Perennial issues – the cost of living, energy bills and healthcare – have dominated the federal election campaign, that is until Donald Trump lobbed an economic hand grenade into the contest.

The US president’s tariff bomb has sparked a global market rout and brought the question of who is the best economic manager to the fore as Treasurer Jim Chalmers and coalition counterpart Angus Taylor prepare to square off in the first treasurers’ debate on Wednesday.

The coalition has traditionally banked on its reputation as superior economic managers but recent polling suggests voters are no longer convinced.

A survey by pollster Redbridge found 31 per cent of respondents thought Labor’s economic vision was better for the nation, compared with 29 per cent who thought the coalition had a superior plan.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton attacked Labor for weakening Australia’s economic position, undermining the nation’s ability to respond in a crisis.

“The government hasn’t prepared our economy,” he told reporters on Tuesday. 

“Labor has made decisions in subsequent budgets now which make it harder for the economy to function with international headwinds.”

But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government had improved the budget bottom line by $207 billion over its first term, turning a deficit in the last year of the previous coalition government into two surpluses.

However, the budget has since returned to a structural deficit.

Labor are confident that Dr Chalmers’ communications skills will help him overpower Mr Taylor in any debate.

But on paper, Mr Taylor – a Rhodes Scholar and winner of the prestigious University of Sydney economics medal – has the superior economic credentials

Mr Taylor slammed the treasurer’s economic know-how as he criticised him for not asking Treasury to model what the effects would be if countries imposed retaliatory tariffs, resulting in an escalating trade war.

“The history of trade barriers going up like this … is they are often reciprocated,” Mr Taylor said.

“It is clear the treasurer has not asked for that (modelling), and I think that’s extraordinary. I mean, it shows you how out of his depth he is, how out of touch he is, and how little he understands about economics and economic history.”

The pair have at least found common ground on one thing: ruling out imposing retaliatory tariffs on the US, which they say would simply add to the pain felt by Australian consumers.

Changes to property tax breaks will be put on the table by the Greens as a deal-breaker in a potential hung parliament.

In an address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Greens leader Adam Bandt will reiterate calls to scrap negative gearing and discounts to capital gains taxes for investors.

While the Greens have put forward the policies before previous elections, Mr Bandt said the measures would be a bargaining chip for party support in a possible minority government.

“If we don’t stop the bastards, house prices will get further and further our of reach, rents will continue to keep rising,” Mr Bandt will say.

“Imagine being a renter, armed with your life savings, rocking up to an auction knowing that wealthy property investor next to you gets a big fat cheque from Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton.”

Polls have predicted a tight contest between the major parties, with a strong chance neither the coalition nor Labor gain the necessary 76 seats to form a majority.

Negative gearing allows investors to claim deductions on losses and the capital gains tax discount halves the amount of tax paid by Australians who sell assets that have been owned for 12 months or more.

Both Labor and the coalition have previously ruled out making changes to the concessions.

Under the Greens plan, the handouts would be subject to a grandfather clause to one investment property to protect ‘mum and dad’ investors, but the capital gains tax discount for all other assets would be scrapped.

“If you want to buy more than two investment properties, that’s your prerogative, but you shouldn’t expect a giant government cheque to help you buy your third, fourth or fifteenth house, while millions have none,” Mr Bandt will say in the address.

The party will also push for a freeze on rent prices as well as adding dental into Medicare, should the party be needed to form government.

Mr Bandt has ruled out working with the Liberals but insists the Greens will use its position to force Labor to act.

The minor party is hoping to wrest the Adelaide seat of Sturt from the Liberals alongside some of Labor’s inner-city Melbourne seats, while sandbagging three urban Brisbane electorates.

Households would be given a modest seven per cent fall in their gas bills and three per cent cut to their electricity bills, under the coalition’s plan to pump the market with gas to drive down energy costs.

The coalition released the promised modelling into its national gas plan on Tuesday night, that would make companies keep gas in the Australian market.

Industrial customers are being promised a 15 per cent reduction in retail gas bills, with a forecast eight per cent decrease in wholesale electricity prices.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton revealed his gas reservation policy in his budget reply speech last month, and has repeatedly attacked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to achieve the promise that Labor would cut power bills for $275.

“Our policy will be a game changer because we can then see the cost and therefore price of electricity, construction, food prices and many other goods start to come down,” he said.

“Gas is critical to our nation’s energy future. 

“By making the gas companies put more of our Aussie gas into our market instead of exporting it, we will get the price of gas down by 15 per cent.”

