Australia Opposition Focuses On Living Costs in Campaign Launch

(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s main opposition prioritized cost-of-living and housing issues as it kicked off its campaign for the next election, due by May 17.

Peter Dutton, leader of the center-right Liberal Party, laid out his case for becoming prime minister in his first speech of the year at a campaign rally in Melbourne on Sunday. The party’s 12 key priorities were outlined in a report. 

Support for the opposition is now almost level with that of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s ruling center-left Labor government, as voters become increasingly frustrated with the country’s economic situation. Interest rates have climbed to a 13-year high of 4.35% and prices are still rising. While the government has sought to cushion the blow with cost-of-living relief and tax cuts, electoral discontent persists.  

“Australians are living through the worst collapse in living standards on record,” Dutton said at the rally. “Everything is costing more — food, rents, mortgages, power and insurance.”

Dutton pledged several measures aimed at reducing the price of housing, which has become a bellwether for the cost-of-living crisis. These include a two-year ban on foreign investors and temporary residents buying existing Australian homes; a cut over two years of 25% to the number of people allowed into the country through permanent migration program; stricter caps on international students at metropolitan universities; and a A$5 billion ($3.1 billion) package to support the building of essential infrastructure for new housing.

He also outlined plans to increase affordable and reliable energy access by ramping up domestic gas production, and swapping coal-fired power plants for nuclear energy. The Liberal party has previously laid out a A$331 billion plan to create a taxpayer-funded nuclear-power industry in just over a decade, despite the nation’s top scientists saying renewable energy such as wind and solar energy is more cost effective.

The opposition’s other election priorities include investing in small businesses, defense and regional communities, improving healthcare, cutting government spending and auditing Indigenous programs. Dutton said the party would announce new policies in the days and weeks ahead.

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