Prime Minister Scott Morrison has sought to brush off an incident at a Newcastle pub where he was chastised by a disability support pensioner.
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The man yelled "listen to me for a change" as he accused Mr Morrison late on Wednesday night of failing to deliver on his election promises.
"This is what you said when you got elected last time: 'We're going help all those people that worked all their lives, paid their taxes'," the man said.
"I've had a go, mate. I've worked all my life and paid my taxes."
Speaking to reporters on the NSW Central Coast on Thursday, Mr Morrison said he had carefully and respectfully listened to what the man had to say.
"More broadly, it was a very welcome reception, of course, there was one gentleman who was there last night who was very upset about what was a very complicated issue," he said.
"I was keen to understand what he was saying to me."
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, who was campaigning in Perth, said it was important for people to engage politely with others.
"It is important in this country that we're able to have civil discourse and it's good here in Australia we can have our politicians get out and about," he said.
As speculation mounts on when Mr Morrison will call the election, the prime minister said it would be done soon.
"The election will be called when I'm in a position to go to the governor-general," he said.
"It's almost three years ... from the last election. I said we would run a term, do the job, and go to the Australian people."
The prime minister has been caught up in a war of words with the Queensland government over a flood recovery package for the state.
Acting Premier Cameron Dick said the Commonwealth's refusal to jointly fund a new homes package was "the highest level of disrespect".
However, Mr Morrison later agreed to a 50-50 funding arrangement, despite maintaining it was something the state government should be doing.
"I'm not going to have people left in the lurch as a result of the Queensland state government playing politics on the eve of an election, trying to weaponise politically the flood experiences of Queenslanders," he said.
"It was a very reasonable position for us to expect the state government to fund things that they should be funding, but what was very clear from the state government's response is they were not prepared to do that."
Meanwhile, Mr Albanese said he was not concerned about lower house independents, ruling out doing a deal to form government in the event of a hung parliament.
"I'm campaigning for a majority Labor government, and I'm the only person running for prime minister this election who is saying I will seek to form government in my own right," he said.
"The agenda that we're putting forward at this election is the one we will implement, that is the proposition that we have."
Australian Associated Press
