Peter Dutton has ruled out forming a minority government with One Nation, despite the coalition striking a preference arrangement with Pauline Hanson.

The opposition has preferenced One Nation at number two on its how-to-vote cards in several crucial marginal seats, following a surge in support in the far-right minor party’s primary vote.

But the opposition leader said Senator Hanson wouldn’t be part of any future coalition government after Saturday’s federal election, if it results in a hung parliament.

“I wouldn’t be mucking around with independents and third parties at this election. I really wouldn’t,” he told reporters in Melbourne on Wednesday.

“We don’t want to see a European situation where you’ve got a handful of Greens and left-leaning teal candidates who are holding the government to ransom; that is not going to be good for us.”

Mr Dutton also said the coalition wouldn’t pursue teal independent MPs to form a minority government.

Senator Hanson said while there was no formal preference deal with the opposition, coalition voters had drifted towards One Nation.

“A lot of the sitting members within the Liberal Party agree with my policies, they know we’re on the same page,” she told AAP.

“It’s sending a clear message to conservative voters that we are seen to be working together.”

Meanwhile, after days of questions about the coalition’s election costings, the opposition is set to release the numbers on Thursday.

“We’ll release our costings, and it will show a better bottom line under the coalition than the Labor Party,” Mr Dutton said.

Mr Dutton also defended members of Christian sect, the Exclusive Brethren, volunteering for the Liberal Party in marginal seats.

The Brethren are volunteering even though their members will not turn out to vote, for religious reasons.

“People of Christian faiths support both sides of politics and people of no faith support both sides of politics,” Mr Dutton said.

“People ultimately can make a decision about who they want to support – in a democracy we have freedom of speech.”

With just three days until the election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will lay out his vision for a second term in office in a set-piece speech to the National Press Club.

It follows the national election in Canada, where a centre-left government was returned on the back of anti-Donald Trump sentiment amongst voters, despite being behind the opposition conservative party in the polls earlier in the year.

While that outcome has given Labor a bit of lift, Mr Albanese stressed the situation for incumbent governments was still challenging.

“We have governed through very difficult times … we know that that’s the case, and around the globe it has been a difficult time to be in government,” he told ABC Radio.

Political strategist Jack Milroy, who has worked on progressive campaigns in Canada and Australia, said the US relationship would be less of a factor on Saturday but voters were still conscious of the global instability.

“The Canadian example has kind of shown that a strong approach to the US seems to pay dividends politically,” he told AAP.

“The Labor Party is in a good position for our election, but it will be interesting to see how they relate to the US going forward.”

Most polls are showing Labor ahead of the coalition on a preferred party basis, although a minority government remains a possible outcome.

Two workers for the federal government have been forced to use a food bank because of exorbitant rents, advocates say, as fresh data shows most rentals are unaffordable.

The two women, in the nation’s capital where the average annual wage is more than $110,000, are among thousands of Australian renters struggling to afford housing, the Anglicare Australia study shows.

One woman, who works for Treasury, told a welfare group she was embarrassed to rely on weekly food donations after her husband and father of her children died and she found herself unable to pay the rent. 

The other woman struggling with rent works at Parliament House.

“We have single fathers coming in as well, we have parents once in private rentals now living in cars,” St John’s Care manager Jason Haines told AAP on Wednesday.

The organisation helps to provide food to struggling people in Canberra.

Families were coming in at breaking point and some were “unable to speak most of the time because a lot of the time they haven’t eaten for three or four days,” Mr Haines said.

People on the lowest incomes “don’t stand a chance” Anglicare executive director Kasy Chambers said.

The organisation’s annual Rental Affordability Snapshot shows fewer than one in 100 full-time workers on the minimum wage can afford homes to rent.

It’s even worse for a person out of work, with the survey of more than 51,000 rental listings showing just three were affordable for someone on JobSeeker.  

The 16th annual snapshot was the worst so far, Ms Chambers said.

