Australian news and politics live: Peter Dutton slams Anthony Albanese’s ‘incoherent’ Port of Darwin call

US President Donald Trump has shared a confronting video of what he says is an attack on Houthis, presumably in Yemen.

The video shows dozens of people standing in an oval shape on the ground before a huge explosion rips through the area.

It has already been viewed 4.2 million times.

Mr Trump said the Houthis were “gathered for instructions on an attack”

“Oops, there will be no attack by these Houthis,” he said.

“They will never sink our ships again!”

The Prime Minister’s campaign bus is hitting central Queensland today, with the media pack arriving in Longreach.

The group will be visiting a sheep farm before the PM holds a press conference.

We’ll let you know what time that will be happening as soon as it’s locked in.

It was a strong response for Opposition Leader Peter Dutton after his announcement was overshadowed by Anthony Albanese last night.

He hit out at Labor’s “incoherent” Port of Darwin announcement, outlined why the Port needed to be back in Australian hands and used it as an opportunity to lay the boot in to the Albanese Government on security - a topic on which Mr Dutton always performs well.

Interestingly, he was asked twice about the fact that a Coalition government was in power when the sale originally took place in 2015, but that line of questioning is a bit disingenuous.

It was the Northern Territory’s then-Country Liberal government that sold off the port, and there were no laws at the time that could have allowed the Federal Government to intervene in such a sale.

Since then, those regulations have been tightened up.

It will be interesting to see how Anthony Albanese responds later today.

The Opposition Leader is not holding back today.

He’s rounded on YouGov polling released yesterday that flagged his opposition to working from home as an issue with his popularity.

He’s clarified that his proposed cuts and changes to working from home policy only affect public servants in Canberra.

“I strongly support working from home, I’ve been very clear about that, and our policy doesn’t have any impact on the private sector, doesn’t have any impact on the public sector outside of Canberra.,” he says.

He also took aim at the Albanese Government for misrepresenting his working from home comments.

“The Prime Minister is out there lying to Australian women (when) our policy (only) affects people who are working for the public service in Canberra.

“Why he would go out there trying to deceive people?”

The Oppposition Leader is asked why he didn’t act on the ownership of the Port of Darwin when he was defence minister in 2021 and 2022.

He says the geopolitical landscape has shifted since then.

“The advice at the time was there wasn’t a need to act. I didn’t agree with that advice, I might say, at the time, but that was the advice that the Government received, and we have now found ourselves in a position where we have the advice, it is definite, the strategic circumstances have deteriorated for our country, it is not made up that Chinese and assets are now circumnavigating our country.

“We need to have a strong and respectful relationship with the Chinese Communist Party, and we’re happy to do that, and we’ve demonstrated that through reaching out to the ambassador ahead of the announcement last night but ultimately my job, as Prime Minister, will be to act in our country’s best interests, and that’s something I will never deviate from.”

“The trading relationship with China is important and I want to make sure we expand it, but ultimately as China does, we have to make Australia stands up for her national interest,” Mr Dutton says.

“An Australian company wouldn’t be able to operate a port in Beijing and we are saying in this time, as the Prime Minister points out rightly, I think, we live in the most precarious period since the end of the second World War, since 1945, and I think it’s appropriate that we take the actions that meet the pressures and the concerns and the threats of the time.

“We can have a good trading relationship and respectful relationship with China which is why we spoke to the ambassador ahead of the announcement that we made, and I note that the Prime Minister or the Foreign Affairs Minister didn’t do that.”

“We know that we live in uncertain times and the Government has had three years to deal with this issue and they haven’t done that,” he says.

“We have taken the decision in a considered way. We will negotiate in good faith and I believe in six months we can arrive at an outcome.

“If that’s not the case, then we will move to make sure the asset comes back into ownership arrangements that are in line with our national security needs and our national interest.”

Peter Dutton says the Albanese Government is making a habit of not telling the truth in this election campaign.

“The Landbridge operators have told us publicly, as you’ve seen, there’s no discussion with the government that’s been underway. So I don’t know who’s telling the truth there,” he says.

“The Prime Minister might be able to reconcile that difference of opinion today. It’s not the only thing that the Government’s not telling the truth about at the moment. As we know, the Mediscare nonsense that they’re carrying on with - (and the PM’s claims that he) didn’t fall off a stage, but there was actually footage that showed falling off the stage.

There are many other examples where the government just can’t get its story right. In relation to this issue, this is an important national security issue, and we had contact yesterday with the Chinese ambassador, out of respect, before we made this decision. 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.”

A reporter has asked Mr Dutton how he felt being “snaked” by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on his Port of Darwin announcement.

“I think Anthony first called ABC Radio last night - it was incoherent. Anthony should have been better prepared. He’s had three years in preparation to make that phone call. It was a trainwreck interview,” he said.

“I think, if you read the transcript, nobody was any the wiser as to what the Prime Minister’s actually done for three years. That’s the problem. The Prime Minister had three years to sort this out.”

“The intelligence briefings that I’ve had over the course of my time as the Leader of the Opposition indicate the position has only deteriorated,” he said.

“We’ve now seen, of course, the circumnavigating of our country by Chinese naval ships.

“So we need to make sure that we recognise the times in which we live and why it’s important for us to take back this particular asset.

“There are about 100 warships a year - Australian and allied warships - who go through this area. And we need to make sure that, with our partners, we’re able to work constructively and in an environment which is conducive to our national security interests.”