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The Prime Minister has set the date for the next federal election, with Australians due to head to the polls in May.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called a federal election with polling to take place on 3 May, as the Labor Leader looks to capitalise on momentum from his party’s budget this week.
Albanese announced the date after visiting Governor-General Sam Mostyn in Canberra, on Friday (28 March), to dissolve Parliament and trigger an election.
The campaign is expected to be dominated by housing and cost-of-living issues, with opinion polls predicting a slim margin between the two major parties.
The date means it will be a five-week election campaign.
In a press conference on Friday morning, Albanese said: “My fellow Australians, this morning, I visited the governor-general, and Her Excellency has accepted my advice that an election be held on Saturday, 3 May 2025.”
Reiterating his commitment to combat cost-of-living pressures, he said: “Our government has chosen to face global challenges the Australian way – helping people under cost-of-living pressure, while building for the future.
“Now on May 3, you choose the way forward. Your vote has never been more important. And your choice has never been more clear.
“At this election, I’m asking for the support of the Australian people to keep building on the hard work that we have done and the strong foundations that we have laid. I’m asking you to vote Labor so we can keep building Australia’s future together.”
The Albanese government this week unveiled its budget for 2025–26, the last before the upcoming federal election, focusing on increasing housing supply, easing cost-of-living pressures, and strengthening support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Labor committed to lift total commitments in housing to $33 billion through measures including higher-income caps and property price limits for its shared equity Help to Buy scheme.
Other commitments from the federal government included banning foreign buyers from purchasing existing homes for two years from 1 April 2025 and rolling out the first two rounds of the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund.
Measures to improve housing affordability were also a feature of the Coalition’s budget reply on Thursday (27 March).
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton reaffirmed the Coalition’s policy to let first home buyers access up to $50,000 of their super for a home deposit and pledged to cut the permanent migration program by 25 per cent.
Much like Labor, the Coalition will also ban foreign investors and temporary residents from purchasing existing Australian homes for a period of two years.
Speaking after the budget reply, Dutton described the election as a “sliding doors moment".
“I say to Australians tonight, at this election, you can make the right choice,” he said.
“Every election is important. But this election does matter more than others in recent history.”
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