Q: ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr says the Coalition’s plan to cut 41,000 public servants from Canberra would mean a prolonged depression for the area and surrounding suburbs. Do you agree with that assessment or is it overblown?

Albanese gets an opportunity to give the answer he has been waiting for:

No, you bet it would. It would have more – I won’t say more importantly, but it would have a devastating impact on Canberra.

I tell you what I’m more worried about, the impact it would have on Australians. The impact it would have on Australian veterans who would go back to waiting and in some cases the men and women in uniform who have served our country, not getting their entitlements. The impact it would have on our defence and national security, because there are around 68,000 public servants in Canberra. 41,000, you get rid of them, where does he think Services Australia runs its central offices from to provide support for Australians in emergency funding after there has been a natural disaster? Where does he think the people who run our pension system work?

Where does he think on national security, ASIO, the Australian security intelligence service, ASIS, the Department of Defence, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Australian Signals Directorate that work on cyber security issues, where does he think these people are?

I will give him a hint. When he goes from Parliament House to go off to the airport where he wants to be able to fly to his home in Kirribilli House, the building that is in front of him in Russell is full of Canberra public servants. The buildings to the left, not breaking secrets here, ASIO.

I have been to all of them. I would suspect he has been perhaps to some of them. I am not sure where he thinks Operation Sovereign Borders runs from, but it doesn’t run from Gosford, with respect to Gosford, it runs from Canberra.

This would have a devastating impact on gutting the capacity of the Australian government to serve the Australian people and it’s just one example of how they are just unfit.

He has had three years to prepare for an election. What I did, as Opposition Leader for three years, was during the first Budget Reply, child care fully costed and we have now implemented that. The Housing Australia Future Fund announced in a Budget Reply – funded, a plan to go forward. This mob change their minds on a day to day basis.

I will make this point – we do live in an uncertain world. In an uncertain world where there is volatility, the last thing you need is a volatile government that can’t agree on its own positions on a day to day basis, that thinks that getting angry and muscling up is the way that you engage in diplomacy. He is prepared to verbal leaders of other countries, or the head of the Reserve Bank. This mob are just not ready for government and I hope that that is seen by Australians in the lead-up to Saturday’s election.

Is it a failure that Anthony Albanese can’t just WhatsApp Donald Trump and says ‘yo, what gives?’ (I am paraphrasing here)

Albanese:

Not at all. I don’t have Donald Trump’s number. I didn’t have Joe Biden’s number. It is not the way it works between the Australian Prime Minister and the US President. There are formal processes that take place. I have had two very warm conversations with President Trump.

Asked about the rally in honour of Audrey Griffin, a 19-year-old who was found dead in March (53-year-old Adrian Noel Torren has been charged with her murder) which was held yesterday, Albanese said:

This is a tragic and horrific death and my heart goes out to the family and the friends and loved ones of Audrey Griffin. This announcement wouldn’t have impacted on that. One death from violence against women is one too many and this is just an enormous tragedy and we continue to work through these issues. As I said before, this needs a whole of society response.

In his morning press conference, Albanese has also been asked about the debate and its outcome and said:

Truth is, if you look historically, it is hard for Prime Ministers to win debates. The natural advantage is there for opposition leaders. I chose scrutiny, transparency. I agreed to four debates. No Prime Minister in Australia’s history has had four debates as far as I’m aware. I might be wrong. Could be something in the 30s perhaps but they wouldn’t have been televised live and they wouldn’t have had devices. I chose to do that. Some people said, including some people here said “Why are you doing that?” I did that because I think the more people see of Peter Dutton, the more they know that this is an Opposition that were in government less than three years ago. This is the leftovers from the Morrison Government, they are just not ready for government.

There were two key issues last night that showed that. One was on Medicare, where he made the extraordinary comment on Medicare, about the reason why he wanted to abolish bulk billing was because he wanted to make primary health care sustainable.

What that shows is that they haven’t changed their view. That is their view and people will go back to their view.

He also, similar to what they have said about working from home, it is not the right time now to abolish working from home. When it comes to nuclear power, Peter Dutton is putting all his eggs in one basket and he has no idea what the cost is. That’s very clear.

The voters in the debate room overnight gave the debate to Anthony Albanese. Peter Dutton wasn’t too happy with that (just like he’s not happy with the public polls) and asked about it, Albanese said:

Look, I have seen Peter Dutton’s comments and I find it extraordinary, that there were 60 voters chosen independently by an agency and they voted double, two to one in favour of myself. And I was very grateful for that outcome. And Peter Dutton blamed the voters, the 60 people who were in that room listening to the debate.

