Anthony Albanese is aggressively preparing Labor for the federal election campaign, which begins in early January, by announcing two high-profile candidates for must-win seats in Tasmania.

The Prime Minister also shrugged off the possibility of a clash with Western Australian Premier Roger Cook’s re-election bid.

In a foray into Tasmania on Tuesday, Mr Albanese announced he would leave the federal upper house to contest Senator Anne Urquhart’s seat of Braddon, which the Liberals hold by an 8 per cent margin.

At a separate media conference two hours later he confirmed former state Labor leader Rebecca White would run for Lyons. Labor holds the seat won in 2022 by retired MP Brian Mitchell with a knife-edge margin of 0.3 per cent.

The flurry of pre-campaign announcements is fueling speculation that the government is increasingly reluctant to return to parliament after the summer recess; This will make the next two weeks the last session of this term.

The snap election, which cannot be held much later than 17 May for practical reasons, raises the possibility of a simultaneous campaign with the Western Australia state poll scheduled for 8 March.

Prime Minister Cook told a business breakfast in Perth on Monday that Mr Albanese was seeking legal advice on whether an election date change was possible if it triggered a dual campaign.

“We must be ready for any contingency,” Mr Cook said, according to The Australian newspaper.

Dutton urges Albanese to ‘be open’ about election plans

Mr Albanese told reporters in Tasmania that he had not spoken to Mr Cook about the issue and that the election would be called “April or earlier”.

“The media seems to be obsessed with the election date. I read that the elections will be held in August, September, November and December 7 (which as an option) has probably passed now,” he said.

“The election will be held in 2025, as I have said from the beginning.”

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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said any move by Mr Albanese to hold an election in March or earlier would contradict his previous promises.

“If there is a secret discussion or agreement going on with the WA prime minister, I think the prime minister should be open about it because he has looked the Australian people in the eye before and said he will remain in office for the entire term,” Mr Dutton said. he said.

“If the Prime Minister is proposing to hold an early election in Western Australia that requires moving the March date, he needs to explain why.”

Political figures on both sides say they are ready for an election at any time, but the next real window for Mr Albanese to trigger a campaign opens shortly after Australia Day.

Factors that could influence his decision include the Reserve Bank of Australia’s first interest rate meeting on February 18 followed by a meeting on April 1, whether the budget planned for March 28 will be canceled and the timing of the Easter/Anzac Day school holidays.

Albanians tout electoral reform

The five-week election campaign, called in late January or early February, means the federal election will be held simultaneously in Western Australia, where Labor is desperate to retain the seats it won in the 2022 election.

Waiting until after the state poll could mean canceling the budget for April 12.

In another sign that Labor is quickly clearing the decks to keep its options open, Mr Albanese called on parliament to support reforms that would reduce the electoral influence of very wealthy individuals.

“We’re passionate about election reform because a system where an individual can spend over $100 million, as we’ve seen in the last two elections, I think would be detrimental to democracy,” he said.

Although the changes will not take effect until the next election, Mr Albanese said Private Secretary of State Don Farrell “will have more to say about this in the coming weeks”.

Critics of current election laws point to the outsized influence of figures such as Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes à Court, who helps fund teal independents, and Queensland mining billionaire Clive Palmer.

Mr Palmer spent almost $120 million on public campaigns during the 2022 federal election, resulting in the election of a single MP, Ralph Babet.

A South Australian United Australia Party senator sparked widespread condemnation this week after posting provocative and derogatory insults aimed at people of color, people with disabilities and the LGBT+ community on social media.

Labor is keen to cut such funding, with national secretary Paul Erickson telling a parliamentary committee that the lack of restrictions allows “extremely high net worth individuals, groups and networks to distort the political conversation with levels of advertising”. It was previously unthinkable”.

“The harmful nature of some of these campaigns erodes trust and confidence in our elections and the democratic system,” he said.