Anthony Albanese has dodged questions about whether he attended an election fundraising function last week as then-cyclone Alfred threatened the Queensland coast, on the same day as Peter Dutton attended a separate function at pub baron Justin Hemmes’ home and for which he was later criticised.

The Australian Financial Review revealed this month that Dutton left Queensland in the days before Alfred hit his home state and attended Hemmes’ sandstone home in Vaucluse on March 4 to collect donations for the Liberal Party’s election campaign.