Canberra: Australia’s Prime ministerial candidates have formally launched their election campaigns with multi-billion-dollar housing and tax policy announcements.
Incumbent PM Anthony Albanese officially launched his governing Labor Party’s campaign for re-election in Western Australia on Sunday, pledging that he would use a second term to “keep building a future that is true to our values and worthy of our people”.
Albanese announced that a re-elected Labor government would spend 10 billion Australian dollars ($6.2 billion) to build 100,000 new homes exclusively for first home buyers and unveiled a plan to allow Australians to purchase their first home with only a five per cent deposit, Xinhua news agency reported.
He also on Sunday promised that from 2026-27 millions of Australians will be able to claim an instant 1,000 AUD ($628.5) tax deduction for work expenses without having to provide receipts.
Peter Dutton, Australia’s alternative PM, launched his opposition Coalition’s campaign in western Sydney earlier on Sunday where he also made housing and taxation policy announcements.
He said that a Coalition government would deliver a one-off tax cut worth 1,200 AUD ($754.3) to millions of middle income earners in 2026 at a cost of 10 billion AUD.
Additionally, he announced that for five years the Coalition would allow first home buyers to deduct the interest paid on the first 650,000 AUD ($408,588.9) of their mortgage from their taxable income — a measure the party said would save the average family 11,000 AUD ($6,914.5) per year.
The location of each party’s campaign launch on Sunday is a significant indicator of what they consider their best path to forming government by winning a majority of the 150 seats that will make up the lower house in the 48th Parliament.
Labor’s victory in the 2022 election, which ended nine years in opposition for the party, was largely built on its success in Western Australia.
Of the 10 seats across Australia that Labor won off the Coalition in 2022 on its way to reaching 77 seats, four were in WA.
With the Coalition entering the election holding 53 lower house seats and needing gains across the country to form government, Labor retaining its seats in WA would be a major step towards re-election.
In addition to WA, Dutton and the Coalition have targeted western Sydney as an area where it could make significant gains on Labor.
The traditionally working-class area is a traditional Labor stronghold, with the governing party currently holding 10 of its 14 seats, but has been identified by the opposition as an area where its cost-of-living, housing and immigration policies could resonate with voters.
The launch of both major parties’ campaigns comes 20 days before election day and nine days before early voting starts on April 22.
Under Australian law, the official launch of a political party’s federal election campaign marks the point at which the party can no longer access taxpayer funding to cover their campaign costs, such as travel arrangements for leaders and staff salaries, and instead have to fully cover the costs themselves.
(IANS)
