The prime minister is determined to burst the coalition's bubble as its election ideas struggle to float.
With a poll date announcement expected in coming weeks, Anthony Albanese has been spruiking disaster relief and cradling babies in Brisbane while Opposition Leader Peter Dutton spoke with garden specialists in Perth on Wednesday.
The unofficial campaigns intensify once again after wide speculation that ex-tropical cyclone Alfred delayed the election call when it battered Queensland and northern NSW communities.
Mr Dutton has proposed a referendum on granting ministerial power to strip citizenship from dual nationals convicted of serious offences, and tried to reheat an earlier idea to add a question on anti-Semitism to citizenship tests.
Mr Albanese has brushed off those policies as "thought bubbles".
"It lasts about as long as a soap bubble that comes from a bubble bath and disappears into the ether," he told reporters.
"Within hours they just come up with these things, then they walk from them.
"They need to start getting serious about policy."
The opposition has been criticised for putting forward mixed messages, while lacking clarity and detail on policies.
Mr Dutton, for example, proposed break up insurance companies in February before shadow treasurer Angus Taylor downplayed divestiture powers for that industry, instead focusing on their use on the supermarket sector.
The March Newspoll has found 55 per cent of voters do not believe the coalition is ready to govern.
But the opposition leader has pushed on with his latest ideas, claiming the referendum would "keep Australians safe".
"I want a mandate from the Australian people to be able to implement laws which are necessary to keep us safe," he told reporters in WA.
"And the prime minister dismisses this as a thought bubble."
WA is expected to play a significant role at the election and although Labor won in a landslide at the recent state poll, Mr Dutton is determined to claw back votes in the resource-rich region.
He revealed the coalition would fast-track federal approval for Woodside's North West Shelf gas proposal within 30 days of being elected.
"The WA economy can't survive, manufacturing can't survive, electricity can't be produced without gas in the system," he told reporters.
Mr Albanese said his government supported the gas sector, but said it was subject to environmental approvals.
