MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia’s rival political leaders offered Sunday competing policies to help Australians buy a home ahead of the nation’s first federal election in which younger voters will outnumber the long-dominant baby boomer generation.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton officially launched their parties’ campaigns ahead of the May 3 elections.
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Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton, left, meets former Prime Ministers Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison, right, at his party's coalition campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Mick Tsikas/Pool Photo via AP)
Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton gestures as he speaks at his party's coalition campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton gestures as he speaks at his party's coalition campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton gestures as he speaks at his party's coalition campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton, right, stands with his wife, Kirilly Brumby, and children, Rebecca, Harry and Tom following his party's coalition campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton gestures as he speaks at his party's coalition campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton gestures as he speaks at his party's coalition campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton waves after speaking during his party's campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton waves after speaking during his party's campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Helping aspiring homeowners buy into a national real estate market in which prices are high and supply is constrained due to inflation, builders going broke, shortages of materials and a growing population was central to both campaigns.
“Buying a first home has never been easy, but for this generation, it’s never felt further out of reach,” Albanese told his supporters in the west coast city of Perth.
“In Australia, home ownership should not be a privilege you inherit if you’re lucky. It should be an aspiration that Australians everywhere can achieve,” he added.
The governing center-left Labor Party promised Sunday 10 billion Australian dollars ($6.3 billion) in grants and loans to build 100,000 new homes over eight years exclusively for first-homebuyers, who would only have to pay a 5% deposit instead of the current minimum 20%, with the government paying the remainder.
Dutton’s conservative Liberal Party promised to ease demand for housing by banning foreign investors and temporary residents from buying existing homes for two years while reducing immigration and foreign student numbers.
First-time homebuyers would also be able to claim a tax deduction on mortgage interest payments for new homes, Dutton said.
“Today, I bring a message of hope to all Australians seeking to own a home of their own. I will be a prime minister who restores the dream of homeownership,” Dutton told an audience in Sydney, on the east coast.
The focus on younger Australians’ struggle to buy or even rent a home reflects a political reality that the majority of voters in Australia are no longer baby boomers, who have for decades been the dominant demographic typically defined as born between the end of World War II and 1964.
Generation X — who followed the boomers— Millennials and Generation Z constitute just over 50% of the voters in this election.
Voting is compulsory in Australia so voter turnout is high across all age groups.
A report from Melbourne’s Monash University last week found Millennial voters and younger were most concerned with housing, jobs, climate change and health services.
The government has accused the opposition of planning to slash public sector jobs and services by mimicking Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency in the United States.
Opposition senator Jacinta Nampijnpa Price said she was not referencing U.S. President Donald Trump when she told supporters on Saturday her administration would “make Australia great again.”
Price, who would be responsible for reducing the size of the federal public service by more than 20% if her coalition got elected, told reporters she didn’t recall using the words reminiscent of the Republicans' “Make America Great Again” slogan.
“If I said that, I didn’t even realize that I said that. But no, I’m an Australian. I want to ensure that we get Australia back on track,” she said.
Albanese on Sunday accused his opponents of “wanting to copy from overseas.”
“Why on Earth would we try to mimic anywhere else? We don’t want a wages system where people have to rely on tips to make ends meet,” Albanese said, referring to the U.S.
“We don’t want Australian students burdened by a lifetime of debt. And we never, ever, ever want an American-style health system in this country,” he added.
Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton, left, meets former Prime Ministers Tony Abbott and Scott Morrison, right, at his party's coalition campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Mick Tsikas/Pool Photo via AP)
Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton gestures as he speaks at his party's coalition campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton gestures as he speaks at his party's coalition campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton gestures as he speaks at his party's coalition campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton, right, stands with his wife, Kirilly Brumby, and children, Rebecca, Harry and Tom following his party's coalition campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton gestures as he speaks at his party's coalition campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton gestures as he speaks at his party's coalition campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton waves after speaking during his party's campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
Australian Liberal Party and opposition leader Peter Dutton waves after speaking during his party's campaign launch ahead of the May 3 federal election in western Sydney, Australia, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
