Prime Minister Anthony Albanese officially announces a May 3 federal election, with Labor focusing on cost of living and stability.

Australia’s federal election will be taking place on May 3 announced Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. With the words, "Ready to go, You bet, Born ready" the prime minister formally began a five-week federal election campaign that seemed to have been going on for five months.

On May 3, Australians will pick up their ballots and democracy sausages, setting the stage for a little more than a month of messaging in which Labor is expected to concentrate on two main themes which are cost of living and stability, according to Probyn.

Tuesday shared the budget and the passing of Labor's $17 billion tax cuts through parliament the next day. At dawn, Albanese takes away most of the attention from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's budget reply address last night.

This election makes the major parties' policy differences quite clear compared to 2022 when Labor was running a very careful campaign.

From July 1, 2026, the Labor Party will introduce two modest tax cuts for all taxpayers while concentrating on continuing the expansion and rollout of renewable energy sources and using some gas to stabilize supplies.

Meanwhile, the Coalition has pledged to greatly increase gas supplies to meet the energy gap before its fleet of nuclear reactors comes on-stream more than ten years from now.

Within a few days, Australia is to choose its leader in a world of energy and economic uncertainty, with both parties now gearing up for a month-long campaign.