LIVE: Election 2025: Peter Dutton accuses Albo of being ‘too late to everything’ after ‘trainwreck interview’ on the fate of Darwin port – as he defends the unpopular policy scaring off women voters

Peter Dutton has insisted his push to get public servants back into the office wouldn’t touch the private sector.

Reporters asked him at a Darwin press conference if he stood by the policy, after a Redbridge poll revealed it was deeply unpopular with women.

Dutton replied it would only apply to public servants working in Canberra.

‘I strongly support work from home. Our policy doesn’t have any impact in the private sector, doesn’t have any impact on the public sector outside of Canberra,’ he said.

‘What we’ve said is that we want to make sure where taxpayers are working hard for their money, that we have the most efficiency in the public service in Canberra.’

Peter Dutton has announced he would take back the Port of Darwin from a Chinese firm as a matter of ‘national security’ if elected.

Speaking to media in Darwin, Mr Dutton took a swipe at Anthony Albanese, who he said had made an ‘incoherent’ call to the ABC on Friday night to try and pre-empt his announcement.

‘I don’t know whether the Prime Minister made a call before he called ABC Radio, but we have thought through this process for a long period of time, and the Prime Minister jumping on the phone trying to get in on the announcement that we’ve made today I think shows that this Prime Minister, like the fireman who turns up to the fire when the fire has been extinguished.

‘He is too late to everything. We’ve made the announcement today because it is in our national interest.

‘Anthony should have been better prepared. He’s had three years in preparation to make that phone call, and it was a trainwreck interview.’

The Opposition leader said he had contacted the Chinese ambassador on Friday ‘out of respect’ before the announcement – something Mr Albanese’s government had not done.

Anthony Albanese has had a phone call with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the wake of Trump’s sweeping tariffs.

Mr Starmer spoke to Mr Albanese on Friday evening and the pair agreed an ‘all-out trade war (with the US) would be extremely damaging’, Downing Street said.

Mr Albanese’s office said they had agreed on the importance of ‘free and fair trade’.

Closer economic ties between Australia and the UK could prove helpful as the American tariffs disrupt global trade.

Peter Dutton is in the Northern Territory this morning, where he’s expected to announce that if elected he would take back control of the Port of Darwin.

The port was leased to Chinese company Landbridge in 2015, sparking national security fears.

Anthony Albanese, who is visiting flood zones in Queensland, has rushed to pre-empt Mr Dutton’s announcement, saying on Friday night that he, too, wants the port in Australian hands.

Mr Albanese said he was prepared to intervene directly in the lease agreement.

One of Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s key policies has driven women voters to Anthony Albanese, a new poll shows.

The latest Redbridge poll showed Labor in the lead with 52 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.

The poll also tested voters’ reactions to recently announced policies, with Labor’s $150 energy rebate in the lead at +65.

Next was Mr Dutton’s policy to cut permanent immigration by 25 per cent, which had a net favourability of +47.

Mr Dutton’s pledge to end public servants’ work-from-home arrangements was unpopular however, at -7.

While it had a favourability of +7 among men, it was deeply unpopular with women, with a rating of -19.

Labor’s primary vote has fallen in both NSW and Victoria in recent weeks, a new survey shows.

The vote fell to 27 per cent in Victoria and 30 per cent in NSW in the first three months of this year, according to the survey by the Sydney Morning Herald.

It comes after the Labor vote for each state at the last federal election was 33 per cent.

The lower primary vote could threaten marginal seats in NSW – such as Bennelong, Gilmore, Robertson and Paterson.

In Victoria, seats like Chisholm, Aston and McEwen in and around Melbourne could be at risk.