Federal election 2025: Anthony Albanese stops by Bundaberg brewery to sip some of Australia’s finest

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese jetted into Bundaberg late Saturday morning to sell his second hot-button election issue of the day - “Buy Australian.” The visit to the Bundaberg Brewed Drinks Brewery comes ahead of the US’s so-called “liberation day” on April 2, when the Labor Government is bracing for a fresh round of punishing tariffs that have the potential to knock its economic messaging off kilter. Mr Albanese earlier this month invoked the phrase “buy Bundy” after US President Donald Trump refused to exempt Australian steel and aluminium from his tariff regime, slapping 25 per cent taxes on Australian products. The PM stressed this would be more constructive than retaliatory tariffs that would fuel domestic inflation. Labor has since launched a $20m campaign to encourage more Australian companies to buy locally made products and support more local manufacturers and producers to get Australian Made certification.

There are currently around 4,500 businesses licensed to carry the Australian Made logo, representing 40,000 jobs and a combined annual revenue of around $8 billion. After a tour of the factory on Saturday and sampling its goods, he raised one of the company’s soft drinks to urge “buy Australian folks, for Australian jobs.” “We want to celebrate what is here, the world’s best ginger beer, and down the road, when you combine it with another Bundy product, the world’s best Dark and Stormy as well,” said Mr Albanese.

He added: “We want to make sure when customers walk into a shop, they know straight away which products are made in Australia. “It’s good for jobs, good for the local community and good for Australia.”

It is feared that a second round of tariffs this week could impose an even more punishing levy on Australia’s agricultural and pharmaceutical sectors.

Details of the new tariff wave under the “Fair and Reciprocal Trade Plan” are still under wraps, but the White House has suggested it will target any rules it considers “unfair.”

This could mean Washington will take aim at several Australian domestic policies, including bio-security rules that govern food imports, and the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

Asked in Brisbane if he was worried US tariffs would target the PBS, undermining his healthcare message ahead of the election, Mr Albanese’s answer was firm.

“We’ve put a very clear message to anyone who’s listening, wherever they are in the world, our PBS is not up for negotiations.” Bundaberg’s Hinkler seat, most recently represented by former LNP member Keith Pitt, is safely held by the Coalition and Mr Albanese’s message was targeted at national concerns over external economic shocks and global instability. “Aussie shoppers love to buy Australian products made by Aussie workers where they can,” he said. “They also love the idea that buying Australian helps the country stand on its own two feet.”