Oft-derided as an economic basket case whose government had driven the state’s budget into a black hole, things are looking up for Victoria.

Australia’s second-most populous province is the biggest surprise in CommSec’s latest State of the States report released on Monday,  jumping from fourth to second spot, while Western Australia remains the best performer.

Solid retail spending and inbound overseas migration propelled Victoria above South Australia and Queensland, as the pace of home price rises slowed in those states following a strong post-pandemic upswing, said CommSec chief economist Ryan Felsman. 

“Overall, the economic performance of Australia’s states and territories is being supported by a strong job market, robust government spending and solid population growth at a time of higher cost-of-living pressures,” he said.

The report attempts to determine which state is Australia’s economic leader, based on eight key indicators: economic growth; retail spending; equipment investment; unemployment; construction work done; population growth; housing finance; and dwelling commencements.

Some states, such as WA and Queensland, have natural resource advantages over the others, while smaller jurisdictions, such as Tasmania and the Northern Territory, have naturally lower economic capacity due to their size.

The report therefore attempts to determine how each state economy is performing relative to its long-term average.

WA remained at the top of the pile for the third straight quarter.

Australia’s largest state in geographical terms continued to lead the league in retail spending, relative unemployment, relative population growth, housing finance and dwelling starts.

NSW, up from sixth to equal fifth alongside Tasmania, was the top performer for economic growth, while the Apple Isle took the advantage on equipment investment.

Victoria held its position on top of the construction work completed metric, but was bottom of the table on relative unemployment.

The report doesn’t account for Victoria’s nation-leading government debt nor that its per capita household disposable income (the best measure of material living standards) in 2023/24 was only better than South Australia’s.

But neither does it factor in the state’s relatively affordable housing supply. 

At $781,318, the median dwelling price in Melbourne is lower than every other capital other than Hobart and Darwin, according to CoreLogic.

Overseas headwinds from Donald Trump’s trade war and the upcoming federal election will have a significant bearing on the states’ performance in coming months, Mr Felsman said.

“Looking ahead, an expected reduction in interest rates could boost economic sentiment in the mortgage-sensitive states of NSW and Victoria,” he said.

“The interplay between interest rate cuts, federal election outcomes, and global trade dynamics will be crucial in shaping the economic outlook.”

STATE OF THE STATES RANKINGS

1st: Western Australia, unchanged

2nd: Victoria, up from fourth

3rd: Queensland, down from equal second

4th: South Australia, down from equal second

=5th: New South Wales, up from sixth

=5th: Tasmania, unchanged

7th: ACT, unchanged

8th: Northern Territory, unchanged

* All changes compared to CommSec January quarter report

What does Donald Trump’s mobile phone have to do with the price of eggs and China?

All three rated a mention in a fast-paced, borderline absurdist, final leaders’ debate of the federal election campaign on Sunday night.

As has been the norm during the previous four weeks of campaigning, Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton clashed over energy, tax and health policies, and traded barbs over the cost of living and house prices.

But one question about Australia’s relationship with the US elicited a novel response from the prime minister.

When asked by Seven’s moderator Mark Riley whether he texts the US president, Mr Albanese responded: “I’m not sure that he has a mobile phone.”

Mr Albanese said that wasn’t how diplomacy works between global leaders but he could still trust Mr Trump to back Australia on matters of security.

On that issue, Mr Dutton and the prime minister were on a unity ticket, but they differed on their rhetoric towards China.

The opposition leader said the biggest concern for Australia’s defence and intelligence agencies was “the Communist Party of China,” arguing geopolitical uncertainty meant it was necessary to increase defence spending by $21 billion.

Mr Albanese was more restrained as he acknowledged China’s efforts to grow its influence in the region, as well as its closely-intertwined trading relationship with Australia.

“What we have to do is to invest in our (defence) capability … but as well, invest in our relationships,” he said.

A panel of 60 undecided voters gave the contest to Mr Albanese, with half backing the prime minister, a quarter in favour of Mr Dutton and the remainder still unconvinced by either man.

But on the issue of defence, more voters thought Mr Dutton was the better performer.

Two days after far-right agitators heckled an Anzac Day dawn service Welcome to Country, Mr Dutton was asked about his stance on the practice, given he has promised to remove the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags from official press conferences.

“There is a sense across the community that it’s overdone,” he said, adding that having it at the start of every meeting or football game cheapens its significance.

