Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has pledged to match Labor’s promise to make doctor visits cheaper by spending $8.5 billion on Medicare as he seeks to stave off a renewed push by Anthony Albanese to discredit his record as health minister in the Abbott government.

Dutton on Sunday called on the prime minister to immediately recall parliament to guarantee the four-year funding pledge which places healthcare at the centre of Labor’s re-election campaign, which promises 90 per cent of all GP visits will be free by 2030.