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| UpdatedLabor's infrastructure and transport spokesman Anthony Albanese says the Greens' "actual position is to not have an airport in Sydney".
He says that the party's policy is to close Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport while at the same time opposing the new airport at Badgerys Creek, Western Sydney.
Do the Greens really want Sydney to be without an airport? ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: air-transport, government-and-politics, greens, alp, rail-transport, nsw, newtown-2042, sydney-2000, sydney-airport-2020, sydney-international-airport-2020, mascot-2020, badgerys-creek-2171, campbelltown-2560
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On June 8, Labor released its economic policy for the election, which it calls the "10 Year Plan for Australia's Economy".
At the launch, Mr Bowen held up the document and said the plan is "the most comprehensive plan an opposition has released in living memory on our economy".
How does Labor's "10 Year Plan" compare with those of past oppositions? ABC Fact Check finds out.
Topics: budget, economic-trends, alp, chris-bowen, australia
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| UpdatedLabor has announced the policy that it will take to the election on the National Broadband Network, promising to install more fibre across the country than the Coalition's current plan
Opposition communications spokesman Jason Clare says Australia's internet speed has dropped from 30th to 60th in the world under the Coalition.
Is he correct? ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: alp, government-and-politics, information-and-communication, internet-technology, australia
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| UpdatedLabor's 10-year plan for the economy, released a month before the election, says that the Liberals' record on economic management is "in tatters" after three years in government.
"Wages growth is now the lowest it's been since records began," it notes.
Is wages growth the lowest it's been since records began? ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: economic-trends, federal-elections, alp, australia
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| UpdatedOpposition Leader Bill Shorten has confirmed that Labor will not be scrapping the GST on tampons if elected, despite a concerted campaign from the public to do so — a backflip from a previous position.
"In terms of the GST on tampons, in an ideal world we would scrap that. But in order to do that you have to get the concurrence of state premiers," Mr Shorten told a press conference on June 10, 2016.
Fact Check has already tested claims on whether state assent would be needed to change the GST.
Curiously, these claims came from the other side of the political divide — from former treasurer Joe Hockey and former prime minister Tony Abbott, when they still occupied those positions.
Topics: tax, federal-elections, alp
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| UpdatedThe NSW Labor Facebook page has published a graphic showing carbon emissions changes under the Liberals.
They claim that "under the Liberals emissions always go up".
Is that correct? ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: environment, climate-change, environmental-policy, land-clearing, alp, pollution, australia
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| UpdatedLabor frontbencher Anthony Albanese has sought to attack the Coalition's record on spending.
"Spending is higher as a proportion of GDP today than it was under the global financial crisis — higher today," Mr Albanese told Adelaide's FIVEaa radio on May 25, 2016.
Is he correct? ABC Fact Check runs the numbers.
Topics: budget, federal-elections, alp, australia
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| UpdatedLabor has used the second week of the election campaign to highlight the Government's record on health spending.
Opposition health spokeswoman Catherine King said the Liberals had been "a disaster when it comes to health".
"They have cut billions out of public hospitals," she told ABC radio.
ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: health-policy, healthcare-facilities, federal-elections, alp, australia
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| UpdatedOpposition Senate Leader Penny Wong says the Coalition went to the last election "beating their chest" about debt and deficit.
"Well, since that time they've tripled the deficit, tripled it in two years, debt is far higher, about $100 billion higher, than it was when we left office and continuing to rise," she said in an interview on Sky News.
Has the Government tripled the deficit and is debt $100 billion higher than when Labor was in office? ABC Fact Check takes a look.
Topics: budget, federal-elections, alp, australia
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| UpdatedThe Labor Opposition has sought to portray the 2016-17 federal budget as inequitable.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten told the Parliament and the media that the budget is defined by cuts to payments to "working mums" and big tax cuts for people on "$1 million a year".
But does the budget really do that? ABC Fact Check takes a look.
Topics: budget, government-and-politics, welfare, family, children, tax, bill-shorten, alp, australia
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| UpdatedThe Turnbull Government recently agreed with the governments of the states and territories on a $2.9 billion increase in hospital funding over three years from July 2017.
Some leaders say this does not go far enough to "return" funding that was taken away in the 2014 federal budget.
But was the higher funding level ever realistic? ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: health-policy, budget, alp, australia
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| UpdatedIn January, the Federal Opposition announced a 10-year, $37.3 billion education plan.
Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen says that the Opposition has "fully provisioned" for the costs of the plan, based on already announced savings including increased taxes on corporations, superannuation and tobacco.
But how realistic are these savings? And how reliable are 10-year budget projections? ABC Fact Check takes a closer look.
Topics: budget, education, bill-shorten, schools, superannuation, smoking, tax, alp, australia
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| Updated"As long as 2.5 million Australians live below the poverty line, and one out of every four are children ... We cannot say the fair go belongs to all," Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said in a speech on Australia Day, 2015.