“It divides the country, not dissimilar to what the prime minister did with the Voice (to Parliament referendum).”

Mr Albanese said the Welcome to Country was a matter of respect, but conceded the voice was “gone” from his agenda.

“(The referendum) was not successful,” he said.

“We need to find different paths to achieve reconciliation in this country.

“The truth is that all governments have not done well enough.”

On Indigenous affairs, Mr Dutton was the clear winner, convincing 46 per cent of the room with his performance, compared to 27 per cent for Mr Albanese.

Inevitably, the debate came back to what has been the crux of the campaign: the cost of living.

At one stage, the broadcast took on the form of a game show, with the two contestants forced into a Price is Right-style challenge to guess how much a carton of eggs would set a shopper back at the supermarket.

Mr Dutton went first, boldly suggesting $4.20 for a brand name 12-pack of free range.

Mr Albanese’s guess of $7 was closer to the ticket price of $8.50.

Both the Labor and Liberal campaigns will begin their mornings in Sydney on Monday before flying on to their next stops in a frantic final week before the May 3 election.

Undecided voters have crowned the prime minister the debate winner after a chaotic and eccentric end to the final leaders’ clash.

The 60-strong live studio audience reached its decision after witnessing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s final face-off against Opposition Leader Peter Dutton before voters head to the polls on Saturday.

But their decision was not a resounding endorsement, with 50 per cent declaring Mr Albanese the winner of Sunday night’s stoush, compared to 25 per cent who favoured Mr Dutton and another 25 per cent who remained undecided.

Many members of the undecided camp said they were looking to independent candidates.

The debate – aired on Channel Seven, moderated by Seven News political editor Mark Riley and hosted by Sunrise’s Natalie Barr – started with typical talking points.

But things quickly devolved as rapid-fire questions were lobbed at the leaders.

Mr Dutton greatly underestimated the price of eggs as $4.20 a dozen – half the real cost – and called billionaire Elon Musk an “evil genius”.

Mr Albanese, meanwhile, had a bizarre exchange around whether US President Donald Trump owned a phone.

“I’m not sure that he has a mobile phone,” he said.

“He’s an elusive character to get hold of.”

The audience gave the opposition leader some points, with 46 per cent favouring his stance on Indigenous issues to Mr Albanese’s (27 per cent) after Mr Dutton said Australians thought the Welcome to Country was overdone.

“It cheapens the significance of what it was meant to do,” he said.

Mr Dutton also took the upper hand on defence, with 43 per cent of the audience favouring him over the prime minister on 37 per cent.

When it came to the cost of living, the audience leaned towards the prime minister, with 65 per cent preferring his position to Mr Dutton’s (16 per cent).

Housing was a much closer battle – 35 per cent preferred Mr Albanese on the issue, with Mr Dutton on 30 per cent. 

“I think Albanese finished with inspiration, which was a nice change instead of that nitpicking that we obviously always see,” one audience member said.

Another viewer sitting in the studio said both had good points about the cost of living, but harboured concerns.

“I’m yet to see whether they’ll actually come to fruition,” she said.

Mr Dutton continued to lean on nostalgia to build his vision for the future, drawing comparisons between himself and a former Liberal prime minister.

“Our job as a Liberal government – as was the case for John Howard – is to clean up a Labor mess,” he said.

Mr Albanese, on the other hand, tried to paint a bright picture of Australia’s future.

“We’re undertaking these measures to look after people – not to go out there, talk Australia down and to try to secure political advantage from grievance,” he said.

Almost 2.4 million Australians have already voted, casting doubt over whether any last-ditch efforts will impact the election outcome.

Australians’ hip-pocket pain has taken centre stage as Anthony Albanese takes on Peter Dutton in their final campaign clash.

The prime minister and the opposition leader are going head-to-head for the last time before voters take to the polls on Saturday.

A live studio audience is bearing witness to the debate, hosted by Channel Seven and moderated by Seven News political editor Mark Riley.

Mr Dutton kicked things off by reminding viewers of the families “doing it tough”.

“As we’ve moved around the country, we’ve spoken to families literally in tears,” he said on Sunday night.

“They can’t afford to put food on the table.

“The prime minister promises a bandaid on a bullet-wound.”

Mr Albanese hit back by spruiking his own proposals to bring down the cost of medicines and groceries.

“Australians have a real choice this Saturday: to continue building Australia’s future or go back to the past,” he said.

“Labor has a real plan for cost-of-living support.

