Australia's opposition dumps policy on return to office as election nears

By Alasdair Pal

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's absorption Liberal Party abandoned connected Monday a program to unit authorities workers to instrumentality to the bureau full-time, arsenic incumbent Labor gained successful polls up of a May 3 election.

Working from location emerged arsenic an predetermination battleground past period aft the Liberal Party said it would barroom hundreds of thousands of authorities employees from doing so, successful a bid to boost productivity.

The argumentation was seized upon by Labor which claimed it would summation commuting costs successful a run that has been dominated by outgo of surviving concerns.

"We've made a mistake successful narration to the policy. We apologise for that. And we've dealt with it," Liberal person Peter Dutton said successful an interrogation with Channel Nine connected Monday.

Dutton's proposition of occupation sharing for women affected by a full-time instrumentality to the bureau besides came successful for beardown disapproval from Labor.

"Peter Dutton wants to undermine enactment rights and successful peculiar doesn't recognize modern families, doesn't recognize the important relation that women and men play successful organising their families," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said connected Monday.

Labor and the Liberal-led centre-right conjugation are near-deadlocked successful the latest sentiment polls, with plaything seats connected the outskirts of large cities - among the astir exposed to the precocious outgo of surviving - apt to beryllium crucial.

Labor saw a humble bounce successful outer metropolitan areas successful the weeks aft the Liberal Party unveiled its program for curbs connected moving from home, polling by YouGov showed.

After consistently polling down the absorption conjugation erstwhile votes from smaller parties are redistributed astatine the opening of the year, Labor has led narrowly successful the past 3 sentiment polls released this month.

(Reporting by Alasdair Pal successful Sydney; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)