Australia election 2025 live updates: Bandt says ‘another day, another Greens policy adopted’ by Albanese after Labor’s price gouging pledge
Bandt says ‘another day, another Greens policy adopted’ by Albanese after Labor’s price-gouging pledge
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, says he was getting ready to go for a run on Sunday morning when he heard Labor was adopting a plan to outlaw price gouging by supermarkets – and he was happy about it.
Another day and another Greens policy that the prime minister has adopted. Their first step is to say no and then they adopt them. And we take that as a really good sign.
Bandt says the Greens have already introduced a bill to parliament that defines price gouging.
It’s about when these supermarkets are abusing their power and ripping off customers. That’s basically what it boils down to. And other countries have laws that can that say really clearly when supermarkets are just abusing their power and ripping off customers, then they should be fined for it.
The Greens leader says that any fine should “depend on the size of how much they’re ripping people off”.
These supermarkets are making billions of dollars of profits. The fines do need to be high to make sure that the supermarkets listen. But even more than that, what the Greens want to see is the supermarkets know that they could be broken up as well if they keep on abusing shoppers and abusing their market power, that’s where the penalty should be.
Key events
Police are investigating after a man’s body was found on the Hume Freeway, north of Albury this morning.
Emergency services were called about 4.50am today after reports of a man lying on the road, NSW police said in a statement.
On arrival, officers were told the man had been hit by two cars. The 21-year-old died at the scene. He has not yet been formally identified.
Two drivers, a man and a woman, were taken to hospital for mandatory testing. A crime scene was established and investigations continue.
A report will be prepared for the coroner.
Greenpeace: Dutton’s refusal to commit to Cop31 a ‘betrayal of the Pacific’
Greenpeace has responded to Peter Dutton’s comments that Australia can’t afford to host a future Cop on the issue of climate change, saying it’s a “betrayal of the Pacific”.
Shiva Gounden, head of Pacific at Greenpeace Asia Pacific, said in a statement:
Peter Dutton’s refusal to commit to hosting Cop31 is more than just a political decision – it is a betrayal of the Pacific, a region where climate change is not a future threat but a present and relentless crisis. For our islands, every moment of inaction brings rising seas, stronger storms, and the heartbreaking loss of land, culture, and identity.
Cop31 is not just another conference; it is a platform for the voices of those living on the frontline of this emergency, a moment for Australia to prove that its partnership with the Pacific is more than just words. Any Australian government must understand that hosting Cop31 is not optional – it is a moral responsibility. Turning away from this commitment is turning away from the Pacific’s future, from the families fighting to stay above water, and from the global effort to secure a livable planet for all.
Kate Lyons
South Australia’s domestic violence disclosure scheme provides relief and freedom
When Sophie* attended a domestic violence disclosure meeting with South Australian police and a domestic violence support worker, she was curled in on herself and could barely speak.
Her friend, who accompanied her as a support person, had been the one to apply on Sophie’s behalf to the disclosure scheme, which allows victims of family violence to be told of their partner’s history of violent crimes, so that Sophie could find out information about her partner.
After a screening process, with Sophie’s consent, and under strict confidentiality arrangements, police were able to meet with Sophie, and tell her that her partner did in fact have a history of reported violent behaviour toward a former partner.
After hearing this news, Sophie’s transformation was remarkable.
“She began to weep,” the caseworker wrote in their notes of the meeting.
It was evident that [she] realised, in that moment, that she was not responsible for his use of violence towards her … This information had a profound impact on [her] as her entire physicality changed.
Read the full story here:
Further to the previous post, Coles has also responded to Labor’s election promise, with a spokesperson saying:
Despite a 12-month inquiry into supermarkets, neither the government or the ACCC found evidence of price gouging.
What’s needed are measures that tackle the real factors driving higher grocery prices, which are rising costs such as energy, fuel, labour, insurance, production, freight and distribution.
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) on Sunday called the announcement “a distraction from the broader community and business policies Australians deserve during an election campaign”.
