1 week Ago By Jason Gregory
Federal elections give voters a chance to discover which politicians have best honed their pot shot game over the past three years. or signup to continue reading Calculate which party is promising to spend more taxpayer money over the next three years and look forward to the election day democracy sausage and talking about the experience on social media. As well as stopping to stare into the abyss of the Australian political landscape, searching for optimism, hope and mature debate among the cheap stunts and sugar-hit policies.
Coming to the end of the second week on the campaign trail and bookmakers have landed on a clear favourite, while still favouring a minority government. Domestic issues created the most chaos this week after the first seven days of the campaign were dominated by whatever hornet's nest US President decided to kick that day. This morning it was asking his Department of Government Expenditure demigod to run the rule over AUKUS agreement spending.
Prime Minister was quick to tell the nation that the crucial pact was "safe", but punters probably think it would have been good to know this was in play before Deputy Prime Minister travelled to Washington in late January to hand over a $500 million downpayment for nuclear submarine's that are still years away. The government is also obviously distracted by the 145 per cent tariff that the US has placed on Chinese imports in a tit-for-tat retailiatory trade war that will doubtlessly have significant secondary impacts for Australian exporters if it is not resolved quickly. Musk also called the president's tariff honcho "truly a moron" and "dumber than a sack of bricks" this week, while Trump had earlier signalled that the world's richest man's and cost-cutter-in-chief's tenure was coming to an end.
It seems a long, long time ago when a very senior politician privately said after the 2022 Australian election they were glad "the mad man" was no longer in the White House, when he was facing multiple criminal charges and another tilt at the presidency was looking much less likely than a stint in prison. Readers know the price of everything is going up, try as politicians might in promising to bring them down. So we asked the Australian Electoral Commission whether the cost of putting pollies in positions of power was also increasing.
The answer is yes, the AEC said the cost of the 2025 federal election will very likely surpass the 2022 rendition, which is currently the most expensive election ever held in Australia. For the record, the 2022 House of Representatives and half Senate elections cost $522m, while the 2019 HoR and half Senate election came in at $373m and the 2016 Double Dissolution election, triggered after the -led Coalition government could not pass building and construction and workplace bills, cost $286m. The 2013 election cost $193m and $161m in 2010.
If we jump in the way back machine, the first election after decimal currency kicked in in 1961 cost just $866,000 and the historic 1967 referendum, where a record 97pc of participants voted to amend the Constitution to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, cost $1m. The May 3 plebiscite to elect members of the 48 Parliament of Austraila will see 150 lower house seats (compared to 151 in 2022) and 40 of the 76 seats in the Senate contested. Prime Minister captain's call to push on with the 2023 The Voice Referendum, when he even admitted it was likely not going to be successful, cost taxpayers $411m - something worth remembering in a cost-of-living election when even small spending promises are being pulled apart by the opposing party.
An AEC spokesperson said the organisation would not know the final cost of the election until well after polling day, due to many factors including transport requirements, weather impacts, staffing and if the count was close, however, "generally speaking, the costs increase every election". Speaking of betting the house, data reveals $6.7 million was spent to air YouTube election ads by political parties and individuals over the last 30 days.
A whopping $2.3m of that amount was outlaid just in the past week to air 3,695 ads as campaign machines crank up as May 3 looms larger. The highest spender was Trumpet of Patriots at $2.
6m. Labor forked over $1.6m and more than doubled the Liberal Party of Australia outlay of $740,000.
However, the Liberals' Victorian division spent $322,000, the Queensland division outlayed $151,000 and NSW a more modest $129,000. Liberals Against Nuclear spent $63,000 to dump on the party's energy policy while the ACTU spent $200,000 and the Advance Australia Party $78,000. Geographically, the lion's share of ads were played in Victoria with $2.
3m overall directed to that state, while $1.9m was spent in NSW, $1.1 in Queensland, $630,000 in WA, $307,000 in SA, $185,000 in Tasmania, $78,000 in the ACT and $61,000 in the NT.
Meanwhile, Google removed a Trumpet of Patriots ad for violating its policies - a wee problem is it was on high rotation and played more than 10m times over 15 days. The ad, which cost Palmer $200,000 to air, features a snippet of an old doco containing misleading claims about climate change. Since last November Canberra Chaos has been regularly updating readers as to the fluctuating views of bookmakers and who they have favoured to win the federal election.
At that time the Coalition was a slight favourite at around $1.78 against Labor at $2.10.
The odds remained about the same for several months before the Coalition was quietly wound into a fairly slender $1.60 before the election was called while Labor was pushed out to a very tempting $2.25.
An hour after Albo called the election last month, Labor was back into $1.80 to be declared the winner on May 3 while the Coalition sat at $2.10.
However, thanks to a few regrettable Coalition stumbles in recent weeks rather than anything Labor has really done, it has been one-way traffic over the past couple of weeks. In fact, Labor's odds were slashed to $1.40 last Friday while the Coalition was pushed out to $3.
Labor was further tightened to $1.36 on April 9 and then wound in again to $1.29 on Friday morning shortly before this column was published.
The Coalition now sits at $3.66. A Labor minority is $2, a Labor majority is $2.
88 and a Coalition minority is $4.50. A Coalition majority, which some were flagging two weeks ago, is becoming a case of write-you-own-ticket at $18.
