Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to announce the federal election on Friday, with polling day slated for early May, according to sources from the Labor party. There has been speculation in Canberra that Albanese might visit the governor general on Friday or Sunday to seize the momentum from Tuesday’s federal budget and divert attention from Peter Dutton’s budget reply speech on Thursday night.

Multiple senior Labors sources have expressed the expected announcement of the election for Friday, with some not ruling out such a move. The timing appears aimed at offsetting Dutton’s budget reply speech, during which the opposition leader is to elaborate on his alternative vision for the country.

Albanese is likely to call for an election on either May 3, May 10, or May 17, with May 3 being the most anticipated date. As per his statement on Thursday morning, “it’ll be called pretty imminently”.

Figure [a link to related content] – Coalition vows to undo Labor’s budget tax cut if it wins the election and temporarily halve the fuel excise

Albanese confirmed that he will not announce the election today, but it will happen soon, speaking to Triple M radio. This anticipation comes after the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet’s brief and accidental publication, followed by quick deletion, of a post on X indicating the government’s shift to caretaker conventions, “pending the outcome of the 2025 federal election”. The government officially enters the caretaker mode after parliament dissolution, which has not yet taken place. The mentioned post was reportedly published due to a mistake and removed shortly after its appearance.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/27/pm-expected-to-call-australian-election-2025-for-may-poll