Are 2.5 million Australians in poverty, and are a quarter of those Australians children? ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: poverty, welfare, children, bill-shorten, alp, australia
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| UpdatedOpposition Leader Bill Shorten has promised to set new targets to close the "justice gap" between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people if Labor wins the next election.
"We need to deal with what I think is a national disgrace, that is, that a young Aboriginal man of 18 in Australia is more likely to end up in jail than university," he said.
ABC Fact Check investigates the data on Indigenous men in jail and university.
Topics: education, bill-shorten, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, law-crime-and-justice, alp, australia
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| UpdatedOpposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek denies that Labor cut the aid budget when in government.
"We actually doubled the aid budget when we were in government," she told the ABC Radio's AM program.
"This Government has cut $11.3 billion, it's now about 22 cents in every $100 we spend, it's going down to 17 cents."
How do Labor and the Coalition's records compare on foreign aid? ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: foreign-affairs, budget, government-and-politics, alp, australia
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| UpdatedOpposition Leader Bill Shorten says that Australia is lagging behind in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths, known as STEM.
Mr Shorten says Australia ranks poorly with comparable countries on collaboration between industry and universities in these fields.
He also says the 16 per cent of Australian students graduating with STEM qualifications is well below the completion rates for students in countries like China and Singapore.
ABC Fact Check takes a look at Australia's STEM research collaboration and graduation rates, and how they compare with those of other nations.
Topics: university-and-further-education, education, bill-shorten, alp, science-and-technology, australia
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| UpdatedOpposition Leader Bill Shorten has announced a plan to generate 50 per cent of Australia's electricity by renewable energy by 2030.
Mr Shorten has encouraged Australians to install solar panels on their roofs, saying Australia has more solar coverage in terms of per square metre than any other continent in the world.
ABC Fact Check takes a look at how Australia stacks up.
Topics: environment, alp, bill-shorten, government-and-politics, australia
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| UpdatedLabor says it's critical that staff employed in immigration detention facilities are free to speak out when they see something wrong.
But at the same time the party voted for a bill making it a criminal offences for detention centre employees to speak to the media. Labor argues existing whistleblower laws will protect staff, should they speak out on issues of abuse or misconduct.
ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: immigration, federal-government, alp, health-policy, healthcare-facilities
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| UpdatedPopulation growth and the rise in the proportion of jobs located in major cities is putting strain on urban transport networks.
The Opposition Leader says most new jobs are being created in central business districts, far from population growth areas, and that today nine in 10 Australians are spending more than 90 minutes commuting each day.
ABC Fact Check investigates how long we spend travelling to and from work.
Topics: rail-transport, road-transport, transport, population-and-demographics, bill-shorten, alp, australia
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| UpdatedAs iron ore prices plummet and government revenue continues to shrink, there has been much discussion of ways to balance the federal budget and shore up revenue sources into the future.
Superannuation tax concessions, designed to drive retirement savings, are one area of possible reform. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said he thinks current superannuation tax concessions are unfair.
ABC Fact Check takes a look at the superannuation tax system, and who benefits the most.
Topics: tax, government-and-politics, alp, australia
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| UpdatedNSW Labor is seeking to make health a central issue in the state election.
Opposition Leader Luke Foley has announced new nurse-to-patient ratios, and attacked the Baird Government's record on health funding.
Mr Foley says the Government has cut $3 billion from the health budget. ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: government-and-politics, elections, health, alp, nsw
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| UpdatedThe NSW election is shaping up as a referendum on electricity privatisation, with the Coalition Government pushing to sell off the "poles and wires" if it wins the election, and the Labor Opposition running an anti-privatisation campaign.
Opposition Leader Luke Foley says privatisation will push up power prices. He says that in privatised South Australia, electricity bills are the highest in the country.
ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: government-and-politics, elections, privatisation-and-deregulation, alp, nsw
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| UpdatedOpposition Leader Bill Shorten is anticipating a fight with the Abbott Government over the minimum wage. Mr Shorten told ABC radio that the Government believed the minimum wage was killing jobs in Australia, and wanted to reduce it.
But Mr Shorten said the minimum wage is a job creator. ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: industrial-relations, government-and-politics, alp, bill-shorten, australia
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| UpdatedOpposition Leader Bill Shorten has criticised the Government for 'savagely' cutting childcare funding.
"When Labor was last in office we put in a lot of extra resources for child care. Tony Abbott and the Liberal National Government in Canberra cut $1 billion from child care," he said.
So, has the Government cut $1 billion from child care? ABC Fact Check investigates.
Topics: government-and-politics, child-care, alp, bill-shorten, australia
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| UpdatedQueensland Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk has repeatedly criticised the Newman Government for failing to lower the unemployment rate, claiming Queensland's figures are dire.
Ahead of the Queensland election Fact Check takes a look at unemployment in the state.
Topics: government-and-politics, unemployment, alp, qld