“We know that we live in very uncertain times and that’s why we need certainty.”

Almost 2.4 million Australians have already voted, casting doubt over whether any last-ditch efforts will impact the election outcome.

The odds are generally tipping in Mr Albanese’s favour, with the latest Newspoll showing Labor leading 52-48 on the two-party-preferred vote.

But the coalition has not given up, with Mr Dutton revealing he will visit 28 seats by the end of the campaign.

Australian Catholics have gathered to commemorate the life of Pope Francis at the first local services since his funeral, remembering him as a beacon of light for a world shrouded in darkness.

The funeral for Pope Francis was held at the Vatican in Rome on Saturday, attended by some 250,000 people including world leaders and royals. 

Hundreds of millions of people around the world watched the service on television and online.

On Sunday, churches across Australia held special masses honouring the late Holy Father.

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Parramatta, led by Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen, held a solemn mass for the repose of the Pope’s soul.

As parishioners gathered, they could not help but feel a sense of great grief, sadness and uncertainty at the loss of Pope Francis, Bishop Long said in his homily.

“He has been an unexpected gift from God for the church and the world,” he said. 

“He has shone as a beacon of light for a world shrouded in the darkness of war, violence, hatred, oppression and dehumanisation.” 

As a former refugee who arrived in Australia from Vietnam by boat in 1981, Bishop Long reflected on Pope Francis’s constant concern for migrants and refugees. 

“He was the voice of compassion, the champion of human dignity and the embodiment of God’s boundless mercy,” Bishop Long said.

A memorial mass for Pope Francis was also celebrated at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral in Adelaide.

Archbishop Patrick O’Regan thanked the Pope for being someone who “kissed the leper, washed the feet of prisoners, welcomed migrants and loved the church even when she failed”.

“He was a voice for the voiceless and a bridge builder across cultures, religions and ideologies,” Archbishop O’Regan said.

“We honour a man who dared to lead not with fear but with hope.”

Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli will lead the celebration of a solemn pontifical mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral on Monday afternoon. 

Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, who was in Rome for the funeral, said the ceremony was solemn and dignified.

“Central to it all was the theme of mercy: that in Jesus we see the face of the father’s mercy and thus come to understand not only the depths of God’s love for us but also the nature of our vocation as Christians,” he said.

A conclave to elect the new Pope is expected to start in Rome in 10 days.

Australian Catholics also had the opportunity to pray for the cardinals meeting to prepare for the conclave, Archbishop Costelloe said. 

“The days following the death of Pope Francis have been inspiring, uplifting, sorrowful and hope-filled,” he said.

With less than a week to go until election day, leaders have tried to win over the increasingly small pool of undecided voters with starkly contrasting pitches to the party faithful.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been trying to drive home Labor’s health message, while painting Opposition Leader Peter Dutton as someone who will cut government jobs and services.

Meanwhile, Mr Dutton has tried to tie the government to a struggling state counterpart, while suggesting it has allowed living costs to run out of control.

He told attendees at a Liberal rally in the west Melbourne seat of Hawke not to believe what they heard from the “hate media” – echoing US President Donald Trump railing against “fake news” –  about the outcome of the May 3 poll.

Polling throughout the five-week race has consistently shown Mr Albanese cement his lead as preferred prime minister over Mr Dutton as the coalition has similarly fallen behind in voter surveys.

The latest polling from YouGov, released on Friday, showed Labor ahead of the coalition by 53.5 per cent to 46.5 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.

“I have no doubt in my mind we can win this election, forget about what you have been told by the ABC, in The Guardian and the other hate media,” Mr Dutton told his supporters on Sunday.

The coalition needs to gain 21 seats to secure a majority, a figure its leaders insist is still achievable.

At a rally in the marginal seat of Parramatta in Sydney, the prime minister’s green and gold Medicare card got another outing as Labor sought to keep health care in the headlines.

A promise to build on and rebrand the existing Healthdirect hotline through a 24/7 nationwide health advice and after-hours GP telehealth service was unveiled at the event.

“Life isn’t nine-to-five,” an upbeat Mr Albanese declared.

“With 1800 MEDICARE, neither is health care.”

Labor has been pitching itself as the better choice to protect government health services, despite the coalition matching its signature multibillion-dollar commitment to bolster bulk-billing.

The party has also been repeatedly accused by the coalition of running a repeat of the notorious 2016 “Mediscare” campaign, targeting voters with fears of future budget cuts.