“It’s hard to think what we’ll be here saying this time next year.” 

It was up to governments to step up instead of leaving housing to the private sector, Ms Chambers said.

“People tell us frequently about the meals that they have to skip, about not filling prescriptions, about not putting the insurance on the car,” she said.

Anglicare wants an increase in income support, with JobSeeker sitting well under the poverty line, as more people on higher incomes increasingly experience housing stress and face homelessness.

The major parties had committed to spend tens of billions of dollars to address housing supply but this wouldn’t help in the immediate term, Ms Chambers said. 

“We can see this year, we have a significant increase in the amount of properties that are actually available – it has not affected affordability in a positive way,” she said.

Long term reform is needed, including winding back tax breaks for property investors which have been linked to higher housing costs, Ms Chambers said.

The Greens and independent MPs have lambasted the government for failing to address the issue and are calling for holistic reform as well as a lift in welfare payments.

Julia, a student on youth allowance who’s received Anglicare assistance, has been trying to find an affordable room in a share house in Brisbane and is looking at dropping her studies to part-time so she can work more to afford rent. 

Cait, a single woman on JobSeeker trying to find a Sydney rental ahead of the end of her lease, said it was impossible to find somewhere affordable and she may need to turn to crowdfunding to help her pay rent.

A second author has accused Brooke Bellamy of stealing recipes for use in her bestselling cookbook Bake With Brooki. 

Hours after RecipeTin Eats’ Nagi Maehashi raised allegations of copyright infringement on Tuesday night, Sally McKenney, author and blogger behind Sally’s Baking Addiction, levelled the claims. 

Ms Bellamy, who owns the popular Brooki Bakehouse in Brisbane, denied the accusations, saying she had been making and selling her recipes before Ms Maehashi’s were published.

The allegations relate to Ms Maehashi’s caramel slice and baklava recipe, along with Ms McKenney’s Best Vanilla Cake recipe. 

Ms McKenney posted on social media, saying she was first alerted to the similarity months ago.

She said her recipe was first published in 2019.

“One of my recipes was also plagiarised in this book and also appears on the author’s YouTube channel,” she said.

“Original recipe creators who put in the word to develop and test recipes deserve credit-especially in a best selling cookbook.”

Bake With Brooki is a bestselling cookbook published by Penguin in October last year and retails for $49.99.

Ms Bellamy quickly became a global sensation after sharing “day in the life” videos on TikTok, which receive millions of views each day.

She is best known for her cookies and has opened pop-up stores in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Both Penguin and Ms Bellamy deny the allegations.

“I did not plagiarise any recipes in my book which consists of 100 recipes I have created over many years,” she said. 

“In 2016, I opened my first bakery. I have been creating my recipes and selling them commercially since October 2016.”

Ms Bellamy posted an image showing her caramel slice, which dated back to December 2016. 

“On March 2020, RecipeTin Eats published a recipe for caramel slice. It uses the same ingredients as my recipe, which I have been making and selling since four years prior,” she said. 

The Brisbane baker said she “immediately offered” to remove both recipes from future reprints to prevent further aggravation”.

In Ms Maehashi’s Instagram post, she described Ms Bellamy of “profiting” from the alleged plagiarised recipes. 

The author claims she first raised concerns with Penguin in December.

“I put a huge amount of effort into my recipes. And I share them on my website for anyone to use for free,” she said.

“To see them plagiarised (in my view) and used in a book for profit, without credit, doesn’t just feel unfair. It feels like a blatant exploitation of my work.” 

Ms Maehashi is the founder of popular website, RecipeTin, which has 1.5 million followers on Instagram. 

She is also the author of award-winning cookbooks Dinner and Tonight.

Anthony Albanese will seek a phone call with Donald Trump on US tariff negotiations should he be re-elected as prime minister after Saturday’s election.

The US president has confirmed he’s aware the federal government has been trying to get in touch to reach a trade deal, after Australia was slapped with 10 per cent tariffs on goods exports to America.