Frontier Economics managing director Danny Price, who prepared the modelling, said the plan would decouple the domestic price from expensive international rates.

The forecast was published during the first leaders’ debate of the election campaign between Mr Albanese and Mr Dutton.

Mr Albanese was decided the winner of the clash by a group of 100 undecided voters, but one in five still could not make their minds up following the event.

Energy bills, healthcare and broader cost of living pressures were among the most pressing issues for the voters.

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie and her SA upper house candidate and former senator Rex Patrick have pledged if they are returned to parliament they will set up a “wide ranging” parliamentary inquiry into Australia’s relationship with the US.

This would include the ANZUS Treaty and the AUKUS partnership with the US and UK, under which Australia has been promised nuclear-powered submarines.

“We need to ask the hard questions about how to manage relations with a great power that’s unpredictable, aggressively protectionist in trade policy, and self-interested in security relationships,” Senator Lambie said.

“The US is putting America first – it’s time we put Australia first!”

Visit AAP FactCheck’s website to read our assessment of claims made in the election campaign and debate.

People close to paying off student debts will be able to get bigger mortgages – and will need them after Australia’s median dwelling value increased $230,000 in recent years

Banks are altering how the debts are treated in mortgage applications following advice from regulators requested by Treasurer Jim Chalmers in February.

The nation’s largest lender will from Wednesday disregard a HECS-HELP debt when assessing a borrower’s ability to make repayments, if the debt is due to be paid off within 12 months.

“This will allow eligible customers to achieve their home ownership goals sooner,” Commonwealth Bank home buying manager Michael Baumann said in a statement.

That could add $36,000 to the borrowing power of a couple earning $140,000, mortgage broker George Samios estimated.

A couple earning $240,000 could add on another $187,000, he said.

The change comes as new data on Wednesday shows home values have climbed across the nation by almost 40 per cent in the past five years.

While trailing the roughly 80 per cent surges at the turn of the millennium and in the late 1980s, it far outstrips those past booms in real dollar terms, real estate analysis firm CoreLogic said.

Values have increased by roughly $230,000 in the past five years.

Residential real estate nationwide is estimated to be worth $11.3 trillion with increases attributed to existing homes appreciating in value and the addition of new builds.

A HECS debt can reduce a first homebuyers’ borrowing capacity quite substantially, adding to hurdles created by high-interest rates and loan serviceability buffers, CoreLogic economist Kaytlin Ezzy said.

“It is definitely a sticking point for a lot of people trying to get into the market,” she told AAP.

Finance Brokers Association of Australia managing director Peter White welcomed the changes, saying those close to paying off their debt will find it easier to secure a loan and be able to borrow more.

“While we understand that HECS is a debt and should be included in any loan assessment, the time left to repay the debt should be taken into consideration,” he said.

Both major political parties are pushing policies to increase housing supply in the federal election, as well as promising to make it easier for first homebuyers to enter the market.

But Labor’s goal to build 1.2 million new homes by 2029 appears unlikely to come off, with approvals and commencements lagging the rate required.

The coalition has meanwhile promised a $5 billion fund for enabling infrastructure.

That could go some way to increasing development but the overall impact was difficult to forecast, Ms Ezzy said.

Labor’s expanded shared-equity scheme or the coalition’s promise to allow first homebuyers to use superannuation for deposits will also increase demand.

“A lot of those policies obviously, while well-targeted, are going to have some inflationary impact on housing values,” Ms Ezzy said. 

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have backed in their plans to tackle cost of living pressures as they made their case to voters during the first leaders’ debate of the federal election campaign.

The prime minister won the contest on Tuesday evening, after a group of 100 undecided voters cast their ballot at a “people’s forum” hosted by Sky News and The Daily Telegraph.

Forty-four per cent of the group voted in favour of Mr Albanese, with 35 per cent for the opposition leader, and 21 per cent still undecided.

Polling has shown the race to reach majority government is tight.

Both leaders were cautious in their responses and avoided any major gaffes at the event in western Sydney.

Education, rising healthcare costs, and energy bill relief were among the issues asked by the voters.

About half the room of participants raised their hands when asked if they were struggling with cost of living, which is the defining issue of this election.

Mr Dutton was repeatedly asked about his rhetoric on migration, as audience members asked what he could do to avoid “demonising” them.

“We have to have a managed migration program and our argument is that you can reduce it from the record level of at the moment, down by 25 per cent for two years, which will create about 100,000 homes and that will help young Australians get into housing,” he said.

