Federal election 2025: Anthony Albanese, Peter Dutton descend on Brisbane as campaigns hit full speed

Brisbane is the focus of the first weekend of the election campaign, with the leaders of all three major parties wrangling for seats lost to the Greens in 2022.

The rush to the rain-soaked Queensland capital is a reminder that every vote counts in this year’s closely fought election, with polls consistently showing a minority-led government or even a hung parliament.

The city produced a surprise breakthrough for the Greens in 2022, when it stole the seat of Griffith from Labor and the seats of Brisbane and Ryan from the Coalition, and both major parties hope to claw back enough support to reinstall their candidates.

The Greens hold Ryan by 2.6 per cent, Brisbane by 3.7 per cent and Griffith by 10.5 per cent and all three parties are throwing resources at the inner-city seats to pave their path to power.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who launched his bid for the nation’s top office in the rain-soaked Queensland capital on Friday, reinforced his party’s economic promises to struggling families and businesses on Sunrise on Saturday morning.

“We’ve got to help people in the short term,” Mr Dutton said, contrasting the Coalition’s pitch to offer an immediate 25 cent a litre reduction in fuel to Labor’s tax top up of $0.70 a day in 2026.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who arrived in Brisbane on Friday with the travelling press corps, is also expected to campaign in the city on Saturday.

Labor holds just five of the 30 seats in Queensland and the party hopes to improve on its results to deliver on the Prime Minister’s pledge to form a “major government” in the next parliament.

Greens leader Adam Bandt will also be joining a rally the party says will call for the “urgent need to stop Peter Dutton from becoming Prime Minister and push Labor to act on the cost of living and climate crises.”

Housing affordability and availability will be at the heart of winning votes in the city, particularly among young renters who represent nearly half of voters in the seats of Brisbane and Griffith.

Peter Dutton has drawn a clear link between immigration and housing shortages, pledging to slash the permanent migration intake by 25 per cent to free up homes.

Labor is offering to extend its Help to Buy housing program to help low and middle income earners get their foot on the housing ladder.