Liberal Party writes to AEC over Spender comments, leaders lock in final debate – as it happened (2025)

Thanks for joining us on the blog for another day on the campaign trail.

The good news is we will be back to do it all again nice and early tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, you can check out the rest of today's online coverage at ourAustralia Votes pageand you can try outthe ABC's Vote Compass toolto see how you align with the political parties.

Earlier today, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he wanted to see house prices "steadily increase".

Both leaders are facing questions over major policies targeting Australia's housing crisis.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Mr Duttonunveiled competing plansto help more first home buyers break into the property market during their respective campaign launches on Sunday.

Housing affordability has emerged as a key election issue for hopeful first home buyers across the country who have been locked out of the property market due to rising prices.

When asked on Monday if he wanted house prices to go up or down, Mr Dutton replied: "I want to see them steadily increase."

You can read more about that here:

Federal election candidates and elected officials have been sharing content from a publication that regularly publishes articles promoting white supremacist and neo-Nazi ideologies.

The Noticer runs white supremacist content alongside stories lifted from selected news sites, a model experts say is intended to lend the outlet a veneer of legitimacy.

The site is popular among the far-right community, including Australia's most prominent neo-Nazi group, the National Socialist Network (NSN).

Read the full story from ABC NEWS Verify's Kevin Nguyen and Michael Workman 👇.

The Foreign Minister Penny Wong is asking voters to return Labor to power with a majority government because that will give Australia the "stability" it needs to "navigate uncertain times".

It’s a new line of argument which might reflect growing confidence in ALP ranks as its position firms in the polls – although minority government still looks like the most likely result for Anthony Albanese.

Labor is also acutely aware how anxious many Australians are about the strategic and economic chaos emanating from the White House right now, and what it means for Australia.

Senator Wong told Sky News it was currently "a challenging time internationally", but argued that was a reason to return Labor at full strength.

“We know there's a lot of change, a lot of strategic competition and economic competition,” she said.

“One of the reasons that I would say to people it's important to vote for a majority Labor government is because that will give us the stability and certainty to navigate uncertain times.”

It’s not an argument which is likely to go down with the teals or other crossbenchers.

Some of those MPs say that Trump’s upending of the global order means Australia desperately needs to reassess its foreign policy thinking, and that they’ll be in a good position to push that debate along if they hold the balance of power.

ACT independent senator David Pocock has been asked about Allegra Spender's use of social media influencers.

The independent MP for Wentworth paid mental health advocate Milly Rose Bannister to create content — one video which did not carry an authorisation.

Pocock says it should be made clear to audiences if payment is involved.

"It's a challenge trying to reach different audiences, particularly younger audiences, to engage them in politics …," he says.

"Certainly I think if there is money exchanging hands it should be very clear that it has been paid and [it] needs to be authorised."

Pocock says on housing, he has been hearing from people that they want "sensible reform when it comes to capital gains tax discount and negative gearing".

He said it makes sense to "grandfather existing arrangements" to cap negative gearing going forward to one investment property".

"Seventy per cent of people only have one and that seems pretty fair and then to reduce the capital gains tax discount to 25 per cent for new builds and supply."

"You are dealing with the arguments that people put forward about why we cannot possibly change this, you are honouring investments that have been made under the existing rules.

"You are incentivising supply and having a fairer system when it comes to negative gearing that acknowledges the majority of people may have one investment property for a time if they were a small business and that is quite legitimate.

"If you have up to 20, 30 investment properties, the taxpayer shouldn't be propping you up on that."

Next up is Canberra senator David Pocock.

Housing continues to be a major theme of the show and Pocock is asked what he makes of each major party's announcements.

"I think if people were hoping for some long-term vision and actually dealing with some of the root causes of the housing crisis and how we landed up in this situation, they will be very disappointed," he says.

"You have to acknowledge that at least one of Labor's policies will add to supply but this is just a vote-buying exercise with the major parties. Where is the structural reform?"

"What is the vision for Australia where we can actually afford to buy your first home without help from the bank of mum and dad?"

He says he is more inclined to support Labor's policy.

Katy Gallagher says Labor's housing policy to allow first home owners to enter the market with a 5 per cent deposit will not transfer risk to Australian taxpayers.

She says it's an existing program that has been in place for some time.

"It's a very triedand tested program and the costingsthat will be reflected in the budgetor in our costing," she says.

Matt Canavan is asked whether he feels comfortable going into an election promising to abolish tax cuts for all Australians.

He says the tax cuts benefit people on higher incomes rather than those with lower take home pay.

"Why don't we tailor our support to those who are struggling right now in the community," he says.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher is speaking to Afternoon Briefing now.

She's asked about whether Labor's housing policy announced on Sunday will lead to an increase in house prices.

Gallagher says the advice she's received from Treasury shows it won't lead to an increase.

"It's a scheme that already exists and wants to expand, would not impact on house prices," he says.

"Our plan is more homes and lower, cheaper deposits and the opposition's are less homes and higher prices."

Matt Canvan has been asked about his colleague Jactina Price, who vowed to "Make Australia great again" during a campaign event on the weekend.

He is asked if there are any parallels between his party's policy offerings and that of the American movement.

"I have not sat down and thought about it to be honest," he says.

"What I've tried to do is adopt and support policies that help Australia and, of course, it seems to make our country great. And … it seems to me the Labor Party, in response to Jacinta's comments, are somewhat opposed to making Australia great."

When asked at a media conference a short time later if her comment was an ode to Donald Trump — who was elected twice on the slogan Make America Great Again — Price said: "If I said that, I don't even realise I said that."

Barbara Pocock is asked if there is one housing policy that she believes is better than the other.

