Australia's Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has launched his election campaign at a press conference in Brisbane, in response to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling the federal election for 3 May.
The battle on both sides will seemingly be fought over energy, affordability and cost of living for the average Australian, with both the major parties promising to deliver results in different ways.
While Albanese’s government has offered student debt cuts and a boost to healthcare, a key focus to Dutton's campaign plan speech was questioning if the average Australian is better off than they were before Albanese's term began, emphatically and repeatedly stating "we can't afford three more years of Labor", as well as a strong focus on the energy sector.
In his speech and following question time, the Opposition leader positioned his government as the ones who would be able to practically deliver affordability on energy bills, groceries, rent and home ownership.
“Are you better off today? Is our country better off today than three years ago? Generations of Australians have built their lives and our country on the belief that if you work hard, you can get ahead and build a better future for your children,” were the opening lines to his speech.
“However, right now, Australia is going backwards. The Prime Minister spent the first half of this term of Parliament obsessed with the Voice [referendum], and it meant that he didn't have a plan to deal with the scourge of inflation.”
He also touted his proposed nuclear energy plan again as a cheaper and faster option for getting Australia away from traditional fossil fuels, in comparison to Labor’s renewable energy promises.
“They're [Labor] relying on green hydrogen, which is not a commercial reality, and all of it under the renewables only policy adds to extra increases in costs of energy, and families are seeing that at the moment, 30% more for groceries, 34% more for gas, 32% more for electricity,” Dutton said.
When questioned on whether he would introduce immigration caps, beyond those in place for international students, Dutton did not give a direct answer but did criticise the current program and handling in place by Labor, and pivoting to a discussion on housing affordability, which is a key pillar of the Opposition campaign.
"Labor's brought in a million people over two years through the migration program, which is a record for our country." Now, all of those people need homes to live in, and that's why Australians found it really hard to find a house, to either buy a house or rent a house," He said.
“Under Mr. Albanese, when we're out there, whether it's in here in Brisbane, or whether it's Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, wherever it is, when you talk to young Australians, many of them have lost the freedom of home ownership, and that's because Mr. Albanese has created this housing crisis where people can't afford rents, they can't afford to buy a home.”
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