The prime minister accused Mr Dutton of overseeing costly defence and nuclear energy policies without talking about where the money would come from.

“He’s going to get it by ripping into health, education and childcare,” Mr Albanese said.

The opposition leader in turn branded the prime minister a liar who had failed to deliver on promises to lower power bills and other living costs.

“Does anybody believe that our country is better off today than we were?” Mr Dutton asked the crowd, most of whom wore blue Liberal t-shirts.

He warned of the risk Labor would be re-elected with the support of the Greens, which would “make it even worse than the worst government in Australia at the moment, the (Victorian Labor) Allan government”.

The opposition leader will go head-to-head with Mr Albanese in the fourth and final leaders’ debate on Sunday evening, to be held by Seven.

The two leaders have already previously clashed three times, with two of the debates held in western Sydney, where political analysts believe the election could be decided.

Australians will head to the polls on May 3, while more than 2.4 million votes have already been cast nationwide at pre-poll centres.

Australian Catholics have gathered to commemorate the life of Pope Francis at the first local services since his funeral, remembering him as a beacon of light for a world shrouded in darkness.

The funeral for Pope Francis was held at the Vatican in Rome on Saturday, attended by some 250,000 people including world leaders and royals. 

On Sunday, churches across Australia held special masses in honour of the late Holy Father.

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Parramatta, led by Bishop Vincent Long Van Nguyen, held a solemn mass for the repose of the Pope’s soul.

As parishioners gathered, they could not help but feel a sense of great grief, sadness and uncertainty at the loss of Pope Francis, Bishop Long said in his homily.

“He has been an unexpected gift from God for the church and the world,” he said. 

“He has shone as a beacon of light for a world shrouded in the darkness of war, violence, hatred, oppression and dehumanisation.” 

As a former refugee who arrived in Australia from Vietnam by boat in 1981, Bishop Long reflected on Pope Francis’ constant concern for migrants and refugees. 

“He was the voice of compassion, the champion of human dignity and the embodiment of God’s boundless mercy,” Bishop Long said.

A memorial mass for Pope Francis was also celebrated at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral in Adelaide.

Archbishop Patrick O’Reagan thanked the Pope for being someone who “kissed the leper, washed the feet of prisoners, welcomed migrants and loved the church even when she failed”.

“He was a voice for the voiceless and a bridge builder across cultures, religions and ideologies,” Archbishop O’Reagan said.

“We honour a man who dared to lead not with fear but with hope.”

Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli will lead the celebration of a Solemn Pontifical Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral on Monday afternoon. 

A conclave to elect the new pope is expected to start in Rome in 10 days’ time.

Voters still deciding on their election pick have been presented with another Labor health pitch, while the opposition rails against the financial squeeze on households.

With the finishing line in sight ahead of the May 3 vote, Labor has returned to bolstering medical services with a promise to build on the existing Healthdirect hotline.

More than $200 million would be spent on 1800MEDICARE, a 24/7 nationwide health advice and after-hours GP telehealth service, the latest in a string of health commitments from the government.

Health Minister Mark Butler said the service was not intended as a substitute for existing doctor-patient relationships, a concern raised by the Australian Medical Association.

“This is not intended as a substitute for your relationship with your usual GP but intended to cover circumstances where people need to be seen immediately,” Mr Butler told ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday.

“For example, when your kid gets sick.”

The health minister batted away questions about his party’s disparaging framing of Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s track record on public health care.

“There’s a risk in giving Medicare back to a man that doctors voted the worst health minister in the history of the system,” he said.

Mr Dutton accused Labor of “throwing mud” to distract from a lack of progress during three years in office.

“Labor’s run this negative campaign, but Australians are happy to see through that,” Mr Dutton told Seven’s Weekend Sunrise program.

“Australians know that in their own households, they’ve gone backwards.”

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie stressed her party’s commitment to the regions, including a promise not to cut working holiday visa-holder numbers.

“We need those backpackers out in our regions, for tourism, hospitality and agriculture tasks,” she told ABC Insiders on Sunday.

The opposition has promised to cut permanent migration by 25 per cent.

Mr Dutton will go head-to-head with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the fourth and final leaders’ debate on Sunday evening, to be held by Seven.

Polling throughout the five-week race has consistently shown Mr Albanese cement his lead as preferred prime minister over Mr Dutton as the coalition has similarly fallen behind in voter surveys.