In the case of a hung parliament, she says she would "support measures that grow supply."

"That is an initiative that is part of what Labor is offering and that is a positive step forward to see the building of housing across the country that we need," she says.

"If you look in the detail, of Labor's policy we see will build, when it begins in two years' time, it will build something like 80 houses in each electorate across the country on average for eight years.

"We have a crisis that is way bigger than that, we need to have government investing much more significantly, especially in social and affordable housing."

Greens senator Barbara Pocock says the first home buyer policies announced by both major parties on the weekend will pour "petrol onto demand".

"It's a set of policiesfrom Peter Dutton which arestruggling to find an economist who willsay anything positive about them," she says.

"We have from Labor policieswhich are tinkering at the edges ina crisis where we are seeing pricesincreasing astronomically."

Pocock says there needs to be changes to capital gains tax to help ensure young people can get into the housing market.

She says there also needs to be changes to rental laws and rent increases.

"We should not have unlimited rent increases available in all of our major cities with so many renters struggling."

To housing policy now, and senator Matt Canavan is asked if the Coalition's housing policy will drive up prices of homes.

"The housing plan that Peter Dutton announced yesterday from the Liberal National Party directly seeks to encourage new supply of housing," he says.

"The taxability on mortgage payments is available for people who buy a new home.

"That will incentivise [the development of] new homes … And of course that is what we need. Those are the structural issues you are talking about.

A simple fact is, under the government, 500,000 people a year have been arriving [in Australia]. People are building 170,000 homes a year, so the maths doesn't stack up."

He says under the Coalition's plan, more houses will be built and, in the medium term, the Coalition would make sure the infrastructure required to open up more housing was built.

Pressed further on how economists are warning the policy will push up prices, he says:

"I'd love to have a debate with economists about this but I think they got, in technical terms, the elasticity of the supply curve totally wrong. It doesn't make sense for the real world," he says.

"It will help young people save up for a home by using tax advantage superannuation accounts. It will encourage new builds by encouraging people to provide new homes to people. They can deduct their mortgage interest rates from the sale of those, and that is what we need in our country."

Our political panel, made up of LNP senator Matt Canavan and Greens senator Barbara Pocock, is speaking to Afternoon Briefing’s Pablo Viñales.

The first question is about the Liberal Party’s new diss track.

Senator Canavan says it's "catchy tune".

"It gets people to understand those issues causing pain for everyday Australians. I'm all for it," he says.

But Senator Pocock takes a different view. She says it won't be a particularly memorable hit.

"If you want to connect with young people have policies that matter to them," she says.

The third debate between Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton will be aired on Channel 7 on April 27 at 8pm.

Both leaders will face-off the final time before the election on May 3.

But don't forget the debate aired on ABC News and moderated by David Speers will take place this Wednesday, April 16 at 8pm AEST.

You can read all the details on that here:

Join us as we blog today's episode.

You can also watch it live at the top of the page.

The Liberal Party has written to the Australian Electoral Commissioner questioning a TikTok video by mental health advocate Milly Rose Bannister.

The ABC has revealed independent MP Allegra Spender and Climate 200 paid Bannister to create content.

The ABC has also revealed the partnership is being quietly facilitated by Sentiment Agency, which was founded by musician and progressive activist Holly Rankin, also known as Jack River.

Bannister's video on Instagram, where she essentially records a day in the life of Spender at Parliament House has a "made in collaboration" disclaimer at the end of it.

But the TikTok version does not carry that same statement or mention that it's paid in the caption.

Liberal campaign spokesman James Paterson has requested the AEC investigate the post.

The ABC has contacted Spender's office for comment.

A spokesman for Spender has previously said sometimes creators were "compensated for their time, to cover things like production costs," but "the final editorial decisions of the content are completely up to the content creators".

Political parties seem to love a transcript drama, and we had one today.

Whenever politicians hold a press conference or do a media interview, journalists get sent a transcript. And competing parties love to find errors in each other's transcripts, particularly when it appears something controversial has been removed.

Today, Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek went on Channel Seven's Sunrise program in her regular debate with Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, and was asked about that awkward air kiss with the PM at the Labor launch.

Here is the exchange, as it happened.

NATALIE BARR: Aah. You two still getting along? Yep?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yeah, of course.
BARNABY JOYCE: Oh, yes.
NATALIE BARR: Friends? Buddies? Just checking.
BARNABY JOYCE: "We're buddies."
NATALIE BARR: That's a yes, is it, Tanya?
BARNABY JOYCE: That's convincing.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yes, of course.
NATALIE BARR: Why didn't he want to hug you when you went in for the …
BARNABY JOYCE: I'm glad you're not my barrister on that one!*
NATALIE BARR: Okay. Left me hanging. Okay, thank you. We'll see you next week. Bye guys. Happy campaigning.
MATT SHIRVINGTON: Oh, that was convincing, wasn't it?
[ENDS]

But here is how it appeared in the transcript the Labor campaign sent out earlier today.

BARR: So, you’re still getting along?

PLIBERSEK: Yeah, of course.

BARR: Okay, thank you. Bye guys. Happy campaigning.

[ENDS]

Liberal Party headquarters quickly drew the media's attention to the "doctored transcript", suggesting a cover-up.

Labor has effectively admitted the first version was not up to scratch by re-issuing it, with the full exchange at the bottom. Why was the first version not complete? Labor won't say.

Anthony Albanese has been asked about Peter Dutton and the similarities Labor has tried to draw between the opposition leader and US President Donald Trump.

He says Australians can come to their own conclusions.

"People will make their own conclusion, but people can have a look at the caps my team wear and the caps that the other team wear and draw their own conclusions," he says.