UPDATE: A $7.2 billion increase in funding has been announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for the construction of the Bruce Highway in Queensland at his first press conference of 2025.
With Australians set to head to the polls by 17 May at the latest, Albanese has begun his unofficial election campaign to secure voters.
Albanese is set to embark on a multistate tour this week, targeting regional mining areas in Queensland and Western Australia.
The PM is expected to launch an offensive against the Coalition to discuss policy concerns surrounding energy costs in the race to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is also yet to launch an official election campaign, but energy remains a key economic policy area in the lead up to the election.
The Coalition’s proposed policy focusing on nuclear power station construction is expected to cost A$331 billion according to a Frontier Economics report.
While Labor’s proposed policy based on the Integrated Systems plan focuses on renewable energy sources and storage solutions.
The total cost of the national electricity market is expected to be upwards of $594 billion.
According to modelling, Labor’s energy solution is 44% more expensive than the Coalition's, raising concerns for voters.
A key factor in the Coalition's policy is the promise that renewables will dominate the grid by 2050. This is with nuclear energy accounting for just 38% of all energy generated.
Compared to Labor's promise of 94% renewable energy with remaining energy from gas and storage.
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