Anthony Albanese – seen at the National Press Club on Wednesday – has refused to countenance the prospect of a hung parliament throughout the campaign, adamant his sole focus is retaining majority government. Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenAnthony Albanese – seen at the National Press Club on Wednesday – has refused to countenance the prospect of a hung parliament throughout the campaign, adamant his sole focus is retaining majority government. Photograph: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty ImagesAustralian election 2025Albanese and Dutton face questions on possible power-sharing deals and tussle over Indigenous recognitionPM says he won’t sign written deals with crossbenchers if Labor falls short of majority at Saturday election
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Dan Jervis-Bardy and Josh ButlerWed 30 Apr 2025 08.38 BSTLast modified on Wed 30 Apr 2025 08.58 BSTShareAnthony Albanese won’t sign written deals with any crossbenchers if he falls short of a majority at Saturday’s election, confirming Labor would rather negotiate on a legislation-by-legislation basis than share power with the Greens, independents or minor parties.The prime minister reaffirmed the position during an appearance at the National Press Club on Wednesday, where he summed up his re-election pitch before embarking on a blitz of all six states in the final push to sway undecided voters in key seats.
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Dutton campaigned in Dunkley, Chisholm and Aston, a trio of Labor-held seats in suburban Melbourne that the Coalition are desperate to win.Albanese and Dutton both faced questions about possible power-sharing deals with crossbenchers, as opinion polls showed a hung parliament remained a realistic possibility.Dutton – who had previously named Bob Katter, Dai Le and Allegra Spender as potential partners in a hung parliament – shrugged off questions about a possible deal with One Nation after a preference arrangement with the two parties.He did not answer whether the Coalition would seek One Nation support in the Senate.Peter Dutton’s preference call on One Nation could hurt Coalition in at-risk seats, strategists warnRead more“I wouldn’t be mucking around with independents and third parties at this election. I really wouldn’t,” Dutton said.Asked if One Nation leader Pauline Hanson would get a cabinet spot under a Coalition government, Dutton replied: “Of course not.”Albanese had refused to countenance the prospect of a hung parliament throughout the campaign, adamant his sole focus was retaining majority government.The prime minister had specifically and repeatedly ruled out entering a formal agreement with the Greens, such as the one Julia Gillard inked with Bob Brown to prop up a minority Labor government after the 2010 election.If Labor fell into minority government on Saturday and Albanese held firm on his position, the government would need to negotiate with individual crossbenchers to pass legislation in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.Albanese was asked on Wednesday if formal deals would be preferable, given the prime minister’s own emphasis on the importance of stability in an increasingly uncertain global environment.In response, Albanese said: “No.”“Will there be the sort of agreement that we saw previously? No,” he said.The prime minister noted the government managed to pass “most” of its first-term agenda, despite holding just 25 of 76 seats in the upper house.He used his press club speech in Canberra to frame the election as a contest between “two fundamentally different visions for the direction Australia should go”.“In the total absence of anything constructive to help in the present, or anything positive to say about the future, the Liberals are urging Australians to go back to the past,” he told an audience that included senior ministers Richard Marles, Jim Chalmers, Katy Gallagher, Mark Butler and Tony Burke.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025Free daily newsletterOur Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersEnter your email address Sign upPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. 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We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotion“Back to a darker and nastier and more extreme version of the cuts and conflict and culture wars that people rejected less than three years ago.”In a wide-ranging Q&A session, Albanese brushed off questions about the need for tax reform to raise revenue, refused to directly answer whether Australians were worse off financially than three years ago and defended Labor’s claims that a Dutton government would gut Medicare.1:06Australian prime minister addresses 'Tiger King' Joe Exotic's election endorsement – videoHe also faced questions about the future of Indigenous recognition after the Coalition pounced on comments from the foreign minister, Penny Wong, to claim Labor intended to one day resurrect a voice to parliament.Speaking on the Betoota Talks podcast, Wong compared the Indigenous advisory body to marriage equality, a social reform ultimately achieved after a long struggle.Wong did not say Labor intended to revive the proposal, which Albanese had declared was “done” when asked about it at Sunday’s leaders’ debate.But Dutton claimed a re-elected Labor government would attempt to legislate a version of the body.“If you want to understand what this government would do with the Greens, if they get elected, they will introduce the voice by legislation. We will block it. So if you want to vote for Labor and the Greens, you get the voice,” he claimed.Speaking at the press club, Albanese again defended holding the referendum, which was rejected by 60% of voters.“I did it out of conviction, not out of convenience,” he said.Albanese said Labor had respected the outcome of the October 2023 vote and was now focused on measures to achieve what he described as “practical reconciliation”.“How do we close the gap? The truth is that every government, Labor and conservative, has not done well enough,” he said.Explore more on these topicsAustralian election 2025Anthony AlbaneseLabor partyCoalitionAustralian politicsPeter DuttonnewsShareReuse this content
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