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Labor frontbenchers stepped up across Australia as leader Anthony Albanese completed his first day in isolation after contracting COVID-19.
Campaign spokesman Jason Clare says Mr Albanese's diagnosis provides an opportunity for Labor to showcase its united team ahead of polling day.
Mr Clare says there will not be a de facto opposition leader during the course of Mr Albanese's isolation, even though Labor has deputy Richard Marles.
"We're not a one-man band. We're a strong united team," Mr Clare told reporters in Sydney.
"I see this as an opportunity ... because not only have we got a better plan, we've got a better team."
Mr Clare joined Labor's finance spokeswoman Katy Gallagher in Australia's most marginal seat of Macquarie in Sydney's far west.
The seat, held by Labor's Susan Templeman on a 0.2 per cent margin, covers the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury and has been devastated by recent floods.
Ms Templeman told AAP the flood recovery has been overlooked because of the election campaign, with farmers losing acres of their productive land from the most recent disaster.
"People feel ignored and abandoned," she said.
"Primary producers have a very long way ahead of them and the way the (disaster) funding is structured just doesn't get them where they need to go."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison campaigned in southern Queensland, unveiling a $428 million upgrade to four defence force air bases in Ipswich alongside his defence minister.
Construction at RAAF bases Amberley, Richmond, Pearce and HMAS Albatross would create 600 new jobs, with the upgrades to be completed by 2024.
He also announced a re-elected coalition government would establish 14 new Veteran Wellbeing Centres, at a cost of $70 million.
Mr Morrison has been seeking to talk up the coalition's national security credentials and argue better economic management means more can be spent on defence.
Foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong, who was in Perth where Mr Albanese was due to be on Friday before having to go into COVID isolation, said the coalition had dropped the national security ball when it comes to the Solomon Islands.
"Warning after warning, signpost after signpost, when it comes to the Solomon Islands, has not been properly acted upon," she said.
"It means that the risks Australians face have increased and the challenges we face have just got greater."
Mr Morrison said the handling of the situation followed "very careful advice".
"I can't go into any more details about that, but I can assure you these are complex issues and they have to be dealt with in a very calibrated way," he said.
"We don't engage in the same way (China) do in the region. The suggestion the Australian government in any way contributed to this arrangement being put in place is absolutely false."
Defence Minister Peter Dutton used the announcement to attack Mr Marles and Labor's attitude towards China.
"We do know there's a period of uncertainty and we do know our country needs to stand up for our values, we need to invest in the defences of our country and Richard Marles has essentially abandoned that principle."
Mr Marles called Mr Dutton's remarks and suggestions Labor is weak on China "an outrageous slur".
"We all get the threat that China represents to Australia. There is no disagreement about that," he told the Nine Network.
"For Peter to suggest there is it's just an outrageous slur and actually undermines the national unity there is around the fact that we understand there's a threat from China."
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison will continue to campaign as his opponent Anthony Albanese is forced into isolation after testing positive for COVID-19.
While wishing Mr Albanese well, the prime minister says 50,000 Australians catch the virus every day and continue on with their lives.
"You just get on with it," Mr Morrison told the Seven Network.
"When I had COVID ... we had Quad meetings, major presentations and I'm sure (Mr Albanese) will be able to do that from his home in Sydney.
"Hopefully the symptoms aren't too bad but I wish him a speedy recovery."
Senior Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie said "the stakes are very high at the moment" when asked whether the coalition has an advantage.
"We've got a strong campaign and a strong proposition for the Australian people," she told the ABC.
The Labor leader returned a positive result following a routine PCR test on Thursday afternoon, but is not showing symptoms.
Mr Albanese was due to fly out on Friday from Sydney to campaign in Western Australia.
He will instead isolate at his home in Sydney for seven days.
"While at home I will continue my responsibilities as alternative prime minister and will be fighting for a better future for all Australians," he said.
"I am grateful to know that I will have access to the world's best health care if I need it, because of Medicare."
Labor campaign heads had prepared for the possibility Mr Albanese might test positive, with opposition frontbenchers set to play an expanded role over the coming days.
Mr Albanese is likely to still conduct press conferences virtually, should he not be experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
Deputy Leader Richard Marles says Labor will continue to sell its message while logistics will be managed on a day-to-day basis.
"Commitments will change. Albo was intending to be in Perth today and tomorrow. That is obviously not happening," he told the ABC.
"The message doesn't change. It is just making sure that we get the same message out there.
"There will be an opportunity, with technology today, to still have Anthony's voice out there articulating the messages that we want articulated."
ALP national president Wayne Swan said Labor had "war-gamed for this".
"We've got a really talented frontbench team that can be on the job and out in the public," he told the Nine Network.
"There's an enormous amount that Albo can do from isolation. So I don't think it's surprising. We will continue to hold the government to account on its negligence, particularly in terms of foreign policy and defence, but we'll also continue to outline our policies for the future."
