Anthony Albanese has responded to Mark Carney’s victory in the Canadian election – which was basically called 30 minutes after the polls closed.

Well, looks very positive for Mark Carney, and I congratulate him. I’ve had a couple of really warm conversations with him. I thank him for defending Vegemite, of course, a really practical outcome of the friendship that we have between Australia and Canada. We have a close relationship, we’re very similar countries, both part of the Commonwealth, we share a lot in common, and I congratulate Mark Carney.
 

Q: What does it mean for the western alliance that an incumbent wins?
 
Albanese:

It’s good that Mark Carney, I think, has shown in the short time that he’s Prime Minister, that he’s determined to represent the national interests of Canada. His re-election will be a significant victory for him and his party. I congratulate him. It’s important that the democratic processes take place. We should never take them for granted.

Q: He stood up long and hard to Donald Trump?
 
Albanese

Well, Mark Carney has stood up for Canada’s national interest, just as I stand up for Australia’s national interest, we’re both Five Eyes countries, of course, so I look forward to building on the relationship that I’ve already built with Mark Carney.
 

Q: A good omen for you though?

Albanese:

I think every election is different, and we take absolutely nothing for granted. Australians will have their say. Canadians have had their say today, and they’ve determined that Mark Carney will be re-elected.

Greens leader Adam Bandt also held a press conference earlier today where he was asked about Anthony Albanese campaigning in the Greens electorate of Griffith:

The Prime Minister has chosen the electorate of Griffith to announce Labor’s plan to push house prices up even further, give $180 billion in handouts to wealthy property investors, and back unlimited further rent rises.

Max Chandler-Mather is the member for renters and first home buyers. Max Chandler-Mather gives up part of his salary for free school breakfasts. He fights for his community, and he has done more than any member of parliament to put renters and first home-buyers on the political agenda.

If the Prime Minister is more interested in evicting one of the few renters from Parliament than fixing the housing crisis, I think the Prime Minister’s got his priorities wrong.”

And on housing, Bandt said:

We know what it’s going to take to fix the housing crisis.

We need to cap rent increases. We need to build more public homes that people can afford to rent and buy, rather than knocking them down, as Labor is doing right across Melbourne, and ensure that in this wealthy country of ours, everyone has an affordable place to live.

One of the ways we can do that is by regulating the big banks. The Greens will regulate the big banks to stop them ripping you off on your mortgage. Under the Greens’ plan, the big banks would have their profit margins on your mortgage regulated.

At the moment, the big banks take money from the Reserve Bank and then hand it on to people and make a tidy profit along the way. The Greens want to regulate that and require the big banks to offer a low rate mortgage product that people can choose to take up if they want to. This would save the average mortgage holder about $5,000 every year.”

Earlier today, Jason Clare held a presser where he said:

Peter Dutton has serious questions to answer today when he fronts the media in just a few minutes time, about the revelations on Four Corners last night, and this is what those questions are that he needs to answer.
 
One, why didn’t he declare his interest in child care businesses for the two year period between 2014 and 2016?
 
Two, every time the Child Care Subsidy was discussed in Cabinet, did he declare a conflict of interest to his colleagues and step out of those Cabinet discussions?
 
And three, what else did he fail to declare?
 
Normally, when things get tougher, Peter Dutton, he goes into hiding. But he can’t do that today. He’s got a front up to the media, and he’s got to answer questions. Yesterday, when he was asked tough questions like this by the media, he just refused to answer them, and he stonewalled. He can’t keep doing that today. He can’t do that every day up until election day.
 
What we know is this. We know that Peter Dutton failed to declare his interest in child care businesses when the Government that he was a member of was investing billions of dollars into the child care industry through a new subsidy.
 
What we need to know is, why? Why did he fail to declare his financial interest in child care businesses?
 
Now as we get closer and closer to election day, Peter Dutton gets angrier and angrier. Yesterday, he was attacking journalists. Yesterday, he was even attacking voters. The Australian people don’t want aggro, they want answers. They don’t want the incredible sulk. They just want a bit of honesty. And they deserve a bit of honesty. And if Peter Dutton can’t give answers to these questions today, then it’ll just show that he’s not ready to govern and that he’s not fit to be the Prime Minister of Australia. Happy to take some questions.

The Canadian voters have clearly given President Trump the elbow, or as we would say “the finger”. Whether Prime Minister Carney gets to govern in his own right, or as head of a minority government, the outcome, in the face of almost certain defeat three months ago, is a stunning event in Canadian political history. But it is an even more stunning development in US-Canada relations. The only path to Canada’s incorporation into the US is war. And last time around, in 1812, Canada won – maybe not as significant as Napolean’s defeat at the gates of Moscow, but there we are. While the leaders of Australia’s two major parties maintain their supine deference to Trump and all things American, the Canadians have shown the world what happens when an ally has skin in the game. To protect his elbows, Trump will stick to golf, rather than ice hockey.

Q: Twice this week you’ve had a go at the media saying they’re hate media, you called some journalists activists. What questions have you taken issue with?

Dutton:

I think what Australians are concentrating on only days out from the election is not the feelings of, you know, with respect, anyone but…

Q: You’re the one that’s taken issue.

Dutton:

They’re interested in what’s better for their family at this election and that’s to vote for their Liberal and National candidate. Nathaniel behind me has done a great job. Today’s announcement will change lives for the better. We know a Liberal National Coalition government will mean a 25 cent a litre reduction for petrol from day one. It will mean $1200 back by way of a tax rebate. It will mean your kids and grandkids have the dream of home ownership realised under a Coalition Government. Isn’t blaming the media just a convenient excuse at this point of the campaign? The final point I’d make is we’ll feel safer as a country and that’s incredibly important, because at the moment…

Q: What about this press conference?

