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Let’s go through the accuracy of five big claims made on Friday by Albanese as well as Opposition leader Peter Dutton and Greens leader Adam Bandt.
Albanese: ‘Only Labor is acting on the cost-of-living … Only a vote for Labor is a vote for stronger Medicare’
Albanese: ‘The Liberals are promising to increase income tax for all 14 million Australian taxpayers and because Peter Dutton needs to find $600 billion to pay for nuclear reactors that will provide 4 per cent of Australia’s energy needs some time in the 2040s, that money has to come from somewhere’
On nuclear, the figure Albanese appears to be quoting comes from the Smart Energy Council. It estimates the cost of building seven nuclear reactors proposed by the Coalition would be between $116-$600 billion, and they would provide 3.7 per cent of Australia’s energy mix in 2050.
The costings of Dutton’s nuclear plan are somewhat in dispute. The CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) have both said nuclear is twice as expensive as renewables.
Dutton: Australians are now paying on average 18 per cent more for rent … and over 30 per cent more for power and gas
Electricity prices actually fell 9.9 per cent in the December 2024 quarter, and 25.2 per cent in the 12 months to January 2025, but some households faced bill spikes of up to 40 per cent before this, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Dutton: [Australians] are losing hope for their future — 29,000 small businesses have gone broke over the course of the Albanese government’s first term
Data from Australia’s Security and Investments Commission (ASIC) shows around 28,900 “companies entered external administration or had a controller appointed” since the Albanese government took power.
A small business is defined by the ABS as having either fewer than 20 employees or an aggregated annual turnover of less than $10 million.
