Delay means election will almost certainly be held on 3 May, 10 May or 17 May – the latest date for the 2025 poll
The federal government will hand down a budget on 25 March after the threat of Tropical Cyclone Alfred forced Anthony Albanese to shelve any plans for an election announcement.
The prime minister was widely tipped to call the election this weekend for 12 April, allowing Labor to avoid a pre-ballot budget that is expected to confirm a return to deficit.
But as residents in south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales brace for Tropical Cyclone Alfred to make landfall on Saturday morning, Albanese on Friday night ruled out firing the starters’ gun on the campaign on either Sunday or Monday.
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It means the election will almost certainly be held on 3 May, 10 May or 17 May – the latest date for the 2025 poll – given the other April options coincide with the Easter and Anzac Day long weekends.
“I have no intention of doing anything that distracts from what we need to do,” Albanese told ABC’s 7.30 program.
“And what we need to do is to look after each other at this difficult time. This is not a time for looking at politics.”
Albanese had until the close of business on Monday to call an election for 12 April to allow for a minimum 33-day campaign.
Visiting the Governor-General this weekend would have meant cancelling the 25 March budget, which is expected the confirm the commonwealth’s finances are back in the red after back-to-back surpluses, and instead handing down a budget statement.
Albanese could have still avoided the budget, which requires recalling federal parliament, by calling the election prior to 25 March and staging a longer-than-usual campaign.
However, senior Labor sources confirmed the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will hand down the budget as planned on 25 March.
The budget will now be the launch pad for government’s re-election campaign, giving Chalmers and Albanese the spotlight to sell Labor’s vision.
“We announced last year that we’d produce a budget on 25 March – that certainly is my clear intention,” Albanese said, adding it remained the government’s “intention” to serve a full-term, meaning a 17 May election.
Chalmers, who has spent the past few days preparing for Cyclone Alfred in his electorate on the outskirts of Brisbane, welcomed Albanese’s decision to hold off on calling an election.
“Thanks @AlboMP,” Chalmers posted on X.
“This is the right call and very important. Our focus is on millions of Australians in harm’s way in Queensland and northern NSW, not on the election. We’ll be ready to deliver our fourth responsible budget on 25 March.”
Labor and the Coalition were preparing for the campaign to start this weekend, with operatives on-stand to rush to their parties’ headquarters in Sydney and Parramatta as soon as it was called.