An admission by Peter Dutton that the Coalition will examine detailed spending cuts should it win office, rather than announce them before the election, has fuelled claims by Labor that voters will be better off in three years if Anthony Albanese is given a second term.

But that claim, made by the Prime Minister in an interview with The Australian Financial Review last week, was ridiculed by Mr Dutton, saying Mr Albanese had been reduced to a scare campaign.