Australian news and politics live: PM rejects Dutton’s new child sex offender scheme, backing existing system

Anthony Albanese has warned his colleagues and voters not to make any assumptions about the election result despite Labor pulling ahead in the polls with two weeks to go in the campaign, harking back to the party’s shock loss in 2019.

Early voting begins on Tuesday and the latest polling shows Labor consolidating a lead over the Coalition, with Newspoll on Monday putting its primary vote above 2022 levels.

However, pollsters and party insiders on both sides warn that this election, more than ever, will be a seat-by-seat prospect and the national two-party preferred indicator may not reflect the final result.

The Prime Minister had a cautionary tale ready to roll when asked about the polls on Monday morning: remember 2019.

Campaigning for the first time in the NSW South Coast seat of Gilmore – which was Labor’s most marginal seat after the 2022 election, won by just 373 votes – Mr Albanese cast his mind back to Scott Morrison’s “miracle” victory in an election that everyone from party insiders to pollsters to bookies to Coalition staffers expected Bill Shorten to win.

“There’s no complacency from my camp. I assure you of that, and this election is certainly up for grabs,” he said.

“There is one word that I will say . . It’s a year: 2019.

“I remind colleagues that 2019, the bookies paid out (on a Labor win). And guess what? That didn’t occur. That was a very unwise thing to do.”

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has stressed he will not promote “Russian propaganda” while denying his Government is underplaying reports Moscow requested access to an Indonesia Air Force base 1,300km north of Darwin.

Russia’s alleged moves on Australia’s doorstep became a wildcard election issue last week when respected defence journal Janes reported Moscow asked Jakarta to station “long range” military aircraft at the Manuhua Air Force Base in the province of Papua.

The Coalition is ramping up pressure on Labor to reveal what it knew and when about the reported proposal but the Government and Indonesian authorities have only confirmed Russian warplanes will not enter the base, not whether a request was made.

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faced angry protesters during a visit to Batemans Bay in the ultra-marginal NSW seat of Gilmore, with one woman unleashing a fiery tirade over housing conditions.

As Mr Albanese spoke at a local health clinic, demonstrators outside voiced frustrations over housing, AUKUS, and hospital funding.

“We want our homes fixed, we want the government to intervene clean it up so indigenous people and non-indigenous people have nice clean houses. Our children are neglected, this is disgusting. Where’s Albanese? Where is he?” One protestor shouted.

She later cited mushrooms growing in her home as emblematic of substandard housing.

Police monitored the group as the PM campaigned in the key Labor-held seat.

The Prime Minister says there is “no room for complacency” in the Labor camp after the latest Newspoll added to a voting trend in his party’s favour.

New polling released on Sunday revealed Labor remained ahead of the Opposition 52 to 48 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis.

“There’s no complacency from my camp. I assure you of that. And this election is certainly up for grabs,” he said, referring to 2019, when bookies and polls showed Labor on track to win but the Coalition seized victory in the final week.

“People will start voting tomorrow. And so I do find it rather perplexing that the coalition don’t have policies out there, and when they do their policies which, seemingly, for example, are unaware of the National Child offender system,” he says.

“They’re unaware of so many things and that they still have not been anywhere near a nuclear reactor site. They say this is front and centre of their energy policy, but Peter Dutton will not go anywhere near one of these sites.”

The Prime Minister has denied the Government are underplaying the seriousness of reports that Russia requested access to an Indonesian Air Force base, 1,300km north of Darwin.

Mr Albanese then repeatedly turned the focus back on Coalition Leader Peter Dutton’s “mistake” that the Indonesian President had confirmed the request when he had not.

Jakarta has since said it will not be offering Moscow access to its military facilities but the issue has remained at the forefront of the election campaign, with the Coalition demanding a Government briefing about what it knew and when.

Labor has refused to confirm whether the request was actually made, even if it was denied.

The PM evaded several questions on whether he can clarify whether Russia made an approach to Indonesia.

