Morning everyone. On your marks … get set … go!? Anthony Albanese is expected to fire the starting gun on the election campaign this morning, with 3 May the date on everyone’s lips.
Last night Peter Dutton pumped the gas pedal as he revved the Coalition engine for the election, with a policy package that focused on energy and migration (with a lot of public servants losing their jobs).
Plus, the $1bn annual cost of fighting fire ants, why heads haven’t yet rolled in Washington over the Signal fiasco, and the world according to Jackson Irvine’s tattoos.
Australia
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Exclusive | Australian households will spend $1.03bn every year to suppress fire ants and cover related medical and veterinary costs, with about 570,800 people needing medical attention and 30 likely deaths from the invasive pest’s stings, new modelling shows.
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Sliding doors | Peter Dutton has vowed to establish a gas reservation scheme that will lower prices, and to sack all 41,000 federal public servants hired under Anthony Albanese, if he wins an election he billed as a “sliding doors moment” for the nation. Labor says Dutton’s plans to slash the public service will mean longer wait times for social service payments: read this explainer on what it all means. And economists say Dutton’s pledge to cut petrol duty won’t save drivers as much as he’s saying.
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Fish fury | Labor’s grassroots environment action network described as “frustrating and disappointing” the new law that the government rushed through parliament this week to protect salmon farming in Tasmania.
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Islamophobia row | A coalition of Muslim and Palestinian organisations have rejected a push by universities to adopt a new definition of Islamophobia, arguing it would “shield” the institutions from criticism of their contentious new antisemitism definition.
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Exclusive | Metro Trains staff in Melbourne have appealed to the owners of a fare-dodging ginger cat to come forward after it hitched a ride to the CBD on the 6.05 from St Albans yesterday.
World
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Senator demand | American senators from across the aisle have joined forces to demand that the Pentagon investigate the scandal over how a senior American journalist was added to a Signal app group chat in which top government figures shared details of US airstrikes in Yemen at the weekend. However, it is still seen as unlikely that Donald Trump will fire Mike Waltz, or anyone else involved in the now-infamous group chat. Follow developments in the story here. We also profile Jeffrey Goldberg, the journalist at the heart of the story, and look at how the Signal fiasco raises questions about cabinet accountability.
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Egypt sinking | Six Russian tourists have died and 39 people have been rescued after a 44-seater tourist submarine sank off the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada.
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Flight ‘collapse’ | Airline travel between Canada and the US is “collapsing” amid Donald Trump’s tariff war, with flight bookings between the two countries down by more than 70%. Shares in global carmakers have fallen after Trump announced a 25% tariff on all car imports. More disruption comes from the health department, where Robert F Kennedy Jr plans to cut 10,000 staff.
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Tax test | Rachel Reeves, the UK chancellor, might have to tax pensions and other wealth assets if the economy continues to struggle this year, a watchdog has warned.
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Monster moment | A babysitter in Kansas who was asked by a child to check for monsters under their bed was stunned to discover a man hiding there, police have said.
Full Story
Newsroom edition: is Australia in denial about Trump?
Bridie Jabour talks to editor-in-chief Lenore Taylor, head of newsroom Mike Ticher and deputy editor Patrick Keneally about text leaks, tariffs and Trump’s looming threat.
Newsroom Edition: is Australia in denial about Trump?
In-depth
The federal election will be a battle of the suburbs, the treasurer (pictured) has told us in an exclusive interview, declaring Labor’s budget and economic plan is focused squarely on the outer suburban areas which may decide the next prime minister. Hear the full interview on our podcast.
Not the news
Life is one long learning process, as they say, and it can take time to learn about our own strengths and weaknesses. The author Jessie Cole (pictured) writes about how she was 36 before she realised she was an introvert and how that helped her navigate relationships in a family where extroverts and introverts were always paired.
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Sport
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Football | Our brilliant cartoonist David Squires has surpassed himself today by telling the story of Jackson Irvine’s career through the medium of the Socceroo’s tattoo sleeve.
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Formula One | Red Bull have dropped Liam Lawson after just two races and replaced him with Yuki Tsunoda from their sister team, RB, for next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
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Cricket | Peter Lever, the English pace bowler who played five out of seven Tests as England won the Ashes in Australia in 1970-71, has died aged 84.
Media roundup
The prospect of an election being called this morning dominates most of the papers, while there’s also mopping up of what the Age calls the vision of “Australian carnage” articulated in Peter Dutton’s budget reply. The disgraced former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith is trying to reopen the appeal of his defamation case, the Sydney Morning Herald says. The outbreak of melioidosis outbreak has claimed two more lives in Cairns after the wettest March ever in far north Queensland, the Post said. But rain is good news in Darwin, the NT News reports, where the main river dam is now overflowing thanks to the return of the monsoon.
What’s happening today
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Media | The findings of two historic ACMA investigations into the Kyle & Jackie O show expected to be released.
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Courts | Sentencing for Kristian White over Taser death of an elderly woman at a nursing home.
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Victoria | Protests expected as Avalon air show opens to the public.
Sign up
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Brain teaser
And finally, here are the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.