Federal election 2025: Anthony Albanese pre-election address to National Press Club

The Prime Minister has broken his frenetic pace of campaigning to deliver the traditional leader’s speech to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has declined an invitation to deliver his own address this week.

Mr Albanese has reiterated his key campaign messages, stating the achievements of his government since it was elected three years ago, and highlighting the “risks” associated with “a reckless and wasteful Liberal and National government”.

He has urged Australians to give Labor another three years in government.

“As I said at the time, it was always going to take us more than three years to clear away the chaos and dysfunction that the Liberals left behind,” he said.

“But since May 2022, throughout these challenging times, we have laid strong foundations.

“On the 3rd of May I am asking Australians to vote Labor so we can keep building for the future.”

The lengthy address also highlighted key Labor policies like expansions to the Home Guarantee Scheme, which allows all first homebuyers purchase a home with a 5 per cent deposit regardless of their income and with increased property price caps, and a 20 per cent cut to student debt.

He also said Labor’s agenda had been “concrete, comprehensive – and costed”, while the Coalition had backflipped on their policies, including their call to force public servants back to the office and concessions on electric vehicles.

Labor frontbenchers including Jim Chalmers, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Home Affairs Minister Tony Bourke were in the audience, as well as his fiancee Jodie Haydon.

Albo’s positive message to voters

Mr Albanese’s language was notably positive, acknowledging the “courage,” “resilience,” “capacity” and “talents and aspiration” of the Australian people, adding that a Labor government would guarantee the “certainty” of Medicare, affordable childcare and early education, free TAFE and schools funding.

He said while a Dutton-led government would take Australia “back to a darker and nastier” time, he said Labor was “determined to take Australia forward”.

“I have always been optimistic about Australia’s future – and never more so than now. Because of the challenges we have worked together to overcome,” he said.

“Because of the opportunities we can work together to seize, and because the very best reason to be optimistic about Australia’s future remains our people. And the best investment we can make in Australia’s future is in our people.”

PM take a dig at Dutton for ‘hate media’ comments

Mr Albanese also expectedly took a dig at his opponent for not fronting up to NPC in his entire term as Opposition Leader, and said he could “only assume” this was because Mr Dutton “doesn’t have faith,” and “doesn’t want to share” his agenda or “what it will cost”.

“Either that, or the man who spends so much time telling everyone how tough he is the person putting himself forward to lead the nation for the next three years, is unwilling to face up to the scrutiny of the National Press Club,” he said.

“Instead, he prefers to accuse journalists of being ‘activists’ and labels the national broadcaster, ‘hate media’.

“Outbursts that, frankly, say more about his temperament than anything else.”

Mr Albanese said his NPC appearance was “more than a matter of respect for tradition,” but also meant “take responsibility” for Labor policies.

Will Labor get bulk-billing to target rates?

The first question is whether Labor will actually be able to hit its target of ensuring 90 per cent of doctor’s appointments are bulk-billed by 2030, a key tenet of Labor’s re-election strategy.

The question follows concerns from industry groups, including the Australian Medical Association and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, that levels will not meet the assigned targets.

While Mr Albanese declined to offer an interim 2028 target, he noted the AMA has not “always been great fans” of Medicare.

“That’s the truth. So we’re not shocked that occasionally not every doctor comes on board there,” he said.

However he said Labor’s $8.5bn plan to boost the bulk-billing incentive would boost bulk-billing rates, adding that the response from individuals doctors has been positive.

“I’ve spoken to doctors from Bridgewater in Tasmania to regional Queensland, Perth, Adelaide, who’ve said exactly that, that that is their intention, is that this change will make that difference.”

Albo asked: ‘Are Aussies better off now than three years go?’

Throughout the campaign, the Coalition has consistently called on voters to think whether they are ‘better off now than they were before the last election’.

On Wednesday it was Mr Albanese’s turn to answer the question.

“I’ll tell you what – the right answer to that is that Australians would be $7200 worse off if Peter Dutton had got his way,” the Prime Minister said.

“That is what Peter Dutton has done. You can’t say there’s an issue with cost of living and then vote against every cost-of-living relief measure.”

