Australian news and politics live: Albanese deflects campaign lying claims by targeting Dutton’s record

Dr Sophie Scamps, the Sydney MP backed by Climate 200, has apologised to the family of Keith Titmuss, including his mother Lafo, after her remarks linking climate change to health risks drew criticism.

“Of course, if there is any distress or upset… deeply sorry if there is any upset or distress. Our community was heartbroken for their family I must say… love and best wishes and deep apologies if there was any… well sorry, she (Lafo) is upset…” Dr Scamps said while being interviewed on Wednesday morning on 2GB’s Ben Fordham show.

Fordham interjected: “Yeah I was just going to say – you’ve said it a few times ‘if there was any upset’. Clearly she is really, really really upset.” Dr Scamps replied: “Yeah so – deeply sorry for that upset.”

However, the Mackellar MP then added: “I didn’t actually mention the young man by name nor did I say it was directly linked to climate change. The question was – what are doctors worried about with increasing temperatures. There is a concern from doctors all around the world… we had the hottest year on record last year… and the last 10 hottest years have been in the last 10 years. Whatever we have, we have a warming climate. It is very unfortunate that I’ve upset the family but it’s all about even healthy young people… our bodies are not adapted to dealing with humidity.”

When Fordham pressed her on why she hadn’t apologised earlier after the distress was brought to her attention by the Daily Telegraph, Dr Scamps responded: “I don’t have their number… it was great to have this opportunity today to say that I am deeply sorry to the family today.”

Peter Dutton has had a humorous debrief about mistakenly guessing the cost of a dozen eggs.

It was a question posed to him on Channel 7’s leaders debate held on Sunday evening.

The Opposition Leader was asked first and guessed $4.20, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese guessed $7.

Channel 7 presenter and moderator Natalie Barr corrected them both and said it was closer to $8.30.

But it can be higher than that, with eggs marked up to $14.99 at a supermarket Mr Dutton visited in Nowra on Tuesday.

Speaking on Melbourne’s NOVA fm on Wednesday morning, Mr Dutton shared a laugh about the clear fail.

When discussing his debate appearance, the host said: “The bloody price of eggs?”

Mr Dutton jokingly said “that’ll get you”.

“I think maybe we should have written it down on a piece of paper and then compared notes (with Mr Albanese),” he added.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has joked that media shadowing his election campaign “drinking and eating too much on the plane” prompted their bus to get stuck.

While speaking in a light-hearted radio interview on Fox FM on Wednesday, Mr Dutton was asked about the media’s bus delay in central Sydney on Monday morning.

The bus had got stuck on a median strip, with the driver having to wedge plywood under the tyres to free it.

“It’s a media bus, so it’s not… ours but the I just think (they’re) either drinking and eating too much on the plane,” he joked.

“So, there’s extra weight on the bus and that’s the only explanation, otherwise, Murray’s (bus service) is a great company.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has said the Coalition can make communities a safer place during his rounds on breakfast radio in Melbourne.

Speaking to NOVA and Fox FM on Wednesday, he claimed the Coalition were the only party tackling community safety.

“I think particularly in Victoria, people are concerned about crime,” he told NOVA.

“We’re the only party to announce a huge crime policy.

“There are some Australians that we’ve spoken to, particularly in Victoria… a woman who had a machete held to her throat (it’s) completely changed her way of life.”

Mr Dutton declared he wanted to crackdown on gang crime while later speaking with Fox FM.

“We’ve announced a $750 million package. We want to crush the bikie gangs and the gangs that are selling drugs to our kids,” he said.

“I think we can make our communities a safer place.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been forced to deny the foreign minister implied a return to the failed Voice referendum was inevitable.

In an interview with the Betoota Talks podcast, Penny Wong reflected on the 2023 vote saying, “I think we’ll look back on it in 10 years’ time, and it’ll be a bit like marriage equality, don’t you reckon?

“Like I always used to say, marriage equality took us such a bloody big fight to get that done.”

Speaking on ABC Melbourne, Mr Albanese, who ruled out reviving the Voice referendum, said her comments did not refer to an inevitable comeback.

“She didn’t say that. She did not say that. She spoke about how people will look back on what the issues were. That’s very different from saying it’s inevitable,” he insisted.

The PM referred to the Voice as a “modest proposal” that “didn’t receive the support of the Australian people.”

He added: “It was an advisory committee that was non-binding about matters that affect Indigenous Australians. It wasn’t successful.”

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Anthony Albanese reveals his partner Jodie Haydon has “regularly” received unsolicited text messages from Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots, although the minor party hasn’t discovered his phone number yet.

He describes the tens of millions of dollars being spent on the Trumpet election campaign as “an extraordinary vanity exercise that we’re seeing by Clive Palmer” but notes the double-page ads running in many newspapers this week “are good for the bottom line of media companies”.

Asked if he would ban political text messages, he says he believes “that would be a reasonable thing to do”.

“I’d be happy with that, but I’m not sure that it would fit in with other legal requirements about people having access,” he says, referencing the implied right to political communications.”

The Prime Minister has declined to pass judgment on Peter Dutton for having called the Greens a “Jew-hating party”, insisting he’s not a commentator on his opponent’s language.

“I think in general, Peter Dutton dials everything up to 11. I think that is part of his character,” Anthony Albanese says.

Given he’s speaking with a Melbourne radio station, he highlights comments from Mr Dutton earlier in the campaign and some years ago about people being afraid to go out to dinner in Melbourne because of crime.

He also runs through other inconsistencies on policy that Labor has tried to turn into attack lines.

“When it comes to policy, they haven’t done the hard policy work. They’ve continued to engage in a lot of hyperbole, a lot of criticisms of others,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the comments by US President Donald Trump about returning phone calls were a “light-hearted, throwaway” remark.

“What the President of the United States would be aware of is the discussions that took place between our officials and his officials and that have continued,” Mr Albanese told ABC Melbourne.

“But I’m sure if we are successful, we will have a discussion after Saturday.”

Pushed on whether any phone call has been locked in, Mr Albanese said the election campaign is front and centre of his mind, but we would anticipate that if he’s successful on Saturday, he would receive calls from leaders around the world, the same as happened in 2022.

Penny Wong has drawn parallels between the Voice to Parliament and marriage equality, predicting the public will look back on the Indigenous recognition debate and wonder, “did we even have a debate about that?”

In an interview with the Betoota Talks podcast, the foreign minister reflected on the failed 2023 referendum, where 60 per cent of voters rejected constitutional recognition, and defended Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision to proceed despite warnings: “He thought it was the right thing to do.”

Wong, a key figure in the marriage equality fight, added: “I think we’ll look back on it in 10 years’ time, and it’ll be a bit like marriage equality, don’t you reckon?”

“Like I always used to say, marriage equality took us such a bloody big fight to get that done. And I thought all this fuss, it will become something like, people go, did we even have an argument about that? Kids today, or even adults today, barely kind of clock that it used to be an issue.”

Mr Albanese ruled out reviving the Voice in Sunday’s election leaders’ debate “It is gone,” he said.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has taken fresh aim at the ABC during a Melbourne radio interview on Wednesday morning.

When asked for election night party tips, the Liberal leader said: “I think alcohol is the first essential ingredient, I’m sure of that, responsible drinking as well, but not watching the ABC would be a good start,” he said on Fox FM during an interview.

“For the young ones, listening at home, forget the ABC. And if you do that, you can probably start with a good night.”

He added: “People obviously are over the ads and just want election day out of the way and get on with their lives… But you know, we live in the greatest country in the world. It’s worth fighting for and protecting and defending and that’s what the debate is about.”