Good morning everyone - this is Cait Kelly and I will be with you for the next few hours. Let’s go through the big headlines:
Polls are now open in Dunkely, in Melbourne’s outer south-east. This byelection has been billed as a temperature check for the government - Opposition leader Peter Dutton has argued a swing of more than 3% would be bad news for the PM.
Labor holds the seat by a 6.3% margin, with community leader Jodie Belyea fighting to retain it.
In other news, around 100 protesters clashed with police in Sydney last night ahead of Mardi Gras celebrations tonight. The heightened tensions follow the decision to allow police to march in tonight’s parade. The community is still mourning the deaths of Jesse Baird, 26, and Luke Davies, 29.
And my colleague Henry Belot has the exclusive this morning on Cricket Australia being paid to promote the “surrogate” of a controversial offshore gambling company that is banned by several nations and accused of accepting bets on children’s sport, cockfights and promoting topless casinos. You can read more here.
Anthony Albanese, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Labor candidate Jodie Belyea officially opened the Peta Murphy Breast Imaging Suite at Frankston Hospital on Saturday, AAP has reported.
The suite is named in honour of former Labor MP and member for Dunkley, Peta Murphy, whose death in December 2023 after a four-year battle with breast cancer triggered the by-election.
Albanese revealed the government will spend $1.5 million to accelerate the creation of a national registry for metastatic cancers, those which have spread to other parts of the body. He said:
When it comes to cancer, the more we know, the better our understanding.
That’s the key to better treatment and, ultimately, better outcomes for Australians with cancer.
The coalition has preselected Frankston mayor Nathan Conroy, with Peter Dutton also turning up in the seat on Friday, promising locals a significant rail upgrade if his party wins the next federal election.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is speaking from Dunkley with Labor candidate Jodie Belyea.
She advocated for the amazing sporting facilities where we held yesterday’s press conference so young people could get access to the opportunity that comes through that.
She was a strong supporter of education, including of TAFE and Jodie is someone who attended Chisholm TAFE where I drove past today, an extraordinary facility. It has been made better by having fee-free TAFE, where 350,000 Australians have got the chance to get a trade, to get support in the care sector as a child care worker or aged care worker, to get a start in life or to get a restart in life.