ARA’s chief industry affairs officer Fleur Brown said:
The ACCC’s findings clearly states that grocery inflation has been driven higher by the cost of wages, energy and fuel. Yet instead of hearing how the government will address these issues which significantly affect all Australian retailers and consumers, we unfortunately see more taxpayer-funded deflection.
The ARA calls on government to focus on policies that drive down the cost of doing business in Australia, which will have a direct impact on grocery prices and the cost of living for Australian families.
Woolworths reject claims of price gouging
The supermarket giants have pushed back against Labor’s pledge on price gouging, saying the ACCC’s inquiry had not concluded they were engaging in the practice.
A spokesperson from Woolworths Group said they had explained to the 12-month inquiry into the supermarket sector that “economy wide inflation was impacting our suppliers and our business and … we are always working to deliver value to our customers.”
The spokesperson continued:
Following this year-long inquiry into supermarkets, the final report found no evidence of price gouging.
We fully understand that customers want us to make it easier to find value, especially as they remain under immense cost of living pressure.
We recognise our customers have experienced several years of significant inflation, with an escalation in the cost of mortgages, rent, transport, insurance, energy, food and many other household essentials.
Year on year prices in our Australian Food business have now declined for four consecutive quarters, as noted at our F25 Half Year Financial Result.
We play an important role in the lives of millions of Australians, more than 200,000 team members, and our suppliers.
As we said following the release of the ACCC report, where no evidence of price gouging was found, we have already taken action on many of the report’s recommendations to improve the experience and transparency for customers and suppliers.
Dutton shows his caring side
Opposition leader Peter Dutton wrapping up a speech at an Assyrian community event in Sydney where he has just finished telling a story about his time as immigration minister, where he sat with an Syrian family whose visa he approved. That decision, he said, allowed the family to flee persecution from Syria and start a new life in Australia.
It was a chance for the opposition leader to show another side given that he has invested so much time over the years, and even during this campaign, in talking up how many deportations he has carried out during his time in politics.
Contamination fears: supermarkets pull popular products
Stepping away from politics for a moment, five supermarket chains have pulled dozens of products from their shelves, warning customers of a potential health risk.
Coles has pulled more than a dozen products from its shelves across much of Australia and is urging customers to seek medical advice if they have consumed the items and feel unwell.
The pre-packed spinach was included in 17 items sold across Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, NSW and the ACT, as well as some products in South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Woolworths, Aldi and Metcash Australia, which runs IGA and Drakes supermarkets, have also issued recalls in recent days.
The Coles salad products, with use-by dates up to and including 9 April, might contain microbial contamination.
The Coles products were sold between Thursday, 20 March and Saturday, 29 March.
Customers can return the products for a full refund.
The major retailer said.
We apologise to our customers for any inconvenience.
– AAP
Josh Butler
AFP says it won’t stop public from ‘attending political events’
We’ve got a statement from the AFP on the recent protests at Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton’s campaign events, with police saying it’s not their responsibility “to interfere with democracy” or stop the public from attending political events.
Albanese had a heckler at his press conference yesterday, while green group Rising Tide interrupted two of Dutton’s events with protests against his gas and nuclear plan. So far today, we haven’t had any protests or interruptions.
Dutton earlier claimed some protesters had “fake IDs” getting into his events, and praised the AFP response.
We reached out to federal police for a comment. An AFP spokesperson told us that their “responsibility is to maintain the safety of the principal (parliamentarians/high office holders) and preserve their dignity”.
It is not the responsibility of the AFP to interfere in democracy or stop members of the public from attending political events.
The AFP works closely with state and territory agencies to ensure the balance is right.
The Coalition claims grocery prices have risen by 30%. But is it true ?
To circle back, there have been many claims by the Coalition on Sunday about what’s happening out there in the world and with the government’s policies, including a claim that the grocery prices have risen 30%.
This is a line that Opposition leader Peter Dutton has been using, but the Coalition spokesperson James Paterson repeated the same detail during an interview with ABC Insiders host David Speers.
Here’s the line:
It’s [Labor’s] fifth review into supermarket prices. If it was such a good idea, why didn’t they do it three years ago for a 30% increase in grocery prices?
