The leaseholder of a major Australian port has lamented becoming "a political football", reiterating the facility is not for sale.
On a day involving an unfortunate interaction with a different sort of footy on the campaign trail, both major parties flagged plans to bring Port Darwin back into Australian hands.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said on Saturday granting a 99-year lease of the facility to a China-linked company in 2015 was a mistake by the Northern Territory government.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has blamed the then-federal government which included Mr Dutton in its cabinet.
Both have flagged a potential takeover - a move shaping as a fait accompli following the May 3 election.
However, leaseholder Landbridge has denied involvement in any discussions.
"As previously stated, the port is not for sale," director Terry O'Connor said in a statement.
"Landbridge is disappointed that we are being used as a political football in the current election campaign."
Mr Dutton told reporters in the NT a coalition government would bring the port back into Australian ownership.
"Or into a model where we have greater assurance about the operator and the way in which the lease operates," he said.
"We'll negotiate in good faith and I believe within six months we can arrive at an outcome."
Mr Albanese phoned ABC Radio Darwin on Friday to flag similar plans, denying it was an election stunt.
He would not commit to when it would happen, promising more detail before the election and suggesting the plan had been in motion for some time.
"There's nothing spontaneous about this," he told reporters in western Queensland on Saturday.
"When the Port of Darwin was flogged off to a company with links to the Chinese government, we opposed that sale ... Peter Dutton was in the cabinet that sold it."
The port has been a concern since it was leased to Landbridge for more than $500 million.
However, multiple reviews have found insufficient reason to overturn the lease on national security grounds.
"A mistake was made many years ago in relation to the lease and the way in which that was undertaken by the then-territory government," Mr Dutton said.
"But that is the past and we need to deal with the strategic circumstances that we face at the moment."
Elsewhere in Darwin, in scenes reminiscent of former leader Scott Morrison clumsily tackling a child on the 2022 campaign trail, Mr Dutton accidentally kicked a football into a camera operator, leaving him with a bloodied forehead.
Mr Albanese visited flood zones in Queensland, announcing disaster payments and a deal for exclusion fencing to protect livestock from wild dogs and pigs.
Asked about his presence in the safe Nationals seat of Maranoa, held by party leader David Littleproud, Mr Albanese said campaigning exclusively in marginal seats alienated people from mainstream politics.
But he still found time for a pot-shot.
"Support from the government doesn't look at the political map and we don't get out the colour-coded spreadsheet to determine infrastructure funding," he said.
It came after Senator Bridget McKenzie - the target of Mr Albanese's sledge from her ministerial stint during the "sports rorts" scandal - announced plans to reinstate an 80:20 funding model for regional roads.
"The prime minister reduced federal funding commitments for regional road infrastructure to 50:50, to match the urban funding model," the opposition regional development spokeswoman said in a statement on Saturday.
Mr Albanese said the pre-election budget included investment in regional Queensland roads, although the headline announcement was upgrades to the Bruce Highway, which runs along the state's coast.
