Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has once again been forced to clarify comments he has made on the election campaign trail, hampering efforts to refocus the Labor campaign over the Easter long weekend.
Labor insiders had hoped the four-day weekend would give the opposition the chance to reset its political fortunes after a highly publicised stumble over the unemployment rate during the first week of campaigning.
But after Mr Albanese unveiled a policy on Tuesday to fund 50 urgent care clinics if his party was elected, on Wednesday he declared the $135 million plan had been "fully costed" by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).
On Thursday, Labor's Finance Spokeswoman Katy Gallagher was forced to issue a late-night clarification on social media.
"The costing of Labor's Urgent Care Centre policy is based on work done by the PBO, but for the avoidance of any confusion, has not been formally costed by the PBO," she wrote.
Speaking after a Good Friday church service in Sydney's south-west, Mr Albanese sought to put an end to the confusion.
"The policy is fully costed — it is informed by work that was done by the PBO," he said.
Labor sources later argued that while the party itself had costed the policy, it was based on work done by the Parliamentary Budget Office.
Health Minister Greg Hunt on Thursday seized on the comments, repeating the Coalition's argument a Labor government would struggle to manage the economy.
"This is an embarrassing economic and health backflip for Anthony Albanese and his team," Mr Hunt said.
"Anthony Albanese said this project was fully costed yesterday. He's either ill-informed, not across the facts, or have they fudged the figures?
"You just can't trust Labor with health, because you can't trust them with economic management."
Morrison under fire for captain's pick
Both federal leaders entered Good Friday hoping for a campaign ceasefire, downing the tools to attend church services.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is facing criticism over a controversial captain's pick for the once blue-ribbon Sydney seat of Warringah.
Katherine Deves has been forced to issue another public apology for offensive transphobic comments.
In a now-deleted social media post from January obtained by News Corp and Nine Newspapers, she claimed "half of all males with trans identities are sex offenders" after also comparing her anti-trans comments to the resistance against the Nazis.
In a statement, Ms Deves said she apologised for her comments.
"In my dedication to fighting for the rights of women and girls, my language has on occasion been unacceptable. It has hurt people and detracted from my arguments," the statement said.
Labor started the election campaign ahead in the opinion polls, while Mr Morrison faced accusations of lying and racism.
But a week is a long time in politics, and sources on both sides have told the ABC the Coalition's prospects have improved in the first week of the campaign.
The leaders are expected to return to the hustings on Saturday, before going head to head on Wednesday in their first debate of the election campaign.