The latest polling from YouGov, released on Friday, showed Labor ahead of the coalition by 53.5 per cent to 46.5 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.

The coalition needs to gain 21 seats to secure a majority, a figure leaders insist is still achievable.

The two leaders have already previously clashed three times, with two of the debates held in western Sydney, where political analysts believe the election could be decided.

Mr Dutton’s campaign pace in the last week has gained speed, as he visited up to three states a day.

In the Victorian battleground, Mr Dutton will attempt to wrest Goldstein, Kooyong, Aston, Dunkley, Gorton and Hawke from Labor.

In NSW, the opposition leader will target Mackellar, Paterson, Dobell, Bennelong and Gilmore.

In WA, South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland, the coalition will go for Bullwinkel, Boothby, Lyons and Moreton among others.

Mortgage-holders are set for further relief, with economists declaring you can “lock in” an upcoming interest rate cut.

Quarterly numbers released on Wednesday are expected to show core inflation has dropped within the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target range, paving the way for a rate cut at its May 20 meeting.

Economists from Australia’s big four banks have all forecasted the Reserve Bank’s preferred measure of annual trimmed mean inflation will come in at either 2.8 or 2.9 per cent – within its target range of two to three per cent.

The annual rate leapt out of the target range in early 2022, triggering 12 rate rises in 13 months.

The central bank cut its cash rate to 4.10 per cent in February and Westpac Group chief economist Luci Ellis said another cut in May was guaranteed.

“You can lock in a (0.25 per cent) cut in May, even if the Q1 inflation data is a shade disappointing,” she said.

“For the time being, we continue to expect a total of three further cuts (0.75 per cent in total), including the cut in May, with August and November pencilled in for the other two cuts.”

Each 25 basis point cut would shave about $90 off monthly repayments on a typical $600,000 mortgage.

While some wondered if the global economic uncertainty caused by US President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs might trigger a larger than usual cut – as high as 0.5 per cent – Dr Ellis said that was not plausible.

She labelled commentary suggesting the double-cut “breathless” and said Australia was less affected by the tariffs than other economies.

“If the board were to do something other than cut by 0.25 per cent in May, it might consider a 0.35 per cent move to 3.75 per cent,” she said.

“To be clear, we regard this as a very outside chance.”

NAB, however, disagreed and has prepared for a 0.5 per cent rate cut, also predicting annual trimmed mean inflation would be recorded at 2.8 per cent.

“We think quarterly CPI will largely take a back seat to rising global uncertainty,” its weekly markets report read.

“Our base case is that the RBA will deliver a 50bp cut in May to take policy more quickly towards neutral.”

Retail sales figures are due out on Friday, while US policy developments will continue to be of interest as Trump celebrates his first 100 days in office at a rally in Michigan on Tuesday.

Investors on Wall Street have meanwhile parsed a spate of earnings looking for signs of easing tensions in the US-China trade dispute.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices were bolstered by gains in the “magnificent seven” group of artificial intelligence-related megacaps on Friday, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was more muted.

The latter rose 20.10 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 40,113.50,  the S&P gained 40.44 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 5,525.21 and the Nasdaq gained 216.90 points, or 1.26 per cent, to 17,382.94.

In a shortened trade week, Australian share futures lifted only 2.0 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 7,786.

The S&P/ASX200 rose 47.7 points, or 0.60 per cent on Thursday, before the Anzac Day public holiday, to 7,968.2, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 49.9 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 8,175.1.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his family appeared in Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral.

A photo of Assange and his family was shared on X along with a message from his wife Stella.

The message said the family had come to Rome to “express our family’s gratitude for the Pope’s support during Julian’s persecution”.

Legal action against Assange started in 2010 after hundreds of thousands of leaked documents about the Afghanistan and Iraq wars were published.

Assange’s freedom in June last year followed a court appearance before a judge in the US territory of the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific, where he pleaded guilty to a single charge after the United States dropped 17 other espionage charges against him.

About 200,000 people gathered for Pope Francis’ funeral on Saturday morning, including world leaders.

“Now Julian is free, we have all come to Rome to express our family’s gratitude for the Pope’s support during Julian’s persecution,” WikiLeaks posted on X.

“Our children and I had the honour of meeting Pope Francis in June 2023 to discuss how to free Julian from Belmarsh prison.

“Francis wrote to Julian in prison and even proposed to grant him asylum at the Vatican.’ – Stella Assange.”