1 week Ago By Kat Wong and Jacob Shteyman
Public servants and a Chinese-owned port have morphed into political footballs, while footballs of a more literal kind rained down in a bruising second week of the federal election campaign. Login or signup to continue reading MEMORABLE MOMENTS Opposition Leader Peter Dutton kicked off the week by launching a football at Network Ten cameraman Ghaith Nadir. "Oh, got him," he said, before realising Mr Nadir had begun to bleed.
He later offered to buy a beer for the camera operator after Mr Nadir's head was wrapped with several turns of gauze. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese started his week by igniting a political furore over plans to bring the Port of Darwin back into Australian hands. But Mr Albanese did not let that phase him, continuing his campaign with the towering Labor candidate for Leichhardt Matt Smith, as the two visited the Great Barrier Reef in casual fare.
The two-metre-tall former basketball player loomed large over the reef announcement, as did the absence of his environment minister. Meanwhile, Mr Dutton visited seven bowsers in seven days as he banged the drum on the coalition's plan to reduce fuel prices. On one occasion, he caved into the temptation to buy a sneaky treat from the gas station freezer.
Voters were treated to the first debates of the campaigns, but anyone hoping to learn anything new would have been disappointed. The prime minister and Mr Dutton in the leaders' debate, Jim Chalmers and Angus Taylor in the treasurers' debate, and Chris Bowen and Ted O'Brien in the energy debate largely stuck to pre-rehearsed slogans and well-trodden attack lines. Dr Chalmers tried to tie the coalition to the Trump administration, calling the opposition a bunch of "DOGE-y sycophants", in reference to the Elon Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency, and claimed Mr Dutton would cut services if elected.
Try as it might, the coalition has struggled to shake its association with US President Donald Trump, whose escalating trade war rocked markets and dominated headlines. And on Saturday, the link continued to solidify when Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, flanked by Mr Dutton, said the coalition would "make Australia great again". WHERE THE LEADERS WENT The prime minister flew between Queensland, Victoria, NSW - where he took a visit to his electorate - the NT and WA.
Mr Dutton, on the other hand, stuck purely to Australia's states, missing out on the ACT for the second week in a row, and the NT. HOW MUCH MONEY THEY SPENT The coalition has continued to focus spending on infrastructure with money earmarked for Paradise Dam in Queensland and roads in South Australia. It also vowed to wind back penalties for automakers over fuel-guzzling cars.
Labor has announced millions for roads across the country, $6 million to encourage kids to visit the Great Barrier Reef and other health announcements to support its focus on Medicare. WHAT THEY SAID * "You have to be an adult, not dial it up to 11 at every opportunity, which is what Peter Dutton's plan is on everything," Mr Albanese said. * "I don't need to attack the character of the prime minister to win the next election .
.. what I want to offer the Australian people is a much more positive future," Mr Dutton said.
BIGGEST SURPRISE Mr Dutton was forced into an awkward U-turn over a policy to force public servants back into the office. "We got it wrong, we've apologised for it, we support flexible workplace arrangements," he told reporters in Adelaide on Monday. That wasn't the week's only political backflip after Donald Trump walked back some of his tariffs following global stock market meltdowns.
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