Anthony Albanese has done the morning FM radio rounds.

Asked on Sydney radio GoldFM about the polls, Albanese said:

Well, there’s a lot at stake over the next week. What’s at stake is whether students will get 20 per cent off their debt, whether Australians get a tax cut or, under Peter Dutton, they actually get an increase in their income taxes, every single taxpayer. Whether first home buyers will get access to a five per cent deposit is important. Whether we make more things here in Australia, whether we continue to act on climate change and whether we continue to build positive relationships in the world, all of that is at stake. But what is front and centre after our announcement yesterday about Medicare 1800, where people will be able to ring and get access to health advice 24 hours a day, on top of our Urgent Care Clinics and our greater access for bulk billing – we know that’s on one side of the equation, on the other side, Peter Dutton last night, in response to saying that he wanted to abolish bulk billing, which he did when he was Health Minister, said that he wanted to make primary care sustainable. Well, he’s belled the cat that he doesn’t think it’s sustainable to get a free trip to the doctor, which was his view then, it clearly is still his view and that is an enormous setback for the country if that occurs.

In case you missed it over the weekend, research from Dave Richardson has made some waves.

You can read one of the stories here and Dave’s research, here

So now that Jane Hume is blaming Labor for Peter Dutton saying “hate media” for…reasons still to be explained, it might be worth reminding you all that Dutton is heading to the teal seats for what seems the first time this campaign.

After spending the campaign at petrol stations, talking big dumb utes, construction sites and factories (his first week was basically all high-vis) Dutton is now heading to the inner-city, seemingly remembering they exist.

At this point, it seems like much of the Coalition campaign is centered around deflecting criticism in the wash up that they didn’t do something – so to the teal seats Dutton goes. Even though the Coalition didn’t send a representative to the Women’s Agenda forum last week on women’s issues. It’s so pesky that women are 50% of the voting population. Just very annoying for the Coalition to plan for.

Meanwhile, the Dutton media bus has become stuck on a bike lane barrier on Martin Place. Dutton isn’t on the bus (the leaders’ usually travel in different cars/buses) but still – the metaphors for the campaign are all there. DAMN THOSE WOKE BIKE PATH BARRIERS

Would Jane Hume call the ABC (and the Guardian) “hate media” as Peter Dutton did?

Oh no, says Hume. It was all a great joke!

Hume:

I have appeared on the ABC so many times. I doubt you would hear that from me. However, you can safely say that was a tongue-in-cheek comment by Peter Dutton yesterday.

Except it is one he has (and other leaders of the Coalition) have made multiple times.

Tony Abbott blacklisted the Guardian in 2014 (Lenore Taylor was the political editor then and she and the team not only continued to do their job, they broke multiple stories about issues with Coalition policy)

Dutton declared that the Guardian and ABC was “dead to me” in 2018, after he faced sustained criticism for his plan to ‘fast track’ visas for white South African farmers.

And then on Sunday, Dutton turned to calling the Guardian and ABC “hate media” for….it seems doing their jobs? Which is very Temu Trump of him.

Hume thinks it is all “a Labor beat up”

Look, that is entirely irrelevant. I think this is quite, frankly, a Labor beat-up. This idea that you can somehow align Peter Dutton with Donald Trump is a nonsense. Peter Dutton will always stand up in the national interest and you saw that in the debate last night.

Except Dutton (who also declared we can trust “whoever” is in the Oval Office last night) said hate media from his own mouth. Labor didn’t make that up. We all saw and heard it.

Hume says it is still Labor’s fault:

Labor, we know, have tried to dish the dirt on Peter Dutton from the very beginning of this campaign. They have questioned his integrity, they have questioned his appearance, they have questioned his background, they have questioned his attitude. And yet what we really want in Australia right now is a strong leader that will step up and stand up for Australia’s national interest that will step up and stand up for those Australians that have been left behind by this bad Labor Government.

Are the Coalition looking at introducing road user charges for electric vehicle drivers if you win the election?

Jane Hume:

No, that is not our position*. Our position, of course, is that at the moment, emission standards should remain, but the problem is the penalties that are being placed on retailers of all vehicles. That’s going to push up the price of electric vehicles** and, indeed, other vehicles for – sorry, it will push up the price of non-electric vehicles, and we know that Australians, there are many Australians who simply can’t have electric vehicles because they’re too expensive or whether because they’re inappropriate for their lifestyle. We don’t think that’s fair.

*For now, given recent history on policy positions.

**This is actually her being honest