“They are calling and I will be talking to (Mr Albanese), yes,” Mr Trump told reporters at the White House overnight.

The prime minister said Mr Trump’s remark was a “throwaway comment” but indicated he would aim for a phone conversation, depending on the outcome of the federal vote.

“I’m not staying up at night trying to ring anyone at the moment, I’m in an election campaign,” he told ABC Radio on Wednesday.

“I’m sure if we are successful we will have a discussion after Saturday.”

“We have a relationship. We’ve already had a couple of phone calls, but I assure you that my campaign is front and centre.”

Mr Albanese said while a phone call with Mr Trump was not a guarantee, a conversation with world leaders such as the US president was likely after the election, should he win a second term.

At the final leaders’ debate of the campaign on Sunday, Mr Albanese said he wasn’t sure if the US president had a mobile when asked if he had his number, before adding that such matters were usually conducted on a more official basis.

Liberal senator Michaelia Cash said the fact that Mr Albanese hadn’t been able to get another one-on-one call with Mr Trump showed there was no relationship with the Australian ally under Labor.

“The previous coalition government – which, because of the nature of the relationship that we had – we were successful in getting the exemption from the steel and aluminium tariffs (under the previous Trump administration).

“So after this election we look forward – if we are elected – to speaking with our greatest ally, the United States of America.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said while Australia wasn’t the only country affected by US tariffs the government was “uniquely well placed” to argue its case for their removal.

“We’ve made it clear we’re engaging wherever we can, whenever we can – obviously, that happens at the highest levels as well,” he told ABC radio.

“We think that those tariffs are unwarranted, we think they’re unwise.

“Treasury modelling … makes it clear we are concerned about the impact on global demand and global growth.”

The president’s comments were being viewed in a positive light, Labor minister Murray Watt said.

“We have to take him at his word on that and we look forward to being able to continue the engagement we’ve had with the American administration about the tariffs that we think are totally unjustified,” he told Nine’s Today show on Wednesday.

Senator Watt confirmed that Australia’s approaches were being conducted at various levels, including the ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd and department officials, given the Labor government was in caretaker mode ahead of Saturday’s election.

The US has also slapped a 25 per cent tariff on Australian steel and aluminium exports to the US.

The goods tariff took effect on April 5 while the steel and aluminium tariff began on March 12.

Donald Trump has confirmed he will speak to the prime minister after Anthony Albanese admitted this week he had recently been unable to reach the US president to talk about trade tariffs.

Australia is angry after being slapped with a 10 per cent tariff on goods exports to the US, and 25 per cent on steel and aluminium exports, by its long-term diplomatic ally.

“They are calling and I will be talking to him, yes,” Mr Trump told reporters at the White House overnight.

The president’s comments were being viewed in a positive light, Labor minister Murray Watt said.

“We have to take him at his word on that and we look forward to being able to continue the engagement we’ve had with the American administration about the tariffs that we think are totally unjustified,” he told Nine’s Today show on Wednesday.

Mr Watt confirmed that Australia’s approaches were being conducted at various levels, including the ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd and department officials, given the Labor government was in caretaker mode ahead of Saturday’s federal election.

“The prime minister spoke to President Trump about these matters some time ago,” Mr Watt said.

“But yeah … we look forward to re-engaging at that level, and we’ll be making a very strong case that these tariffs shouldn’t be applied to Australia.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said while Australia wasn’t the only country affected by US tariffs the government was “uniquely well placed” to argue its case for their removal.

“We’ve made it clear we’re engaging wherever we can, whenever we can – obviously, that happens at the highest levels as well,” he told ABC radio.

“We think that those tariffs are unwarranted, we think they’re unwise.

“Treasury modelling … makes it clear we are concerned about the impact on global demand and global growth.”

At the final leaders’ debate of the campaign on Sunday, Mr Albanese said he wasn’t sure if the US president had a mobile when asked if he had his number, before adding that such matters were usually conducted on a more official basis.