Answering a question about health, Mr Albanese pulled out a Medicare card – something he has done repeatedly during the campaign – as Labor places the issue at the forefront of its re-election bid.

“Labor created Medicare will strengthen Medicare, and will make sure that in the future we get those bulk billing rates back up to 90 per cent,” he said.

Mr Dutton vowed there would be no cuts to healthcare if the coalition is elected, and rebutted Labor’s claims about his record.

Both leaders were asked how they would react to US President Donald Trump after he imposed tariffs on every country.

Nationals Senator Matt Canavan sent his “thoughts and prayers” to Mr Dutton, after the leader’s father Bruce was rushed to hospital just hours before the debate started.

Western Sydney is a key battleground for the two major parties.

But Labor also faces new challenges from independent candidates from the city’s Muslim communities who feel angry and let down by the position taken by the government on the Israel-Gaza war.

Both were asked about their response to the conflict during the debate.

Mr Dutton has pledged a 25 cents a litre cut to the price of petrol by halving the fuel excise for 12 months if the coalition is elected.

Asked why he wouldn’t commit to the promised cuts to the fuel excise, Mr Albanese said it would “disappear in a year like the last time it happened”.

“This is from the Scott Morrison playbook,” he said.

Modelling conducted by Frontier Economics has found the coalition’s national gas plan will see a 23 per cent reduction in wholesale gas prices.

This would result in a seven per cent reduction in retail gas bills for residential customers, and three per cent reduction in residential electricity prices.

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have begun making their election pitches to voters in the first leaders’ debate of the federal election campaign.

The pair are facing off on Tuesday evening at a “people’s forum” hosted by Sky News and the Daily Telegraph.

The debate is being held in western Sydney with both leaders to respond to questions from a group of undecided voters.

Mr Albanese was considered to have won the same contest against former prime minister Scott Morrison ahead of the 2022 election.

Sky News anchor Kieran Gilbert is moderating the debate, which is being broadcast live on the Sky News channel and website, and the Daily Telegraph website – a subscription is needed.

The second time the leaders will go head-to-head will be in mid-April on ABC News, to be hosted by Insiders host David Speers at the public broadcaster’s Parramatta studios.

Western Sydney is a key battleground for the two major parties, as Labor looks to win back the seat of Fowler from first-term independent Dai Le.

But Labor also faces new challenges from independent candidates from the city’s Muslim communities who feel angry and let down by the position taken by the government on the Israel-Gaza war.

The prime minister visited Sydney’s west as the first week of the campaign came to a close.

He has placed health front and centre of his bid for re-election on May 3.

The opposition leader has jumped on voter discontent with the nation’s housing crisis, making the Liberal Party’s case for the mortgage-belt seats where cost of living pressures are being profoundly felt.

Mr Dutton has pledged a 25 cents a litre cut to the price of petrol by halving the fuel excise for 12 months if the coalition is elected.

An ex-producer claims Seven made him into a scapegoat after authorising him to use a company credit card to pay for a pricey massage for Bruce Lehrmann. 

Taylor Auerbach is suing his former employer for defamation over claims Seven made disparaging comments about him that led him to be shunned and vilified. 

He was allowed to give last-minute evidence in a defamation case launched by Lehrmann against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson over an interview with Brittany Higgins.

Auerbach said he discussed paying Lehrmann around $200,000 for an exclusive interview on Seven’s Spotlight, in which he would publicly respond to Ms Higgins’ allegations that he raped her in Parliament House.

Seven footed the bill for a $1000 Thai massage, luxury hotels, expensive dinners, and a golf trip in an attempt to induce Lehrmann to tell all, according to an affidavit from Auerbach. 

He claims he was defamed by Seven’s statements to media that he had not been authorised to use the company card to pay for the massage and had been forced to repay the charge.

Auerbach said the company “dissuaded” him from repayment and instead tasked him with withdrawing cash and offering a bonus to the massage provider to reverse the credit card charges. 

Contrary to Seven’s assertions that he was disciplined after the incident, Auerbach alleges he was offered inducements and told he would become Spotlight’s executive producer. 

A statement to Media Watch defamed him by implying he had been terminated by Seven as a result of the misuse of the corporate credit card, according to the statement of claim lodged with the Federal Court. 

Auerbach was not named in the statements from Seven, but he claims they “caused a tide of hatred and negativity” towards him.

