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At the halfway point of the election campaign, the prime minister has sketched out a re-election plan that involves him serving a full three years and then seeking a third term in office.
If Labor leader Anthony Albanese wins the 3 May election, he will be the first leader since John Howard to maintain a grip on power and be re-elected.
His three-term agenda, first revealed by The Nightly news website, means senior colleagues in his cabinet would have to park their own leadership aspirations.
“We’re the most united team I’ve seen in my time,” Albanese said.
“I’m not looking over my back, I’m looking forward.”
He said his serving a full second term is what voters want.
“I think that’s what the Australian people would expect of me.”
He’s also outlined his aspirations to uphold a personal tradition the night after polling day.
“I have a bit of a tradition of watching a Star Wars movie on May the Fourth, because I quite appreciate the sense of history there, and I’m an old Star Wars guy.”
Anthony Albanese and with his housing minister Clare O’Neil on Tuesday. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
If Labor wins the election, a significant reshuffle will be due, after a series of retirements.
While most in the Labor leadership team would be able to stay in existing roles, Albanese has refused to rule out shifting Tanya Plibersek from the environment portfolio, although he has confirmed she would remain in the cabinet.
While Labor is ahead in the polls, Albanese maintains his pledge is not a sign of hubris.
“I’m trying to climb a mountain here,” he said of retaining majority government.
The cost-of-living election campaign has become razor-focused on housing, with duelling policies from the major parties coming under scrutiny from economists.
The major parties formally launched their election campaigns on the weekend, both revealing .
In both cases, economists have raised concerns about the potential for the schemes to further inflate house prices.
The government is significantly expanding the taxpayer-guaranteed scheme to allow first home buyers into the market with a 5 per cent deposit.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said she’s been advised by Treasury that the impact of the policy on prices would “not be significant”, but Albanese ruled out publicly releasing the official Treasury advice.
“We don’t release Treasury documentation,” he said.
“The idea that they put a precise dollar on something is not right.”
Opposition housing spokesperson Michael Sukkar was also pressed on the potential for the Coalition’s policy — to allow first home buyers five years of tax deductible mortgage interest payments — to increase prices.
He was asked to explain Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s comments about his hopes for prices to rise “steadily”.
“I think it’s unquestionable, we all want to see wages outstripping the growth of housing, but housing to steadily increase — not dramatically increase — and we’ve seen dramatic increases in recent years,” Sukkar told ABC’s Radio National.
He went on to say the price rises needed to be higher than inflation.
Using last year as an example, that would create a window of 2.4 to 3.2 per cent.
Last year house prices went up by 5.1 per cent.
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