Labor's campaign launch, set down for May 1 in Perth, is expected to go ahead as planned.
Mr Morrison will start day 12 of the campaign in Queensland, where he will announce a $428 million upgrade to four defence force air bases.
Construction at Amberley, Richmond, Pearce and HMAS Albatross would create 600 new jobs, with the upgrades to be completed by 2024, News Corp reports.
The Australian Electoral Commission will also conduct the ballot draws at midday on Friday for all lower and upper house seats.
The electoral commissioner confirmed 96.8 per cent of the eligible population will be able to cast their ballot when Australia goes to the polls on May 21.
More than 17.2 million people are on the electoral roll, an increase of more than 804,000 since the last election in 2019.
Electoral commissioner Tom Rogers said more than 100,000 people were added to the electoral roll in the last week before the rolls closed.
"Around 80,000 young Australians aged 18-24 jumped online in the week after the election was announced, resulting in 88.1 per cent of that age cohort ready to have their say this May," he said.
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Portuguese prosecutors say a man has been formally identified as a suspect in the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann 15 years ago.
It is the first time Portuguese prosecutors have identified an official suspect in the case since Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine's parents, were named suspects in 2007. They were later cleared.
Madeleine disappeared from her bedroom on May 3, 2007 during a family holiday in the Algarve region while her parents were dining with friends nearby in the resort of Praia da Luz.
Prosecutors in Faro, Algarve's main city, did not publicly name the man on Thursday but said in a statement he was identified as a suspect by German authorities at its request.
German police said in June 2020 that Madeleine was assumed dead and that convicted child abuser and drug trader Christian Brueckner was likely responsible for it.
But, since then, Brueckner, 45, has not been charged with any crime related to the disappearance. He is behind bars in Germany for raping a woman in the same area of the Algarve region where Madeleine went missing in 2007.
Brueckner has denied being involved in the disappearance of McCann.
Prosecutors said the investigation has been carried out with cooperation from British and German authorities.
Brueckner lived in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007 and burgled hotels and holiday flats, according to court documents seen by Reuters in 2020. He also falsified passports and was caught stealing diesel from a Portuguese harbour.
Portugal's Judiciary Police handed over documents with hundreds of names related to Madeleine's case, including Christian Brueckner to British authorities in 2012, according to the force.
German police received their first tip-off linking Brueckner to the Madeleine's case in 2013.
The reasons that led Portuguese prosecutors to identify a suspect now are not clear but it could be related to Portugal's 15-year statute of limitations for crimes with a maximum prison sentence of 10 years or more.
Next month will mark 15 years since Madeleine disappeared.
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Anthony Albanese will be forced to campaign from home after the opposition leader tested positive to COVID-19.
The Labor leader returned a positive result following a routine PCR test on Thursday afternoon, but is not showing symptoms.
Mr Albanese was due to fly out on Friday from Sydney to campaign in Western Australia.
He will instead isolate at his home in Sydney for seven days.
"While at home I will continue my responsibilities as alternative prime minister and will be fighting for a better future for all Australians," he said.
"I am grateful to know that I will have access to the world's best health care if I need it, because of Medicare."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison sent best wishes to his election rival.
"Everyone's experience with COVID is different and as Labor's campaign continues, I hope he does not experience any serious symptoms," Mr Morrison said on Twitter.
Labor campaign heads had prepared for the possibility Mr Albanese might test positive, with opposition frontbenchers set to play an expanded role over the coming days.
Mr Albanese is likely to still conduct press conferences virtually, should he not be experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
ALP national president Wayne Swan said Labor had "war-gamed for this".
"We've got a really talented frontbench team that can be on the job and out in the public," he told the Nine Network.
"There's an enormous amount that Albo can do from isolation. So I don't think it's surprising. We will continue to hold the government to account on its negligence, particularly in terms of foreign policy and defence, but we'll also continue to outline our policies for the future."
Labor's campaign launch, set down for May 1 in Perth, is expected to go ahead as planned.
Mr Morrison will still be on the campaign trail on Friday, starting day 12 in Queensland, where he will announce a $428 million upgrade to four defence force air bases.
Construction at Amberley, Richmond, Pearce and HMAS Albatross would create 600 new jobs, with the upgrades to be completed by 2024, News Corp reports.
The Australian Electoral Commission will also conduct the ballot draws at midday on Friday for all lower and upper house seats.
The electoral commissioner confirmed 96.8 per cent of the eligible population will be able to cast their ballot when Australia goes to the polls on May 21.
More than 17.2 million people are on the electoral roll, an increase of more than 804,000 since the last election in 2019.
Electoral commissioner Tom Rogers said more than 100,000 people were added to the electoral roll in the last week before the rolls closed.
"Around 80,000 young Australians aged 18-24 jumped online in the week after the election was announced, resulting in 88.1 per cent of that age cohort ready to have their say this May," he said.
© AAP 2022
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