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Anthony Albanese has sought to move on from his economic figure gaffe, saying he will shake off the incident.

The Labor leader continued his campaign in Tasmania in the Labor-held seat of Lyons before flying into Melbourne on Tuesday afternoon where he visited the Father Bob Maguire Foundation charity.

Mr Albanese faced sustained attacks from the Liberals over a slip-up where he couldn't state the unemployment or official interest rate.

But seeking to shift debate back towards policy, he unveiled a plan to reinstate a 50 per cent regional loading for bulk-billed telehealth psychiatric consultations.

"The Labor Party is actually the only party that's released comprehensive and detailed policies around supporting economic growth and the jobs that that will create," he told reporters.

"When you make a mistake with a number, and I was concentrating on something else, it shouldn't have happened, you own up to it and move on ... I wish it hadn't had occurred, I am usually very good with numbers."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison seized on Monday's remarks during a press conference in the marginal seat of Parramatta, which is currently held by Labor by 3.5 per cent.

"Leaders will not get every single figure right, and that's not really the issue here. The issue is there's something Anthony Albanese should be apologising for, it should be that he doesn't have an economic plan," he said.

"His working assumptions about our economy and what Australians are achieving in our economy he doesn't know and he doesn't understand."

Liberal ministers also seized on Mr Albanese not knowing the human rights commissioner's name, with Assistant Attorney-General Amanda Stoker taking to Twitter to ask, "Is there any brief he is across?" in a tweet where she also misspelt Lorraine Finlay's name.

The government was using the second full day of the campaign to spruik a pledge to create 1.3 million jobs over the next five years across Western Sydney, with Mr Morrison also visiting the at-risk Liberal seat of Lindsay.

However, Mr Albanese said the government could not be trusted on job predictions.

"This is a government that don't have a plan for the economy. That's why from this government what you're seeing ... support, these one-offs that disappears as soon as people have cast their vote," he said.

"(The budget) was all about an election, what we need is a plan for the economy."

Labor's finance spokesperson Katy Gallagher also seized on the headline figure, saying while the party supported more jobs, there was no clear plan to achieve it.

"It's unclear from what the government has announced today what the plan is and whether it is as some are saying, just the expected employment growth you would see over the next five years," Senator Gallagher told the ABC.

"I haven't been provided with any of the details. We are the only party that has releasing detailed modelling and costing (of) policies."

It comes as a new opinion poll showed Labor maintaining its lead over the government.

The Roy Morgan poll shows Labor ahead 57-43 on two-party preferred, while Labor is also ahead in all six states.

Despite being behind in the polls, the prime minister stressed the election was not about a popularity contest.

"This is about whether people are good at managing the economy and have a strong economic plan," he said.

"You can't risk it on an inexperienced and unproven team."

© AAP 2022

Organisers of the Sydney Royal Easter Show have beefed up security after a teenage boy was stabbed to death in front of crowds of revellers.

The Royal Agricultural Society of NSW was forced to defend the family-friendly reputation of the annual show after one of its 17-year-old workers was killed on Monday night.

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with multiple knife-related offences and others remain at large after the fatal stabbing during a brawl between two young groups around the adult carnival rides.

The Chief Executive of the RAS of NSW Murray Wilton offered his condolences to the dead boy's family and apologised to patrons who witnessed the stabbing, saying it was a "horrific experience".

"Someone's lost their life at our house, and it's disgraceful," Mr Wilton said on Tuesday.

He defended security at the show, saying there were police on site as well as CCTV cameras, random checks and metal detectors, but said it was impossible to search the 850,000 people who attended the show over 12 days.

"To physically check everybody's bag would be almost impossible," he said.

"We have done everything we can possibly do. It is a family event.

"What we're looking at here is two or three individuals that have gone outside the bounds of what ... is socially acceptable by bringing a knife to the Royal Easter Show.

"That is the shocking fact."

The adult rides were closed on Tuesday and security at the show has been ramped up with more police on site.

About 77,000 people visited the show on Monday but the incident took a toll on ticket sales on Tuesday, with 32,000 passing through the gates by 3pm.

The 17-year-old boy was stabbed in the chest and died en route to Westmead Hospital and a 16-year-old boy remains in hospital with stab wounds to his leg.

Police Superintendent Danielle Emerton said a 15-year-old boy had been charged with intent to commit indictable offence, and custody of knife in public place.

He was refused bail and will face a children's court on Tuesday.

Police believe more suspects were involved in what they described as a senseless and tragic targeted attack, involving two groups of teens.

"We believe that there is someone who we still need to identify that is responsible for the stabbing," Supt Emerton said.

"It may be one person, it may be a number of people."

One knife was seized, however police believe multiple weapons may have been involved.

"There were thousands of people there, if you have information, please come forward," Supt Emerton said.

A strike force has been established to investigate.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was "deeply distressed" by the killing.

""I have no doubt the NSW police force ... will be ensuring they're doing everything within their power to make sure the royal Easter Show is safe."

NSW Ambulance Acting Chief Superintendent Stewart Clarke said the incident was confronting for paramedics and crowds of visitors who were visibly distressed.

Videos on social media captured parts of the incident, including footage of boys brawling in a busy area by a lit up a Ferris wheel, as groups of teenagers ran through crowds and a woman yelled, "Oh s**t".

Meanwhile, SafeWork NSW is investigating if the Free Fall ride should be closed for the remainder of the show after a four-year-old child was unrestrained while the ride was in operation.

A photograph showed the boy on the ride unharnessed when it was in mid-air, while three other children on the ride were restrained.

© AAP 2022

Scientists have recorded bleaching for the first time in sponges in deep-shelf waters off Tasmania, in what is likely a "canary-in-the-coal-mine" sign of stress from underwater heatwaves.

Waters off the island state's east are considered a global hotspot for marine climate change as the East Australian Current pushes further south.

An Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) study examined surveys of sponges living in the mesophotic zone, known as the "twilight zone", between well-lit shallow waters and the dark deep ocean.

It found increased sponge bleaching followed marine heatwave events across the east coast region.

Lead author Nick Perkins said it was the first time such bleaching, well-documented in tropical waters, has been observed at this depth.

"One line of ecological thought is that deeper waters don't get impacted so much ... they might actually be cooler refuges for some of the shallower-water species," he told AAP.

"But this is showing there can be impacts down at depths as well. Maybe those species aren't so adapted to these extreme events."

Dr Perkins said there was "a very strong linkage" between warming waters and the bleaching.

Surveys didn't uncover any mass mortality events but Dr Perkins described the findings as an early warning, "kind of like the canary-in-the-coal-mine ... scenario".

Corals, sponges and red algae in the mesophotic zone, as deep as roughly 150m, play an important role in ocean ecology and pass on food sources.

"These deeper reefs are known to be biodiverse zones and could contain species not yet described by science," IMAS associate professor Neville Barrett said.

"We still know very little about these systems below diving depths - how they function and how they may respond to climate change."

The study calls for further research to better understand when sponge bleaching occurs and how long it persists.

"We're in a global warning hotspot on the east coast of Tasmania. The thing we historically haven't quantified very well is what is happening in deeper water," Dr Perkins said.

The cup sponge is widespread, meaning it could prove useful in tracking the impacts of climate change.

Warming waters off Tasmania's east coast, plus invasive sea urchins, have devastated once-widespread giant kelp forests.

The IMAS study, published in the journal Climate Change Ecology, reviewed surveys taken in Flinders, Freycinet and Huon marine parks between 2009 and 2017.

© AAP 2022