Dutton:

The Prime Minister has had no interest in stopping the gangs, stopping illegal tobacco coming across the borders. I want to keep our countries safe and that’s exactly what we’ll do. Thank you very much.

Q: What about transparency?

Q: Will you front up to…..

Dutton walks away

Q: You frequently tout that the Coalition opposed $100 billion of Labor spending but $100 billion opposed doesn’t mean a saving. Do you concede that will be hard to claw back and you haven’t detailed where the savings are coming from?

Dutton:

We’ve made commitments in relation to many programs and they’ve been properly funded. We’ve gone through all of the numbers with PBO in relation to a number of policies and we’ll release that detail. But, look, what Australians know and what generations of Australians know is that the Liberal Party will always manage the economy more effectively. The home-grown inflation that the Reserve Bank Governor has warned of won’t be an issue under us. We’ll have downward pressure on inflation and therefore, interest rates will always be lower under a Coalition Government. We’re going to provide support to families, immediate support to deal with the pressures that families are facing. And we will clean up the mess that we will inherit. We’ll get our country back on track and we’re going to help young families get into home ownership. I think that’s incredibly important and I might do one or two more and then we’ll have to go.

Q: Mark Carney is on track to win the Canadian election. What impact do you think Donald Trump might have had on the Conservative Party? Are you worried that will influence the election results here?

Peter Dutton:

I haven’t seen the results yet. We’ve had a busy day and we’ll wait and see the results in relation to Canada. Look, the point I’d make here is that this election is between Anthony Albanese and myself. On the one hand, Labor has driven up the cost of everything over the last few years and they’re promising to see costs increase even further. On the other hand, the Coalition has a positive plan to get our country back on track. We’re going to reduce the cost of petrol by 25 cents a later, give $1,200 back by way of a tax rebate, restore the dream of home ownership and keep our country safe. I think that’s what Australians are interested in in this election.

Q: Anthony Albanese asked you a question around whether you’d be comfortable to have a nuclear energy site in your own backyard. You said yes. He’s had every opportunity to repeatedly say that. Can you clarify if you would have a nuclear energy site in your seat. And can I get your response to protesters crashing the press conference that was going to be at a junior sporting club today?

Dutton:

In relation to the kids who I think were disappointed to have their event disrupts, it would have been nice to spend more time with them but there were Greens and teal supporters dressed up and it was a stunt. Unfortunately, the football coaches that we spoke to were really annoyed, actually, and upset at the protests.

It made no difference to me in terms of protest activity, but it disrupted an event where we wanted to talk about helping kids play junior rugby. We wanted to talk about an upgrade in the change room facilities so young girls didn’t have to go into the canteen to get changed into their footy gear. And the teals and Greens always pull all sorts of stunts. We’ve been upfront in relation to the seven sites that we’ve identified for the end-of-use coal-fired power stations where there’s already polls and wires going out so you save 28,000 new kilometres of poles and wires that Labor has to build and those seven sites were identified around the country.

There’s not one in my electorate. So the Prime Minister can play all sorts of games. I mean we’ve been up to have a look and speak to the fishermen and fishing industry and tourism industry in the Hunter.

Has the Prime Minister been out there talking to those communities about offshore wind? No, he hasn’t. As Australians get closer to Election Day, they realise that there’s a choice to be made. On the one hand, we’ve got three more years of cost of everything going up. On the other hand we’ve got a positive plan to make sure we get our country back on track and if you support your Liberal or National candidate, that’s how we can do that.

Q: You’ve said that you’ll ditch build-to-rent and the HAFF. Why not leave them and add your measures on to the point asked earlier on top?

Dutton:

In relation to the amount of money that’s been spent, the ratings agencies are warning that this Government is a disaster (this is not true) and that if we face a global recession, we’re going to be in all sorts of strife under Labor. We have to manage our economy well. I want to provide immediate relief now, so a 25 cent per litre cut in fuel tax, $1200 back in money you’ve paid in taxes. That’s the immediate support and from there we can fix up the energy system, we can bring the prices down of electricity and gas and we can help Australians recover from a really bad three years under Labor.

Q: You’ve mentioned the $1200 tax offset and temporarily halving the petrol excise. They will cost $16 billion. You’ve looked at tax cuts to pay for higher defence spending. What will you cut to pay for these two signature policies?

Dutton:

We’ve provided some of the costings and we’ll provide those costings in due course in relation to our policies but they’ll demonstrate that the bottom line will always be better under a Liberal government. We’ll always manage the economy more effectively. We’ll provide essential services. We’ll give the rebate back to Australians to help with their immediate needs. You saw this morning, speaking to families and small business-owners, some of them had have had their electricity bills double, some up 40% and Australians can’t afford three more years of Labor.

Q: Members of a Church form early known as the Exclusive Brethren have been flocking to seats volunteering in support of Liberal Party. How have the Liberal Party recruit sod many members of a religious sect who don’t vote to hand out for them?

Dutton:

The Liberal Party has not recruited people from particular religions. We’re a volunteer-based organisation. People can volunteer and provide support to their local Liberal National Party candidate. I’d encourage them to do that. The Prime Minister says he hates Tories and Tory supporters etc. That’s an issue for him. We’re not discriminating against anybody on the basis of their religion. We have people of I suspect every religion supporting us and I’ll make sure that we have the ability to get our message out, which we do through our volunteers, because there are many Australians in their millions who can’t afford three more years of this Labor government.

Q: But, Mr Dutton, isn’t it weird that…

Dutton moves on.