Everyday Australians mark cost of living as top priority, as Albanese and Dutton chase WA and QLD votes By
As the ink dries on the federal government's pre-election budget filled with sweeteners for voters, Western Australia and Queensland are emerging as the states that will yet again decide who forms government.
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00:00 The battleground states of WA and Queensland, where Labor is hoping the lure of tax cuts
00:07 and an energy rebate will help them win a second term.
00:12 Every cent counts, but in the grand scheme of things I don't think it's enough.
00:16 It's better than a kick in the pants, and every little bit helps.
00:22 The Sunshine State's most marginal seat of Dixon is held by would-be Prime Minister Peter
00:28 Dutton, where families are looking for hope.
00:31 I think it's just getting worse as time goes on and I don't know how to actually fix it.
00:36 In WA, in the seat once held by Christian Porter, it's crippling interest rates that's
00:41 hurting the most.
00:43 Hard to survive with the interest rate and the rental properties, it's hard to get nowadays
00:47 and it's very hard.
00:49 Landscape supplier Roger Harris is a swinging voter who backed Labor at the last poll.
00:55 I was OK with that decision at that point. I guess the future will come back to either
01:00 bite me or not.
01:01 He's now in a marginal seat due to a redistribution.
01:05 I think I speak for everybody everywhere with interest rates. They need to be paused.
01:11 There's no magic bullet.
01:13 I think there's always more that can be done, but we don't have the behind the scenes information
01:20 that they do, so we have to trust them.
01:25 There's no doubt that cost of living is the biggest issue for voters.
01:29 The Albanese government has a majority entirely on the back of a record win in WA at the last
01:35 election so the million dollar, or when it comes to budget should we say the billion
01:40 dollar question is, can they do it again?
01:44 Now if there's any return to normality in the west, then Labor will lose seats and lose
01:49 its majority. So it'll be looking elsewhere to gain seats.
01:52 Queensland, where Labor holds just five federal seats.
01:57 Labor would be looking at some regional seats, particularly Leichhardt where Warren Ensch
02:00 is retiring and outer suburban seats on the edges of Brisbane where cost of living issues
02:06 tend to bite.
02:07 Like the opposition leaders electorate, which has a margin of just 1.7%.
02:13 Peter Dutton's been a reliable name in the area for a long time and I could see it staying
02:18 that way.
02:20 Either way there's a long road ahead as leaders try to galvanise support in these battle line
02:26 states.
02:26 [BLANK_AUDIO]