Australia election 2025 live: rental affordability plunges in new survey; Trump says he ‘will be talking’ to Australian PM
Key events
Housing crisis has never been worse – Anglicare
The affordability of rental properties has dropped, according to the latest snapshot survey complied by Anglicare Australia, and it paints a bleak picture of the rental market.
The quick findings of the survey (which looks at 51,238 rental listings) found that:
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352 rentals (0.7%) were affordable for a person earning a full-time minimum wage.
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165 rentals (0.3%) were affordable for a person on the age pension.
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28 rentals (0.1%) were affordable for a person on the disability support pension.
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Three rentals (0%), all rooms in sharehouses, were affordable for a person on jobseeker.
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No rentals were affordable for a person on youth allowance.
The results come at the tail-end of an election cycle where both the major parties have been silent on rental issues.
Anglicare Australia’s executive director, Kasy Chambers, said:
Australia’s housing crisis is the worst it has ever been.
We keep hearing that this election is about living costs, but housing is the biggest cost facing Australians. The housing crisis is climbing the income ladder, and people on lowest incomes don’t stand a chance.
She said there were 74 electorates in Australia without a single affordable rental for someone on the minimum wage.
Chambers called for capital gains tax and negative gearing deductions for new investors to be phased out over 10 years.
Instead of spending billions on tax breaks for investors, the government should be building the housing we need.
If the next parliament fails to take action, this crisis will only get worse.
Trump says he ‘will be talking’ to Australian PM
Donald Trump has confirmed he’s aware that Anthony Albanese is keen to talk to him about tariffs – and says he’s planning to place a call.
The US president made the comments while leaving the White House today. Asked by a reporter if he would be “speaking to the prime minister of Australia at all”, Trump responded:
They are calling and I will be talking to him.
Ask Me Anything podcast election special
In this special Ask Me Anything edition, our political reporter Krishani Dhanji and economics editor Patrick Commins give you the answers you need on everything from energy policy to where the prime minister should live and how your preferences work.
Listen here:
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Krishani will take the reins.
Anthony Albanese has congratulated Canada’s newly elected prime minister, Mark Carney, who rode a wave of anti-Donald Trump sentiment in the country to win a comeback victory for his Liberal party. One political strategist says this morning that he will be watching the results closely to see how the Trump factor affects Australia – whether it’s a drift against the kind of rightwing policies championed by Peter Dutton’s Coalition or whether the trend away from the two major parties is reversed as voters “seek security”. More coming up.
Albanese will address the National Press Club in Canberra today as he continues with his campaign amid another poll – this time in the Nine newspapers – showing him comfortably ahead by 53-47 on a two-party preferred basis. Dutton, meanwhile, begins his day in Melbourne.
One key issue on the campaign has been housing and the crisis in the sector is “the worst it’s ever been”, a leading charity has warned as it urges governments to step up and build. Fewer than one in 100 full-time workers on the minimum wage can afford places to rent, the annual rental affordability snapshot for Anglicare Australia has found. Also today we’re expecting the latest inflation data.
