Cost-of-living takes centre stage as Albanese and Dutton race for Prime Ministership

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Anthony Albanese has made his first promise of the official election campaign to outlaw price gouging by supermarkets. With cost-of-living top of mind for most voters Peter Dutton stopped by the energy minister's electorate as he makes the case for more gas to lower power prices.

Transcript

00:00Campaign day two and contenders are finding their groove and perfecting their kitchen

00:11table pitch.

00:12I'm trying to keep fit here for the campaign and it's just about to go out the window.

00:17With grocery prices leaving a bitter taste in voters mouths, Labor's latest plan to counter

00:23the cost of weaving is aimed squarely at Coles and Woolworths.

00:28We will make price gouging by Australian supermarkets illegal.

00:32The competition watchdog isn't certain price gouging is going on.

00:37But Labor's talking tough, promising a new task force and new laws by year's end.

00:44Price gouging is when supermarkets are taking the piss.

00:47Well this is the sixth policy review that the Prime Minister's offered in three years

00:52so I would say that the Prime Minister is as weak as water.

00:56Swapping a brewery for a brickworks.

01:00Peter Dutton stopped by Energy Minister Chris Bowen's Western Sydney seat to again highlight

01:06the high cost of electricity.

01:08Each month the gas bill here is in the millions of dollars.

01:12In the United States it's in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

01:15His solution is to get more gas into the grid by fast tracking approvals for new projects

01:21and reserving more gas for domestic use.

01:24If you put more supply into the market, the prices will come down.

01:28By how much, the Coalition won't say.

01:32Haunted by his own pledge to bring down power prices before the last election, the Prime

01:37Minister's making no such commitments this time around.

01:40What we have done throughout our term is to provide immediate support when people needed

01:47it.

01:48Dodging questions about whether bills will go up when the latest rebate runs out at Christmas.

01:53What we are providing is $150 relief.

01:57As the campaign enters its first full week, three major opinion polls have Labor and the

02:03Coalition statistically tied around the 50-50 mark, which would most likely see the government

02:09returned.

02:10It's incremental, but at this stage suggests Labor's making up ground after trailing the

02:15Coalition for much of the past year.

02:18Do you think you'll win this one?

02:20Yeah, I do.

02:21Of course we're aiming to form a majority government in our own right and we're confident

02:25about our ability to do so, but if we fall short by a couple of seats we will have a

02:29negotiation with the crossbench.

02:31This election tango still has a way to go.

Category

Transcript

Recommended