Federal election 2025 LIVE updates: Dutton comes out swinging, says Australians ‘worse off’ under Labor as PM announces May 3 election date

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton gave his budget reply speech last night before the election was called early today.

In the latest edition of this masthead’s Inside Politics podcast, senior columnist and host Jacqueline Maley, chief political correspondent David Crowe, and senior economics correspondent Shane Wright dissected Dutton’s speech.

The Liberal leader traversed wide territory, from reviving industry that was a hallmark of the Australian economy some 50 years ago, to his pitch that Australia was in a “sliding doors” moment. A notable absence was any talk of his nuclear energy plans, and instead, it was all about gas.

Dutton showed a lighter side too, commenting his wife was just as likely to be watching the reality TV show Married At First Sight as his own speech.

But are Dutton’s serious pitches, serious? What were the policies behind the plans? And will it all be drowned out by the election announcement anyway?

Listen to Inside Politics below to hear our reporters’ take.