Labor, Liberal and Greens all begin in Brisbane as campaign kicks off

ABC NEWS (Australia)

After months of faux-campaigning, and at the end of an intense budget week, it is now on. Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton will spend the next five weeks trying to convince Australians they’re the best place to lead the country for the next three years. This campaign has begun with a big focus on tax, power prices and who’s best to deal with Donald Trump.

Transcript

00:00In the pre-dawn light, the Prime Minister sets off to set a date with destiny.

00:08Prime Minister is now leaving the lodge, so this is it.

00:13All designed to play out live on breakfast TV.

00:17A short trip from the Prime Minister's residence to the grounds of Government House.

00:23And 20 minutes later, he'd pulled the trigger for an election on the 3rd of May.

00:29Ready to go?

00:31You bet.

00:33Born ready.

00:34Ready with a direct appeal to Australians.

00:37Your vote has never been more important.

00:40Urging them to stick with what they know.

00:42The world today is an uncertain place, but I am absolutely certain of this.

00:51Now is not the time for cutting and wrecking,

00:54for aiming low, punching down or looking back.

00:59Both leaders battling to frame the contest to come.

01:03This election is a choice.

01:05This election is a choice.

01:07Between Labor's plan to keep building.

01:09About who can better manage our economy.

01:12Or Peter Dutton's promise to cut.

01:14On home turf in Brisbane, Peter Dutton is setting out to make history

01:19and become the first opposition leader in nearly a century to turf out a first term government.

01:25His mission?

01:26To crystallise voter anger over the cost of living.

01:29The question that Australians need to ask is,

01:32are you better off today, is our country better off today than three years ago?

01:36While much of the Coalition's agenda is yet to come,

01:39the two parties enter this campaign with starkly different policies on tax, housing and energy.

01:46The common thread is cost of living, the defining feature of this election.

01:51The polls are pointing to a tight contest.

01:54For Peter Dutton to win, he needs to pick up nearly 20 seats.

01:58While Anthony Albanese is holding onto power by the slimmest of margins.

02:03If Labor wins a second term, is it your intention to serve a full term as Prime Minister?

02:07Yes.

02:08The Prime Minister's fighting to hold on to Labor's majority,

02:11but he's fending off attacks from the Liberals on his right and the Greens to his left.

02:16With a minority government on the cards this election,

02:20this is a once in a generation chance to keep Peter Dutton out and get Labor to act.

02:27After three years, it all comes down to the next five weeks.

02:31Competing visions for Australia's future and a lot more of this.

02:36This thing here, your Medicare card.

02:39The writs have been issued and parliament prorogued.

02:43Those cannons are a signal that there's something else going on today.

02:49As it will each and every day for all 36 remaining.

Category

Transcript

Recommended