He was working at Sky News at the time of the statements in March 2024, but blames his termination on his former employer’s allegedly defamatory statements.

In response to the explosive court documents released on Tuesday, Seven said it will “strenuously defend its position in this matter and is considering its options”. 

The latest limb of the Lehrmann saga comes as the former political staffer appeals his bruising Federal Court defamation defeat from April. 

He was ordered to pay $2 million in legal costs to Ten while the network has agreed to cover $1.15 million of Wilkinson’s bill.

Lehrmann continues to deny he sexually assaulted Ms Higgins and pleaded not guilty to sexual assault before his 2022 criminal trial in the ACT was derailed due to juror misconduct. 

The charges against him were dropped when prosecutors declined to pursue a retrial out of concern for Ms Higgins’ mental health.

Queensland’s government looks set to abandon legislated emissions reduction targets after flagging reviews and the extension of coal mining.

Treasurer and Energy Minister David Janetzki has outlined the Liberal National Party government’s energy road map, involving a five-year plan to be delivered by the end of 2025.

Speaking to the Queensland Energy Club on Tuesday, Mr Janetzki ranged across mining, gas, renewable energy and private-sector engagement to deliver projects.

He proposed an expansion of gas exploration and the repeal of current renewable energy targets, which he described as “unachievable”, and later told reporters that emissions target legislation will be reviewed.

A vision towards 50 per cent emissions reduction targets by 2030, and 75 per cent by 2035, were enshrined by the previous state government in 2024.

The laws also locked in an 80 per cent renewable energy generation target by 2035, and entrenched public ownership of energy assets.

The LNP government says it is committed to net zero by 2050.

“We’ve committed to repeal the renewable energy targets,” Mr Janetzki said.

“The legislation, which both contains the emissions and renewables targets, will be reviewed during the course of the year as we develop the energy road map.”

Mr Janetzki also announced the state-owned Callide B coal-fired power station will operate past its technical end of life.

The treasurer said coal-fired power accounts for more than 60 per cent of the electricity generated in Queensland, with the state boasting the youngest fleet in Australia.

He flagged that coal-fired plants will not be closed just to meet the needs of a “media release or brochure”.

“This will be done very methodically and calmly and that review will be undertaken during the course of the year,” he said.

“There will be coal generators that operate beyond 2035.”

Environmental lobbyists have slammed proposed gas exploration and the Callide B decision.

“Supporting an expansion of the gas industry will only benefit huge multinational petroleum companies, and leave ordinary Queenslanders worse off,” Lock the Gate’s Ellen Roberts said.

Extending Callide B’s working life could cost up to $420 million and expose people to higher risks of outages and pollution, Queensland Conservation Council’s Dave Copeman said.

A key energy project to connect multiple regions has meanwhile suffered another cost blowout, to more than double its original estimate.

CopperString, originally slated at $5 billion, will connect Queensland’s northwest to the grid through an 840km power line running from south of Townsville to Mount Isa.

After winning the 2024 election, the new government announced that the cost of CopperString had increased to $9 billion after receiving internal briefing documents.

It has now risen again to $13.9 billion, following a closer examination of the project and consultation with transmission operator Powerlink.

The Australian share market has rebounded in its biggest daily gain of 2025, but the recovery could sink under the weight of trade war uncertainty.

The S&P/ASX200 rose 166.7 points, or 2.27 per cent, to 7,510.0 on Tuesday, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 180.1 points, or 2.39 per cent, to 7,704.4.

The benchmark index recovered less than one-third of 7.6 per cent sell-off over the last three sessions, prompted by US President Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs announced last week.

“Australian shares rebounded on Tuesday, buoyed by gains in energy and technology stocks,” CommSec chief economist Ryan Felsman said.

“While investors saw relief in Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ remarks that resource-rich Australia will be able to manage the direct impact of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.”

All 11 sectors finished in the green, led by a 4.8 per cent rally in IT stocks.

Energy stocks rose 3.5 per cent after tumbling almost 15 per cent over the previous two sessions, with the oil price on Friday falling to three-year lows.

Brent crude has rebounded more than three per cent since last week to $US64.79, but tit-for-tat trade war escalations between China and the US are capping the recovery.

Mr Trump has vowed to increase duties on Chinese imports to above 100 per cent, in response to China’s retaliatory 34 per cent tariff on US goods.

Beijing has vowed to “fight to the end” any further escalation from the US.

Materials and financial stocks helped lift the local bourse, with materials up 2.4 per cent and two per cent respectively.