But is it true?
My Guardian colleagues previously went back in an attempt to find the source of that 30% figure, among others, and found it did not appear to have any basis in fact.
As they found, Dutton appears to have taken the 30% figure from a Daily Telegraph secret shopping study in March. The ABS puts the increase in food costs at about 14% with only fats and oils surpassing the 30% increase mark.
For more, read the full fact check:
‘Greens vote is up right across the country,’ Bandt says
Asked about a YouGov poll published on Sunday that found Labor in a stronger position to win government, Bandt is asked about the finding that the Greens could lose ground they’ve gained in Brisbane and Griffith.
The poll that was out this morning shows the Greens vote is up right across the country. And you can see why, with even the government now adopting Greens policies like making price gouging illegal, the people who put together that poll also have made it clear themselves that those polls don’t always do a terrific job of telling you what’s going to happen in these seats where the Greens have MPs or are on the verge of winning.
Bandt said the result from Western Australia where the party picked up three extra seats for a total of four suggests people are increasingly responsive to the Greens’ pitch.
Bandt says ‘another day, another Greens policy adopted’ by Albanese after Labor’s price-gouging pledge
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, says he was getting ready to go for a run on Sunday morning when he heard Labor was adopting a plan to outlaw price gouging by supermarkets – and he was happy about it.
Another day and another Greens policy that the prime minister has adopted. Their first step is to say no and then they adopt them. And we take that as a really good sign.
Bandt says the Greens have already introduced a bill to parliament that defines price gouging.
It’s about when these supermarkets are abusing their power and ripping off customers. That’s basically what it boils down to. And other countries have laws that can that say really clearly when supermarkets are just abusing their power and ripping off customers, then they should be fined for it.
The Greens leader says that any fine should “depend on the size of how much they’re ripping people off”.
These supermarkets are making billions of dollars of profits. The fines do need to be high to make sure that the supermarkets listen. But even more than that, what the Greens want to see is the supermarkets know that they could be broken up as well if they keep on abusing shoppers and abusing their market power, that’s where the penalty should be.
Josh Butler
Dutton and Bowen make moves in Fowler
The Dutton campaign has landed in Fowler, in western Sydney, at an Assyrian cultural festival in Fairfield. There’s been a funny encounter with the energy minister, Chris Bowen, whose electorate of McMahon we were just visiting.
The two men joined up in a procession of musicians and dancers, standing together slightly awkwardly as the procession moved on.
The seat is held by independent Dai Le, who won it off Labor at the last election, and Anthony Albanese would dearly love to win it back with their candidate Tu Le.
The Liberals don’t really have much shot of winning, but we’re told Dutton was invited here by Dai Le – whose support he would probably need if he was in a position to try to cobble together a minority government.
There’s a lot of colour and movement here, with dancers, music, lots of food and kids’ entertainment. Dutton joined Liberal senator Dave Sharma here, and they were surrounded by dancers and musicians as part of a procession toward the stage, where Dutton will soon speak.
Dutton campaign now in electorate of FOWLER, at an Assyrian community festival – also here are NSW premier Chris Minns, and energy minister Chris Bowen, and they’re all now in a procession surrounded by dancers and music
Bit going on here pic.twitter.com/GUYXL2iNyc
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) March 30, 2025
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, is here too. More to come shortly.
Trump’s tariffs threat hang over Australian economy
The Reserve Bank is expected to leave rates on hold at its next meeting despite the expected negative impact of more US tariffs on Australia’s economic growth.
US President Donald Trump’s promised “liberation day” is coming next Wednesday, threatening to add a unpredictable wildcard in to the election campaign, particular given the number of Australian mortgage holders hoping to for interest rates to fall.
The Reserve Bank’s cash rate decision meeting usually ranks as the biggest economic event of any given week.
But with most analysts and the market confident of no change, all eyes turn to Washington where the biggest round yet of tariffs imposed on American imports is set to be announced on Wednesday, US time.
