Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton launch into the second week of their campaign.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton launch into the second week of their campaign.
Climate and energy correspondent Mike Foley just asked the prime minister what role he believes climate change may have had on the Queensland floods.
Here’s what Anthony Albanese said:
Look, you can’t say that any extreme weather event, any single event, is just because of climate change. What you can do, though, is look at the science, and what the science told us was that there would be more extreme weather events, so more frequent and more intense.
So that is what we’re seeing played out, not just here in Australia, but right around the world.
Earlier today the prime minister spoke with the Eggerling family, who run a 28,000-acre sheep farm near Longreach that has been inundated by water. They haven’t seen a flood like this in their decades of living on the land.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is speaking from flood-hit regional Queensland, where he’s announcing some more local funding measures for flood recovery.
“There is no politics any of this. I spoke with Premier David Crisafulli yesterday, and we are working hand in hand making sure support is provided.
“I also spoke today to David Littleproud. I always try to tell people when I’m in their turf and I wish him well as well he’s working hard.”
Albanese said he had agreed overnight to a request from the Queensland government for $7 million worth of fodder and also announced $105 million in funding for exclusion fencing to protect fodder and livestock from feral pigs and dogs.
Peter Dutton has offered a Channel 10 cameraman a beer in apology after accidentally kicking a ball into his head during a photo opportunity, according to his spokesman.
After cameraman Ghaith Nadir doubled over with a bloodied forehead at a Darwin football ground but then stood and flashed a thumbs up as he clasped his head, Dutton, standing a few metres away, quipped: “That’s your exclusive footage too, mate.”
Nadir was then attended to by media colleagues and Australian Federal Police personnel. The opposition leader approached Nadir to check he was alright, once his bloodied forehead had been bandaged, and the two shook hands.
Dutton jokingly denied the kick-gone-wrong was his Scott Morrison moment.“I was expecting him to mark it, I was sure he could take the shot,” Dutton told Sky News afterwards.
“He’s good. I just saw him then, so hopefully he’s able to get it dressed properly, but the AFP did a great job.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is used to being at the centre of the election campaign but today felt humbled by the force and scale of the western Queensland floods.
After seeing the mass of soil shifted and concrete footings lifted by floodwaters at the Eggerling family farm in the western downs, Albanese said he was struck by the power of Mother Nature and the resilience of people caught in her path.
“Australians are tough people and people here make such a contribution, not just to the local community of Longreach but to the entire national interest. And we have got their back.”
Albanese said that talking to Martin and Rebecca Eggerling, whose 28,000 acre sheep farm was inundated with more than a metre of water, reminded him of his mother, who used to say there was always someone worse off.
“People here have spoken about people further south being more inundated. There are properties we can’t get into at this point in time. This gives you an insight into what people are dealing with and their determination to deal with this and build back stronger.”
The Eggerlings bought their property from Martin’s parents four years ago. Before that, his father Barry ran it for 40 years. None of them have seen a flood like this.
Martin managed to move some of his stock to high ground but probably won’t know his full losses for weeks.
Barry Eggerling, 74, was taken with the generous morning tea the PM bought with him.
“If we could get Albo to come every week and bring some more smoko, that would be good,” he said.
The travelling press pack has touched down in Longreach, outback Queensland population 3000, to hear the PM announce disaster assistance funding for flood-hit residents. The main street of Longreach is bustling on Saturday morning, with shoppers out in force before the town’s shops shut at midday.
Just don’t ask if anyone knows why a troop of journalists is roaming town in search of coffee – no one knows that Anthony Albanese is about to turn up.
Darcy Oulette is too flat out behind the counter of the Kynda Cafe slinging coffees to know.
Darcy hails from Canada and came to Longreach to work the 88 days to qualify for her visa, but met her boyfriend here and has stayed for two years.
“It’s a little bit isolated at times, especially throughout the summer, but it’s pretty good,” she said.
Longreach services the sprawling cattle industry of western Queensland and there are four pubs, two chemists, a bustling independent butcher and a local hardware store alongside the town’s economic mainstay of tourism.
Shannon is doling out steaks and chops to a steady stream of customers but is happy to hear the prime minister is in town with funding for farmers, who he says copped a big hit with more than 100,000 livestock lost to flooding.
“But the flood hasn’t really affected town here now,” he says.
The scenes in Darwin today, where a wayward kick from Peter Dutton has left a cameraman with a bloodied forehead, are reminiscent of former Liberal prime minister Scott Morrison’s foray onto the soccer pitch in 2022.
Morrison had joined children in a game at the Devonport Strikers soccer club in Tasmania, shedding his suit jacket within moments of his arrival.
Children had cheered and one declared him “better than Ronaldo” before the then national leader accidentally tackled seven-year-old Luca Fauvette.
“Where’s Luca, where’s Luca? He’s probably gone off to hospital!” he joked after the accident, to a big roar.
Photographer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age James Brickwood was there in 2022 to immortalise the moment, and he was there today to capture the latest on-field fiasco:
A cameraman on the campaign trail was left with a bloodied forehead when a football kicked by Peter Dutton knocked his camera during a picture opportunity.
Dutton was kicking the footy around with some kids when the ball went astray, knocking the man’s camera and injuring his head.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is in Darwin this morning, where he stopped to make a funding announcement for a local footy club.
Dutton and his team then headed down to the oval for a casual kick of the footy.
After kicking the footy back a forth with a bunch of kids for the media entourage, one of the pposition leader’s kicks went awry.
The ball went straight towards a cameraman filming the exchange, resulting in a bloodied forehead.
After petrol stations were notably absent from the agenda in Peter Dutton’s first week of campaigning, he has now hit up two in as many days.
The opposition leader has jumped in a car with Senator Jacinta Price and Lisa Bayliss, the Country Liberal Party candidate for Solomon, in Darwin to take photos.
They watched the cents tick over as the tank filled up.
Unleaded 91 fuel here costs $1.78 a litre, but that would come down by 25¢ for a year under the Coalition’s fuel excise cut.
This is what Dutton wants voters to remember as he travels across the country, and the photos help sell his message.
His campaign bus is spending the morning in Darwin, where the opposition made its announcement on the Port of Darwin, before heading off to its next destination.
The prime minister is visiting Longreach in outback Queensland today, announcing disaster assistance for flood affected residents.
Anthony Albanese and Emergency Services Minister Jenny McAllister have travelled to Nationals Leader David Littleproud’s Maranoa electorate as the Commonwealth delivers 13 weeks of income support for eligible workers and businesses.
Albanese will travel to a farm outside of Longreach before addressing media.
