Peter Dutton has ruled out forming a minority government with One Nation, despite the coalition striking a preference arrangement with Pauline Hanson.
The opposition has preferenced One Nation at number two on its how-to-vote cards in several crucial marginal seats, following a surge in support in the far-right minor party’s primary vote.
But the opposition leader said Senator Hanson wouldn’t be part of any future coalition government after Saturday’s federal election, if it results in a hung parliament.
“I wouldn’t be mucking around with independents and third parties at this election. I really wouldn’t,” he told reporters in Melbourne on Wednesday.
“We don’t want to see a European situation where you’ve got a handful of Greens and left-leaning teal candidates who are holding the government to ransom; that is not going to be good for us.”
Mr Dutton also said the coalition wouldn’t pursue teal independent MPs to form a minority government.
Senator Hanson said while there was no formal preference deal with the opposition, coalition voters had drifted towards One Nation.
“A lot of the sitting members within the Liberal Party agree with my policies, they know we’re on the same page,” she told AAP.
“It’s sending a clear message to conservative voters that we are seen to be working together.”
Meanwhile, after days of questions about the coalition’s election costings, the opposition is set to release the numbers on Thursday.
“We’ll release our costings, and it will show a better bottom line under the coalition than the Labor Party,” Mr Dutton said.
Mr Dutton also defended members of Christian sect, the Exclusive Brethren, volunteering for the Liberal Party in marginal seats.
The Brethren are volunteering even though their members will not turn out to vote, for religious reasons.
“People of Christian faiths support both sides of politics and people of no faith support both sides of politics,” Mr Dutton said.
“People ultimately can make a decision about who they want to support – in a democracy we have freedom of speech.”
With just three days until the election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will lay out his vision for a second term in office in a set-piece speech to the National Press Club.
It follows the national election in Canada, where a centre-left government was returned on the back of anti-Donald Trump sentiment amongst voters, despite being behind the opposition conservative party in the polls earlier in the year.
While that outcome has given Labor a bit of lift, Mr Albanese stressed the situation for incumbent governments was still challenging.
“We have governed through very difficult times … we know that that’s the case, and around the globe it has been a difficult time to be in government,” he told ABC Radio.
Political strategist Jack Milroy, who has worked on progressive campaigns in Canada and Australia, said the US relationship would be less of a factor on Saturday but voters were still conscious of the global instability.
“The Canadian example has kind of shown that a strong approach to the US seems to pay dividends politically,” he told AAP.
“The Labor Party is in a good position for our election, but it will be interesting to see how they relate to the US going forward.”
Most polls are showing Labor ahead of the coalition on a preferred party basis, although a minority government remains a possible outcome.
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