Federal election 2025: Jim Chalmers says Dutton's policy on school cuts is 'right from DOGE playbook' — as it happened

Thank you for joining us on yet another jam-packed day of the 2025 federal election campaign blog.

We will be back bright and early tomorrow morning but in the meantime, you can check out the rest of today's  online coverage at our Australia Votes page.

Thank you again for joining!

Earlier today Dutton announced the Coalition would withdraw funds for Victoria's Suburban Rail Loop and the funding for that would instead go to Melbourne airport rail link.

"What we announced today was a Coalition government would deliver the Melbourne airport rail link, $13 billion, which is 50 per cent of the state Labor government's cost benefit analysis, they delivered in  [20] 22.

"That cost benefit analysis and our commitment today of $13 billion includes upgrades to the Sunshine Station, and platform number 5, which allows those regional trains from Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo to get in.

"A passenger overpass to allow passengers to get on the rail link and they can get into Melbourne's CBD or to the airport either way.

 It doesn't restrict access for the regions. It means for once Melbourne, like Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, will have a connection between the airport and the CBD, which Melbourne is in desperate need of."

First up is funding for education where McKenzie has talked about the Coalition's concerns on curriculum.

"We want to have a knowledge based curriculum, where Australian kids are sent out into the world,  with the very best understanding of the basics, so that they can make a great contribution not only to their own lives but the country," she told 7.30.

7.30 is on now where tonight's guest will be Shadow Infrastructure Minister Bridget McKenzie.

You can watch the live stream at the top of the blog.

Donald Trump  has dominated the political day, as Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton were peppered with questions over the looming trade tariffs.

And Treasurer Jim Chalmers has labelled the Opposition leader "DOGE-Dutton" — as Labor tries to link  Dutton to Trump's administration. So, is this a risk for the Opposition leader?

Patricia Karvelas and Tom Crowley broke it all down on Politics Now.

"This is the really interesting game that Dutton's trying to play, right? I mean, his assessment is that Australians, or enough Australians like certain portions of Trump's agenda, maybe some of the kind of anti-public service, anti-woke stuff, and they don't like the rest.

"And he's trying to chart this course of pretty clearly echoing Trump on some things," Crowley said.

"So what Peter Dutton here is trying to do is depict himself as I'll be tough on with Trump. I'm a tough guy. will always stand up for our national interest because nationalism is cool again in the way that it's kind of manifesting under Trump for other countries. But at the same time, you know, he's also talking to the base," Karvelas said.

You can listen to the full episode here:

If you’re here with us on the politics blog, I either don’t need to tell you Labor is in government or we need to discuss reading comprehension.

But how much do you really know about what drives the Laborites?

It first formed government in 1904 and is responsible for historic policies like Medicare, government provided paid parental leave and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Labor, as the name would indicate, is backed by the labour movement aka unions.

This is something that attracts both praise and criticism, depending on who you ask.

What else drives them? Find out below or here if you're more of a reader.

Earlier today at a press conference in Perth, Greens Leader Adam Bandt said when it comes to helping with cost of living pressures says:  "Albanese vs Dutton is a battle of the bandaids.

"Labor is saying 73 cents a day in a year's time, the Liberals are saying maybe about the same amount for some people but only for a year.

"The Greens are saying we will save you hundreds of dollars a year, every year, by getting dental into Medicare, making it free to see the GP and wiping student debt."

Of the two major parties, the Liberals are more to the right of the political spectrum.

They’re in a partnership with the Nationals called the Coalition.

These two parties are always in a coalition because without it neither of them would have a hope of forming majority government.

The Liberals are often viewed as aligned with business, this draws both praise but also pushback.

Some say the party represents the needs of small businesses and others argue it advances the interests of big business over those of the wider community.

Get the full rundown in this story or right here:

Anthony Albanese is in the electorate of Lalor, Victoria where he is visiting the Werribee Medicare Urgent Care Clinic with Member for Lalor Jo Ryan.

Our intrepid journalist Isobel Roe reported earlier today a "rather awkward" start to events in the Dutton camp, as Senator Bridget McKenzie greeted reporters for a photo opportunity at a winery outside of Melbourne.

Peter Dutton arrived shortly afterward to spruik his $1.5 billion announcement for extra money he will commit to the Melbourne Airport Rail link.

Moments before, the Senator was asked "if there is a reason we are in the paddock".

"Because that's what our advancers told us to do," she said.

She went on to admit Sunshine, where the airport is, was "far away from where we are," gesturing to a large map set up on an easel for the occasion.

Watch:

When asked about what the uncertainty from both the Labor and Liberal parties means for energy companies including: Shell, Cecile Wake says: "What interventions and uncertainty create is that it's just harder when we are having conversations about attracting global capital to Australia, it is just one more hurdle that we need to address."

She added that Shell has been investing in Australia for 124 years and the company wants to continue to invest in the country.

One of the nation's top energy executives, chair of Shell Australia Cecile Wake, will urge both sides of politics to avoid derailing the gas industry's ability to serve the economy with poor policy choices.

In an unusual intervention for a large global energy giant in the opening days of a federal election and less than a week after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton announced plans for a gas reservation policy, Wake said more needs to be done to stoke gas investment.

"Caution should be exercised to avoid the risk of unintended consequences when energy and gas policy becomes the subject of election dynamics," Wake said.

"For too long, the conversation around energy policy and the energy transition has been polarised and politicised — it has been characterised as a zero-sum game and this has not served the millions of businesses and households that rely on secure, reliable and affordable energy."