The Commonwealth Bank was leading the big four, clawing back 2.8 per cent after plummeting more than six per cent on Monday.

Consumer discretionary stocks also rallied, up 3.2 per cent as Bunnings owner Wesfarmers shot up nearly three per cent after falling 8.9 per cent since Mr Trump’s tariff announcement.

Westpac’s consumer sentiment survey released on Tuesday showed confidence fell six per cent in April.

With tariff negotiations in their infancy and post-Liberation Day economic indicators still weeks away, it could be a while before markets show signs of a sustained recovery. 

Tiger Brokers chief strategy officer Greg Boland said spikes such that overnight in the US volatility index sometimes provided buying signals, but investors would have to watch closely for further signs of a solid turnaround.

“I think if the markets don’t recover reasonably quickly, then we’ll fall further in terms of equities,” Mr Boland told AAP.

The Australian dollar has also rebounded to buy 60.59 US cents, up from 60.14 US cents on Monday at 5pm.

The Aussie has sold off more than any other major currency since the US tariffs were announced on April 2.

ON THE ASX:

* The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index rose 166.7 points, or 2.27 per cent, to 7,510.0 on Tuesday

* The broader All Ordinaries gained 180.1 points, or 2.39 per cent, to 7,704.4

CURRENCY SNAPSHOT:

One Australian dollar buys:

* 60.59 US cents, from 60.14 US cents on Monday

* 89.20 Japanese yen, from 87.38 Japanese yen

* 55.20 euro cents, from 54.65 euro cents

* 47.41 British pence, from 46.61 British pence

* 107.98 NZ cents, from 108.02 NZ cents

China has vowed to “fight to the end” if US President Donald Trump follows through on a threatened 50 per cent tariff hike, rejecting calls to drop its countermeasures and setting the stage for a high-stakes standoff between the world’s top two economies.

If neither side blinks and Trump sticks to his plans, total new levies could climb to 104 per cent this year on Chinese goods imported into the United States, escalating a trade war that has already spurred the biggest market losses since the pandemic.

But with Trump’s previous tariff increases already squeezing Chinese exporters’ margins to the point of suffocation, further hikes would only serve to underscore Washington’s appetite for brinkmanship and its desire to cut China out of the world’s biggest consumer market as a matter of principle, analysts say.

“The US side’s threat to escalate tariffs against China is a mistake on top of a mistake, once again exposing the American side’s blackmailing nature,” China’s commerce ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

“If the US insists on having its way, China will fight to the end.”

Trump said he would impose the additional 50 per cent duty on US imports from China on Wednesday if Beijing did not withdraw the 34 per cent tariffs it had imposed on US products last week.

Those Chinese tariffs, in turn, had come in response to 34 per cent “reciprocal” duties announced by Trump.

The average US tariff on Chinese goods is already set to climb to 76 per cent following Trump’s levies last week, which hit China with a tariff of 34 per cent, in addition to 20 per cent he previously imposed this year.

“If the tariffs keep going up and up, it becomes a battle of wills and principles rather than economics,” said Xu Tianchen, senior economist for China at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“Since China already faces a tariff rate in excess of 60 per cent, it doesn’t matter if it goes up by 50 per cent or 500 per cent,” he added.

The moves have led economists to question whether the White House stands to gain much from hiking rates further.

China has stepped up efforts to shield its economy from global market turmoil following Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement, with several state holding companies committing to increase share investment, a slew of listed companies announcing buybacks, and the central bank pledging liquidity support for fund Central Huijin after it intervened to support sinking stocks.

But there is no shying away from the fact that Trump’s affinity for tariffs risks de-railing the largely export-led economic recovery that has been underway in China since the end of the COVID pandemic, unless exporters can pivot quickly to other markets.

“Once its passed the 35 per cent mark, the tariffs actually already wipe out the entire profit of the export sector,” said Dan Wang, director, China, at Eurasia Group.

“After that, China shouldn’t export to the US at all. It could be 1000 per cent, but since there is no trade, there is no harm.”

“Europe is and will be the most profitable market for China now,” she added.

President Xi Jinping is expected to meet Spain’s Prime Minister on Friday, with finding a resolution to trade tensions between Beijing and Brussels over China’s electric vehicle exports likely on the agenda, along with Trump’s broader tariff onslaught.

The Chinese leader will then visit Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia, three economies that gained from Chinese manufacturers relocating to avoid US sanctions during Trump’s first term but which now face steep levies of their own.