Peter Dutton has vowed to establish an east coast gas reservation scheme to lower power prices and sack all 41,000 federal public servants hired under Anthony Albanese if he wins an election billed as a “sliding doors moment” for the nation.
The opposition leader used his budget reply speech on Thursday night to claim Australia’s prosperity would be “damaged for decades” if Labor was returned to power.
The speech locked in the battle lines for the election, which the prime minister is expected to call on Friday morning for a vote on either 3 May or 10 May.
A Friday morning announcement would overshadow Dutton’s speech and allow Albanese to leverage Tuesday’s budget – including its $17.1bn income tax cuts – to launch his re-election bid.
After opposing and vowing to repeal Labor’s $10-per-week income tax cuts, Dutton on Thursday committed to halve the fuel excise for 12 months, which he claimed would save motorists $14 per week.
As widely expected, Dutton announced a “national gas plan” that would include an east coast reservation scheme requiring LNG producers to set aside more supply for domestic use.
Gas reservation schemes already exist in Queensland and in WA.
“This will secure an additional 10 to 20% of the east coast’s demand – gas which would otherwise be exported,” he said.
“Gas sold on the domestic market will be decoupled from overseas markets to protect Australia from international price shocks”.
A Dutton government would also allow Labor’s renewables-focused Capacity Investment Scheme to invest in gas projects, allocate $1bn for gas infrastructure and impose “use-it-or-lose” rules for gas drilling companies.
“This plan will deliver lower wholesale gas prices which will flow through the economy,” Dutton said.
Dutton claimed the plan would lower the wholesale gas price from $14 per gigajoule to under $10 per gigajoule by the end of the year.
The reservation scheme would apply to gas that is not already contracted for export.
The resources minister, Madeleine King, pre-empted the announcement, revealing a the government had secured commitments from gas companies for an extra nine petajoules to shore up domestic supply.
After weeks of mixed-messaging about the scale of the Coalition’s planned cuts to the federal public servants, Dutton confirmed all 41,000 positions created under Labor would be culled.
He said the mass sackings would save the budget $7bn a year “once in place”, and more than $10bn over the forward estimates.
Dutton claimed frontline positions would be spared and promised the Coalition would invest in essential services such as health, aged care, the NDIS, defence and veterans “in line with the national interest and public expectations”.
The assertion will be vehemently contested by Labor, which ahead of Thursday’s speech, warned welfare recipients could wait weeks, or even months longer for payments if roles at key agencies were axed.
Dutton recommitted to cutting permanent migration by 25% – a promise he made in his 2024 budget reply – to help free up housing.
He did not detail targets for net overseas migration, which is forecast to fall from 335,000 this year to 225,000 in 2026-27, under projections in Tuesday’s budget.
There were no new policies to boost housing supply.
The opposition leader did not reveal a figure for defence spending after the Albanese government promised funding would grow to beyond 2.3% of GDP by 2034.
However, Dutton flagged an announcement during the campaign that would exceed Labor’s target, as Australia faces pressure from the Trump administration to boost military spending.
“During the election campaign, we will announce our significant funding commitment to defence,” Dutton said.
“A commitment which – unlike Labor’s – will be commensurate with the challenges of our times.”
A Dutton government would set a target of 400,000 apprentices and trainees, offering businesses a $12,000 incentive to hire young Australians.
