’s mind.
"Politics is the furthest thing from the PM's mind today. People are literally sandbagging their homes and I think the discussion about how this affects politics is irrelevant and really crass," she said.
If the election isn’t called this weekend, the next earliest date it could be held is 3 May, meaning the Government would have to hand down its Budget as scheduled on 25 March.
Opposition leader, Peter Dutton said he believes the Budget will be a large consideration for when the election is called.
“If the Prime Minister doesn’t have good news in the Budget, which would seem to be the case, then he’s likely to run to an election early – perhaps for April 12,” he said.
“I think Australians will see that as a sign from a Prime Minister who doesn’t want to tell the Australian public the true, dire picture of what the economic outlook is for our country.