Australian steel and aluminium producers have already been hit by 25 per cent tariffs, but so-called reciprocal levies could impact all export industries if Trump follows through on his threat to treat Australia’s 10 per cent goods and services tax as a trade impediment.
– AAP
Brisbane city council blocks plans for fridge-sized communities batteries over loss of green space
The Brisbane city council has stymied a federal government renewable energy scheme by denying three development applications for community batteries the size of a fridge due to loss of green space.
The PowerShaper XL batteries, which range in capacity between 90kW and 180kWh, are about the size of an NBN or traffic signal box – or a fridge.
But development applications for three sites, at an old Scouts Hall in Nundah, a substation in Newmarket and the Penley Street end of Woodbine Street in the Gap, were denied by Brisbane city council. All up, the trio would cost about $2.24m.
The batteries were funded through the commonwealth’s $200m communities batteries for household solar program.
Energy Queensland won federal grant funding for batteries in 12 communities, including other Brisbane suburbs. It has approval to install them in Coorparoo and Moorooka.
The civic cabinet chair for environment, parks and sustainability, Tracy Davis, a former LNP MP, said the council does not support “plonking giant batteries in public parks”.
For more on this report, read the full story by Guardian Australia’s Andrew Messenger:
Schools closed, freight affected by Queensland rains
Crisafulli says freight routes are affected and information is being communicated on different platforms. He says six schools are closed, along with 12 early learning centres.
The premier says there is a “real prospect” of homes being inundated in some areas, so residents are urged to be cautious and not to get complacent.
He says 20 residents of Jundah have been evacuated and taken to Longreach, with only a few residents remaining in the town.
We have community recovery staff who will be on the ground tomorrow in Longreach and it will be a hub that opens from Tuesday morning and we will make sure they will continue to hubs throughout the region as communities get back on their feet. We have put a lot of health staff into these different communities to make sure that we are able to provide those services as well.
Impact of flooding significant, Crisafulli says
People have lost everything and the impact on business and agriculture from flooding across Queensland is significant, the Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, says.
The premier is giving an update on the situation in his state as rain begins to ease on Sunday.
Crisafulli says that “due to the volume of water that is in many of the catchments, a number of communities are yet to see the worst of the flooding event”.
Flood warnings are currently in place for several rivers and catchments, including Cooper Creek, the Balloo River, the Warrego, the Paroo River and the Warrego. The Thompson and Mary River river peaked overnight.
Crisafulli says there are over 140 state-owned roads that are out of action, which is an improvement on the 160 that were closed by floodwater as of 11am this morning.
Australia can’t afford to host Cop, Dutton says
The Opposition has promised to build nuclear power stations, more gas and and fast-tracked coal and gas projects, but has not committed Australia to host a future Cop on the issue of climate change – a key demand of Pacific Island nations during the Albanese government’s efforts to re-engage. The question is whether the Coalition “can be taken seriously in the Pacific” given this.
Dutton says Australia can’t afford this right now:
This morning I saw Albanese catching up with an elderly lady and I hope he told her, she is struggling with the cost-of-living prices under Labor but the government is planning to spend tens of tens of billions of taxpayer dollars on hosting a Cop process that will not bring down power prices and will sign a Labor government up to giving tens or hundreds of millions of dollars out to third party countries.
And that’s a wrap.
In an extended response on cost-of-living pressures, Dutton refuses to give a dollar figure for how much he thinks Australians will save under the Coalition’s gas plan.
Instead, he accused the government of “choking off” the supply of gas to the east coast. As mentioned previously, groups like The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) have done considerable work on this which shows issues with supply and prices of gas on Australia’s east coast are tied to the start of export of Australian natural gas.
But Dutton goes further, saying that if the factory where he is giving a press conference closes, “it is a disaster for the local economy”.
Because it affects not just the, you know, the workers directly here but it’s also the, you know, the local residents who work in associated industries.
This concern for the future of Australian manufacturing is interesting, given that it was the Abbott Coalition government that oversaw the closure of the Australian car industry and the closure of the Holden factory – events that had nothing to do with the price of gas.