However, Liberal senator Michaelia Cash said the fact that Mr Albanese hadn’t been able to get another one-on-one call with Mr Trump showed there was no relationship with the Australian ally under Labor.

“The previous coalition government – which, because of the nature of the relationship that we had – we were successful in getting the exemption from the steel and aluminium tariffs (under the previous Trump administration).

“So after this election we look forward – if we are elected – to speaking with our greatest ally, the United States of America.”

US President Donald Trump has signed an order to soften the blow of his auto tariffs with a mix of credits and relief from other levies on materials.

His trade team has also touted its first deal with a foreign trading partner, with the developments easing investor worries about Trump’s erratic trade policies.

The change comes as Trump heads to Michigan, cradle of the US auto industry, and just days before a fresh set of 25 per cent import taxes is set to kick in on automotive components.

The trip, on the eve of his 100th day in office, comes as Americans take an increasingly dim view of Trump’s economic stewardship, with indications his tariffs will weigh on growth and could drive up inflation and unemployment.

In his latest partial reversal of tariff policies, the Republican president agreed to provide carmakers with credits for up to 15 per cent of the value of vehicles assembled domestically. These could be applied against the value of imported parts, allowing time to bring supply chains back home.

Auto industry leaders had lobbied the administration furiously during the weeks since Trump first unveiled his 25 per cent tariffs on imported vehicles and auto parts.

The levies, aimed at forcing automakers to reshore manufacturing domestically, had threatened to scramble a North American automotive production network integrated across the US, Canada and Mexico.

It offers the industry a “little relief” as companies invest in more US production, Trump said as he left Washington for Michigan on Tuesday, US time.

“We just wanted to help them … if they can’t get parts, we didn’t want to penalise them.”

The uncertainty unleashed across the auto sector by Trump’s tariffs remained on full display Tuesday when GM pulled its annual forecast even as it reported strong quarterly sales and profit.

In an unusual move, the carmaker also opted to delay a scheduled conference call with analysts until later in the week, after the details of tariff changes were known.

Meanwhile, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC he had reached one deal with a foreign power that should permanently ease the “reciprocal” tariffs Trump plans to impose. Lutnick declined to identify the country, saying the deal was pending local approvals.

“I have a deal done … but I need to wait for their prime minister and their parliament to give its approval,” Lutnick said.

Lutnick’s comments helped further lift stock prices that had been battered by Trump’s moves to reshape global trade and force goods makers to shift production to the US.

The benchmark S&P 500 Index closed 0.6 per cent higher for a sixth day of gains, its longest streak of gains since November.

Softening the impact of auto levies is the Trump administration’s latest move to show flexibility on tariffs which have sown turmoil in financial markets, created uncertainty for businesses and sparked fears of a sharp economic slowdown.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll published Tuesday showed just 36 per cent of respondents approve of his economic stewardship, the lowest level in his current term or in his 2017-2021 presidency.

Amazon has denied a report that it planned to disclose to customers on its website the cost that US tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump were adding to its products, after the White House criticised the idea.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she had discussed with Trump a report by Punchbowl News about plans to disclose tariff costs, and his message about it was: “This is a hostile and political act by Amazon.”

Amazon said on Tuesday it never considered listing tariffs on its main retail site and nothing was implemented on any company site.

“The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store considered the idea of listing import charges on certain products. This was never approved and (is) not going to happen,” a company spokesperson said.

Trump has imposed a tsunami of tariffs on US trading partners, including ones on China rising by 145 per cent since Trump took office.

Car makers and others have said new tariffs could drastically hike the cost of consumer goods.

Amazon set up Amazon Haul in November, to compete against Chinese-founded rivals like Temu and Shein, which could be effected by tariff changes. 

This allows shoppers to purchase $US5 ($A7.80) handbags and $US10 jumpers from China-based sellers, although they face longer shipping times.