Dutton stunned the industry in his budget reply speech on Thursday when he announced plans to force gas companies to set aside for domestic use up to 20 per cent of production that would otherwise have been sold into the global market.

He has also promised the domestic reservation policy would mean the wholesale gas price would fall from $14 a megajoule to $10.

MP for Menzies Keith Wolahan is calling for calm as the government braces for a second round of US tariffs, due to be announced by the White House this week.

A US trade report has named Australia's pharmaceutical laws, biosecurity laws and media laws as impediments to US trade.

Earlier today, former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull warned Australia against engaging in a race of 'sucking up' to Donald Trump. 

Wolahan says despite tensions, Australia continues to have an important strategic relationship with the US.

"We have to be calm and rational and methodical about the way we work through these issues," he tells Afternoon Briefing.

"Obviously there are a range of considerations of what that could mean for the Australian economy, for agriculture, for so many jobs around the country.

"We just want to make sure we are shielding Australians from these tariffs."

Next up on Afternoon Briefing is Labor MP for Macnamara Josh Burns and Liberal MP for Menzies Keith Wolahan.

When questioned by Patricia Karvelas about the Opposition's plan to remove "woke" indoctrination in schools, Wolahan accused Labor of "running a scare campaign".

"There is nothing controversial about requiring a back to basics education," Wolahan tells the program.

"It is not only what parents expect, it's what our nation requires."

 Dutton said on Tuesday a Coalition government would consider tying federal education funding to the removal of "woke agendas" from all levels of schooling.

"I support young Australians being able to think freely," he told reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday.

The government is preparing for the possibility the Trump administration will impose further tariffs on Australia later this week.

Donald Trump's so-called "liberation day" is set for late Wednesday or early Thursday, Australian time.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher says Australian officials are in talks with the White House, but says the government will ultimately 'stand up for Australia's national interest'.

"We are working and communicating with the Trump Administration as they go through implementing their agenda," she tells Afternoon Briefing. 

 "But implementing their agenda doesn't mean that we're not going to stand up for our national interests."

Gallagher pointed to items listed in a US trade barriers report, released on Monday, which singled out Australia's News Media Bargaining Code and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

"All of those issues are not up for negotiation," she tells the program.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher says she's unsurprised by the Reserve Bank's decision to put interest rates on hold.

The RBA has left the cash rate on hold at 4.1 per cent, after cutting it by a quarter of a percentage point at its last meeting in February.

"I think it's very clear from all of the commentators that no one was really expecting interest rates to move today," she tells Afternoon Briefing. 

"But the overarching message from the government is that we're getting inflation right back down, almost a third of what it was when we came to government."

Patricia Karvelas notes she was struck by Senator Andrew Bragg's comment that first homebuyers are struggling to compete with investors.

"Wouldn't you want to deal with that problem, that they are even competing with an investor, if you identified that as a scenario first-time buyers are in?" she asks.

"No, because investors are providing supply to the market, there is nothing wrong with investing in housing," he replies.

Karvelas presses further.

"But they are also providing supply to the market so we've got to be careful here," Bragg continues.

 "Labor and the Greens' solution might be to increase taxes, our solution is to find a clever way to use financial regulation to preference first home buyers," he says.

"We are proud to single out first home buyers as a cohort of people the Liberal Party always took four, going back to the Menzies age.

"We have always wanted to be a democracy where people own a house, and right now, that is at risk and so we're very happy to preference first home buyers above others.

"It doesn't hurt anyone else but it does preference first home buyers."

First up on Afternoon Briefing is Senator Andrew Bragg.

The Coalition is promising to relax rules around approving home loans that it says will let more young people buy their first home.

The financial regulator requires banks to add a safety buffer when considering whether someone applying for a home loan will be able to make their loan repayments.

The Opposition says it's too high and should be reduced.

Patricia Karvelas asks what the Coalition proposes percentage the home loan serviceability buffer, which is currently 3 per cent, should be.

Bragg says the Coalition would ask APRA to look at a lower buffer, offering the hypothetical of 2 per cent.

"If that was 2 per cent, instead of being 3 per cent, then a lot more people would be able to access a home loan compared to today's position where they can't,". 

"But also, people would be able to borrow more and in addition to that, the changes on mortgage insurance would guarantee cheaper overall loans."

He says ultimately, APRA would be able to set the figures but the Coalition would have a strong set of expectations.

Bragg says they would request a specific set of rules for first homebuyers, adding it "shouldn't be controversial to tilt the scales in favour of first homebuyers". 

Exciting news — Afternoon Briefing is just about to start.

Among the names we're expecting to hear from this hour are Senator Andrew Bragg and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher.

Stay tuned, and we'll bring you all the updates.

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor has sought to lay the blame for the Reserve Bank's decision to keep cash rates steady squarely at the feet of the federal government.

The rate cut decision has landed at the start of the federal election campaign, with cost-of-living issues a major concern among voters.

Seizing on that, Taylor is arguing the rate decision is a result of economic mismanagement.

"The Reserve Bank today of course kept interest rates on hold which continues to underscore for Australians is there's no fast pathway back to the standard of living they had when Labor came to power," he said.

"Let's be clear, Australian standards of living have collapsed since Labor came to power.

"This will be a lost decade for Australians if Labor stays in power."

Earlier, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the reserve bank decision was unsurprising, arguing Labor's made significant economic progress since assuming office in 2022, with lower inflation and the first interest rate cut since 2020.