Asked one final time whether his answer was that “no (they’re not better off) but it could be worse,” Mr Albanese responded with: “The answer is that they would have been $7200 worse off if Peter Dutton had got his way, and Australians understand that”.

Albo’s terse interaction with journo

Mr Albanese also had a terse interaction with Sky News political reporter Andrew Clennell, who asked the Prime Minister “why you have to exaggerate in this campaign. Why can’t you win this election by telling the truth”.

The preamble to his question, which got a few laughs from the room, began with a nod to former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser and a lengthy list of Labor’s promises from the 2022 election.

“In the 1983 election campaign, Malcolm Fraser gave an address here where he said to journalists that they were spouting “bullshit from the Press Gallery”. In that spirit, I’d like to put that comment in reverse. It could be said there’s been a fair amount of BS in this campaign and also before the last election,” Clennell asked.

“Before the election, you said power bills would reduce. They didn’t. You said you wouldn’t change super. You’re trying. You said we’d have cheaper mortgages. We don’t. You said on election night you’d commit to the Uluru Statement in full. You haven’t.

“You said when you’d messed up, you’d admit fault. You haven’t. Now, Peter Dutton is promising to match your bulk-billing funding. Is in some of your ads, you’re saying he’s go to basically abolish Medicare. He said.”

Mr Albanese interjected and said: “You might want a question here, Andrew,” before Clennell asked why Labor was not able to “win this election by telling the truth”.

Mr Albanese said he stood by Labor’s claims that Medicare would be at risk if the Coalition won government.

“He (Peter Dutton) tried to abolish bulk-billing. He tried. He tried, and then he tried, also, to introduce a tax – a payment – every time people visited a hospital. He tried to increase the costs of pharmaceuticals by $5,” Mr Albanese said.

“When he couldn’t get his way, he froze the Medicare rebate for six years.

“This is a matter of record. And Peter Dutton said that, if you want to look at future performance, look at past performance.”

PM says Voice done ‘out of conviction, not convenience’

Mr Albanese was also asked about The Voice, following comments made by Foreign Minister Penny Wong that she believes that in 10 years time people will view The Voice like the same-sex plebiscite.

While she’s since clarified to the SBS that the “Voice is gone” and that Labor respects the “result of the referendum”, Mr Albanese said his support for a Voice to parliament came from First Nations people.

“We supported a Voice to parliament. I did it out of conviction, not out of convenience. It’s not easy to win a referendum in this country. No prime minister has won a referendum in this country this century,” he said.

“We put it to the Australian people, which was the gracious request. I think that was something I said I would do, and we did. We also said we would respect the outcome, and we have.”

He said Labor’s efforts were now focused on Closing the Gap, and “practical reconciliation”.

“The truth is that every government – Labor and conservative – has not done well enough because, if we had, we wouldn’t have the life expectancy gap, the education gap, the housing gap, the health gap. We wouldn’t have First Nations people having diseases that no-one in this room will have to worry about in remote communities,” he said.

“What we are doing is addressing those issues, still engaging through the Coalition of Peaks and through First Nations people – but we also respect democratic processes. I said that that was the case, and that is precisely what we have done.”

PM was not aware of Joe Exotic ‘endorsement’

Mr Albanese was also asked what he thought of the endorsement of Tiger King star, Joe Exotic, an exotic animal trainer who is currently in jail.

He was asked how he felt about it, whether the endorsement was paid, and whether Mr Albanese had met Exotic.

“Good to see some levity …! My – I have very passionate support for one particular animal Toto – and I’m looking forward to voting with her on Saturday,” Mr Albanese said.

“He’s in jail. Isn’t that the question? I wasn’t even aware of I think the point of that question was to ask the question was rather than to get a serious answer, I hope.”

Exotic has since clarified that Labor did not pay him for his endorsement, however he did ask if Mr Albanese would call US President Donald Trump on his behalf.

“No Anthony Albanese did not pay me. I made a public offer to work for their zoo for free for six months or any other wildlife conservation if he would call President Trump and ask for me to be released based on the American governments witnesses have admitted to perjury,” he said.

“Will make the same offer to President Trump or the President of Mexico.”