Trump this month signed an executive order that closes a trade loophole known as “de minimis” that has allowed low-value packages from China and Hong Kong to enter the United States free of duties. 

The order takes effect on May 2.

Reuters reported on Monday some third-party merchants who previously sold China-made goods during Amazon’s premier July Prime Day shopping event are sitting it out this year or reducing the amount of discounted merchandise they offer.

Leavitt on Tuesday cited a 2021 report by Reuters that the tech company had partnered with a “Chinese propaganda arm.”

“So, this is another reason why Americans should buy American,” Leavitt said, underscoring the Trump administration’s efforts to shore up critical supply chains and boost domestic manufacturing.

Amazon in 2021 said it “complies with all applicable laws and regulations, wherever we operate, and China is no exception”.

The White House tweeted a link to the Reuters report earlier on Tuesday. 

The White House did not immediately comment after Amazon denied the report. 

with AP

More relief could be in sight for mortgage-holders as an expected slowdown in inflation paves the way for a second interest rate cut.

Economists and market analysts widely tip official data on Wednesday to show core inflation falling faster than Reserve Bank of Australia forecasts.

The trimmed mean, the central bank’s preferred inflation measure, is expected to come in at 0.6 per cent for the March quarter in the Australian Bureau of Statistics numbers.

That would bring annual inflation below three per cent for the first time since December 2021, and the predicted 2.8 per cent inflation result would arrive three months ahead of Reserve Bank forecasts.

Headline inflation was expected to fall from 2.4 to 2.3 per cent, which sits at the lower end of the central bank’s target range, but the measure was still being distorted by energy bill rebates, BetaShares chief economist David Bassanese said.

“We’ve seen a moderation in housing costs, with a flattening-off of rents and housing construction costs over the last six months or so, and we’ve also seen slowing wages growth filtering through to service sector inflation,” he told AAP.

“They’re the two key underlying drivers of the disinflation trend.”

In December, the Reserve Bank cut the cash rate for the first time in four years, from 4.35 per cent to 4.10 per cent.

If passed on to borrowers in full, each 25 basis point cut saves about $103 per month on an average home loan of $640,000.

Mr Bassanese, along with many other economists and analysts, expects another 25 basis point rate cut in May and two more by the end of 2025.

Ahead of the figures and Saturday’s federal election, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has touted his government’s record on the economy and lowering inflation “substantially”.

But the coalition points to an International Monetary Fund report that lifted its 2025 inflation forecast for Australia to 2.5 per cent, up from two per cent.

“Labor has not beaten inflation and Labor won’t beat inflation, because they will not cut waste; they will not slash red tape; they will not make it easier for businesses to invest to boost growth,” shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said.

Julia has been forced to look at dropping full-time study so she can work and earn enough to afford a room in a share house as Australia’s housing crisis deepens.

The Brisbane student’s story is one example of the sacrifices people on low incomes are making to get by, with housing the big expense they struggle to cover.

The housing crisis is “the worst it’s ever been”, a leading charity has warned as it urges governments to step up and build.

Fewer than one in 100 full-time workers on the minimum wage can afford places to rent, the annual Rental Affordability Snapshot for Anglicare Australia has found.

It’s even grimmer for a person out of work, with the survey of more than 51,000 rental listings showing just three were affordable for someone on JobSeeker.

People on the lowest incomes “don’t stand a chance” and it was up to governments to step up instead of leaving housing to the private sector, Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers said.

“The government spends eight times as much propping up private investors as it does on building homes for people who need them,” Ms Chambers said when releasing the annual snapshot.

“This approach is wrong and it’s supercharging rents and house prices.”

The snapshot surveyed 51,238 rental listings and found only 0.7 per cent were affordable for a person earning a full-time minimum wage and just 0.3 per cent were affordable for a person on the age pension.

Only 0.1 per cent were affordable for a person on the disability support pension while none were affordable for a person on JobSeeker or on the youth allowance.