“What I do know is that last week, the alternative Prime Minister of Australia, verballed the president of Indonesia, by saying that he had made a statement which he had not,” he said of Peter Dutton.

“The Indonesian President didn’t make a statement. What has occurred here is that the alternative Prime Minister of Australia has verballed the president of one of our most important neighbours.

“That is the issue here and the coalition will try to raise a range of other issues. They raise issues about briefings. I’m waiting for them to ask for a briefing on who faked the moon landing.”

The PM is asked if he will match the Coalition’s proposed national child sex offender disclosure scheme.

He says there is already a national child defender system right now that his government put in place to enable cooperation across the board between jurisdictions.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton today vowed to “stand up” to “crime gangs” if elected, announcing a $750m package to tackle criminal activity, as the Coalition seeks to portray itself as the party of law and order.

The “Operation Safer Communities” plan would implement a national drug strike team and a 12-month pilot of a National Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme to allow parents to find out whether an adult who interacts with their child is a convicted sex offender.

Mr Albanese says his government is already tough on crime.

“My government will respond positively to any request from police or security agencies, as we have done,” he says.

“My government, as the first government to set up a National Firearms register that didn’t exist before in some states,” he adds.

“My government is acting on all of these issues in accordance with advice,” he says.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has kicked of the penultimate week of campaigning at an urgent care clinic in Batemans Bay.

Mr Albanese opens by offering condolences to the families of six people who drowned over the Easter weekend in a series of accidents.

“Australians love the water. We love the surf. I’m one of those. But please, everyone, be careful. Families, in particular, to be careful,” he says.

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton will head into a critical penultimate week of the election campaign, with the Coalition still struggling to make up lost ground.

New polling released on Sunday revealed Labor remained ahead of the Opposition 52 to 48 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis.

Labor’s primary vote had also increased by one point to 34 per cent and was now at its highest since January this year, while the Coalition’s dropped by 0.7 per cent to 35 per cent.

For the Opposition Leader, the lacklustre polling comes ahead of the next election debate on Tuesday, with the clash coinciding with the beginning of pre-polling.

About a third of all voters are expected to vote ahead of the official May 3 poll, which is just 12 days away.

After a relaxed weekend of campaigning from both party leaders, Mr Dutton announced a $750m pledge to tackle crime, with the funding covering a 12-month pilot of a National Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme, plus boosting drug screening and detection capabilities.

The package will also enforce national “post and boast” laws which criminalise sharing criminal activity on social media, with proposed penalties including a maximum two-year ban from social media.

While Labor did not make a significant announcement overnight, the Prime Minister announced on Saturday that a re-elected Labor government would protect penalty rates through legislation, with the policy affecting about 3 million workers across retail, admin and banking sectors.

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce says Australia’s concerns over Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s personality are “unfortunate”, claiming he is a “very decent human being”.

“(Peter Dutton) is a very decent man who’s trying to do the right thing by his nation,” Mr Joyce told Sunrise.

“Your perception through television is not the perception I get when I actually...by actually knowing him.

“He is a very decent human being.

“A lot of people haven’t made up their minds. Any person who thinks this election is in the bag on either side is sadly misled.”

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce have fronted up and responded to new poll findings that revealed Australian voters’ top concerns with voting for Labor or the Coalition in the May 3 Federal election.

The Resolve Strategic poll found Aussie’s top concern with voting for Labor was their lack of action to address the cost-of-living crisis, at 47 per cent, while the biggest concern with voting for the Coalition was Peter Dutton’s personality, 45 per cent.

“About 30 per cent of people still haven’t made up their minds and early voting starts tomorrow,” Ms Plibersek told Sunrise.

“We will have to continue right through this campaign to remind people of the difference between Labor and the Liberals. We want your wages to go up, and we’re bringing taxes down.

“Peter Dutton wants your wages to come down and he wants your wages to come down and he wants to push taxes back up.”