The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is expected to call the federal election on Friday for a polling day in early May, according to Labor sources.
Speculation had been rife in Canberra that Albanese could visit the governor general on either Friday or Sunday to capitalise on momentum from Tuesday’s federal budget and draw attention away from Peter Dutton’s budget reply speech on Thursday night.
Several senior Labor sources told Guardian Australia on Thursday afternoon they expected the election to be called on Friday while other sources did not downplay that speculation.
The timing would draw attention away from Dutton’s budget reply speech where the opposition leader will further detail his alternative vision for the country.
Albanese could seek to call an election for either 3, 10 or 17 May – with the earliest date the more widely anticipated. The prime minister said on Thursday morning “it’ll be called pretty imminently”.
“I can confirm that I’m not calling it today, but I will call it soon,” he told Triple M radio.
The growing expectation came as the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet briefly published, then quickly deleted, a post on X stating that the government was “now operating in accordance with caretaker conventions, pending the outcome of the 2025 federal election”.
The government enters caretaker mode after the parliament is dissolved, which has not yet happened.
Guardian Australia was told the post was published mistakenly and deleted shortly after it went live.