Anthony Albanese has accused Peter Dutton of acting as a cheer squad for people smugglers by over-egging the seriousness of the arrival on the Australian mainland last week of a boat carrying 39 men.

Amid a full-blown political row over who was tougher on borders, Mr Dutton a former home affairs minister, accused the government of being “weak” and presiding over a “catastrophic failure” following the arrival of the boat, the first since November.