Julia, a student on youth allowance, has been trying to find an affordable room in a share house in Brisbane.

“I want to focus on study, but I am looking at dropping to part-time so that I can work more hours. It’s the only way I can live,” she said.

Rent assistance doesn’t kick in for people on youth allowance until they are in rental stress and it works against people in share houses.

“I can’t get rent assistance unless I take on a bigger lease but that will only make things worse,” said Julia, who has received Anglicare emergency assistance.

“I feel like everything is geared against me studying to get ahead.”

More than a million low-income Australians were impacted by the rental crisis, Anglicare Sydney CEO Simon Miller told AAP.

“The really concerning thing is that the people who make our communities work, the heartbeat of our communities, the people in the care economy or hospitality, can no longer afford to rent,” he said.

Governments needed to commit to funding and building more affordable social housing, Mr Miller said, with 25,000 new homes needed in NSW over the next five years.

Cait, a single woman on JobSeeker trying to find a Sydney rental with her lease due to end, said it was impossible to find somewhere affordable.

“I’m applying for everything I can find but it’s looking bleak,” she said.

“I don’t know where I’m going to go.

“I’m thinking of setting up a crowdfunder to get some help, but the uncertainty is very stressful.”

A centre-left party comes from behind in the polls to win an election fought over living costs and Donald Trump.

Sound familiar?

With just days until Saturday’s poll, political insiders are dissecting the results of an election on the other side of the world.

Canada’s ruling Liberal Party – which shares a name with Australia’s conservative party but occupies the other side of the political spectrum – has won enough seats to retain government.

It’s a remarkable outcome for the Liberals, who were 20 percentage points behind in the polls earlier this year.

The progressive party looked headed for a crushing defeat until the US president started attacking Canada’s economy and threatening its sovereignty, suggesting it should become the 51st state.

Donald Trump’s actions enraged Canadians and stoked a surge in nationalism that helped the Liberals flip the script and win a fourth-straight term.

The opposition wanted to make the election a referendum on former prime minister Justin Trudeau, who was waning in popularity as food, power and housing prices surged.

But Mr Trudeau soon quit and was replaced as leader ahead of the election, with disaffected voters flocking back to his party as Mr Trump threatened annexation and a trade war.

There are obvious differences between the Canadian experience and Australian election but also some parallels, including the upending influence of Mr Trump.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reflected on this trend during an interview with one of the world’s most popular podcasts, The Rest is Politics.

He described the US president’s impact on the Australian campaign as far less than people believed, unlike in Canada, where it was “brutal”.

“It is more distant but certainly the uncertainty that is in the global economy and the world has an impact as well,” Mr Albanese said.

During the podcast interview, Mr Albanese referenced the US president in relation to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

Mr Dutton was “channelling some other world leaders we’re seeing” and “bringing a machismo” to politics, he said.

Mr Dutton’s campaign has suffered by association with the US president, with Labor accusing the coalition of adopting a Trumpian agenda through measures including public service job cuts.

After lagging in opinion polls, Labor is considered in the box seat to form minority government, if not obtain power in its own right.

Political strategist Jack Milroy, who has worked on progressive campaigns in Canada and Australia, said the US relationship would be less of a factor on Saturday but voters were still conscious of the global instability.

“The Canadian example has kind of shown that a strong approach to the US seems to pay dividends politically,” he told AAP.

“The Labor Party is in a good position for our election, but it will be interesting to see how they relate to the US going forward.”

Mr Milroy will be looking to see whether support for Australia’s two major parties increases in response to global headwinds, as happened in Canada.

Published polling suggests Australian voters have drifted from Labor and the coalition in favour of independents and minor parties.

“What will be very interesting is if we see a reversal of that trend to follow the Canadian example,” he said.

“And in that search for security, voters come back to the major parties.”

Mr Albanese will address the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, while Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will begin the day in Melbourne.