Interestingly, individual division betting for the far north Queensland seat of Leichardt, a hitherto bastion Coalition bastion after being held by retiring MP Warren Entsch for donkeys' years, was upended this week after some old social posts of the Coalition candidate surfaced. Paramedic , running against former Cairns Taipans NBL player who is now bouncing the ball for Labor, was forced to apologise for the posts that targeted feminists, China and pandemic restrictions. Mr Neal also made headlines this week after handing out MAGA hats around town - an acronym for Make Albo Go Away.
was less in the news this week for revealing One Nation's forestry policy than at creating a political dynasty by running as a Senate candidate for Tasmania. Pauline is nearing 70 and readying to retire, so the time is right for daughter , 41, to run after being too busy raising children to accept a previous offer from the party leader. Lee said the policies of One Nation were based on "family values" and were core to the Australian identity, she is also keen to help repair Tasmania's health and education systems and pick up the cudgel against "wokeness".
"People are sick and tired of the woke," she said. "We want to be proud to be Australian." If Lee is successful, she will form half of Australia's first mother-daughter parliamentary duo.
Hanson senior ruled out the appointment being a case of nepotism in saying she would not allow any of her three sons near the place. "I wouldn't have one of my sons in parliament, so it's about qualifications and ability," she said. "My time in politics is coming to an end, and I'm not gonna say when that's gonna happen, but I want the people coming through that are going to carry on my legacy.
" Meanwhile, One Nation's new South Australian Senate candidate, , is the mother of who is representing the party as a member of SA's legislative council. Shadow Roads and Road Safety Minister issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon to note that, earlier that day, a staff member had opened an envelope containing a powdered substance at his Mount Gambier electorate office. The appropriate authorities attended the office and the substance is currently undergoing testing.
"I take the health and safety of my team very seriously and I am grateful that initial assessments indicate no-one has suffered any harmful effects," he said. "I thank the first responders who acted quickly with diligence and professionalism." Hear, hear, here's hoping the cops bust the perp and the staff member is doing okay.
News also broke on Friday morning that Coalition leader was allegedly the potential target of a Brisbane private schoolboy's plan to use a drone to drop homemade explosives on Mr Dutton's home. Maverick MP made a ripple of news this week in helping to that bears a likeness of the outspoken Queenslander on the can. Described as a drink that's "really good on a hot day when you've spent all day working your arse off in the far north", the beer is brewed by a private company near Cairns, just inside Mr Katter's electorate of Kennedy.
It seems like only last month, March 21 to be exact, that Canberra Chaos reported that Mr Katter was demanding for 12 months to a more permanent arrangement. Prime Minister said he would stop tax increases from August for two years, the Commonwealth ordinarily indexes the tax on alcohol producers twice a year. In a media release, Mr Katter said a temporary fix was a "band-aid on a bullet wound" and would not help consumers or the hospitality industry with increased sales.
"Let's call it what it is - double-dipping. The government is slugging people who've already paid tax on their hard-earned wages, and now they're taxed again just to enjoy a cold one with their mates," he said. We are not suggesting one plus one equals two in this case, but we love a good coincidence.
Chaos reported last week that Treasurer had to reduce a popular tax time setting for farmers and small businesses by promising to keep the instant asset write-off at $20,000 if reelected. The pledge followed significant political and industry blowback after it was announced in last month's budget that the measure would revert to cover full depreciation for purchases of just $1000 or less from the 2025/26 financial year. A significant issue with Labor's revised write-off is that it is a temporary cost-of-living measure, as with its pledge to freeze the beer excise tax for two years if elected.
Similar criticism has been directed at the Coalition by stakeholders after Opposition leader announced a 12-month reduction in the fuel tax. So it was sort of funny that Labor's election spokesperson was trying to have his cake and eat it too when telling ABC radio on Wednesday that the problem with the Coalition's fuel excise cut is its temporary". "It lasts literally as long as your rego.
What Australians need is help with the cost of living that is permanent," he said. reporter Rebecca Nadge with the morning sun on his face and moving a mob of 872 heifers and 17 bulls out of the holding yards to graze for the day on the Hay plains. With his catchphrase ready on weathered lips: "I feel sorry for anybody that isn't me.
" He's been on the road with this mob since June and will continue through to May. Along with his partner, Susan Coggan, Mr Skinner uses bikes, horses and working dogs to manage the mob. "There's not enough feed for them at home so we're just walking them around getting feed because they've got no calves," Mr Skinner said.
"Here at the moment in the Riverina, I'm moving every three days. If the season gets tight, I'll probably move every two days. "When they go home, I'll probably have a month off and then I'll take another mob away for him.
" In a media release, invoking the spirit of Henry Lawson, Katter said a temporary fix is a "band-aid on a bullet wound" and not helping consumers or the hospitality industry. "Let's call it what it is - double-dipping. The government is slugging people who've already paid tax on their hard-earned wages, and now they're taxed again just to enjoy a cold one with their mates," he said.
National rural affairs writer for ACM's agricultural print and digital publications, covering federal politics, agri-politics and life in the regions. 2023 National Rural Press Club award winner. Send story tips to jason.
[email protected] National rural affairs writer for ACM's agricultural print and digital publications, covering federal politics, agri-politics and life in the regions.
2023 National Rural Press Club award winner. Send story tips to jason.gregory@austcommunitymedia.
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