Labor has promised a shake-up of the scheme that encourages seasonal workers to come to Australia, but farmers have condemned the plan, saying it kills off the agricultural visa.
If elected, Labor says it will address the Pacific's economic challenges, while easing Australia's agricultural worker shortages.
It has proposed reforming the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme's seasonal worker program and expanding the Pacific Labour Scheme.
Labor said its plan, announced in Darwin on Tuesday, includes a four-year agricultural visa under the PALM, as well as reducing upfront costs for employers, and extending the stay for seasonal workers from nine to 11 months.
Labor's spokesperson for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy said the changes will also allow seasonal workers to bring family members to live and work in Australia.
"These visas operate for up to four years and one of the reasons why they haven't been picked up as much as we would have liked is that workers can't bring their families in."
Mr Conroy said the current agricultural visa scheme isn't working and has failed Australian farmers.
"We will be placing the agriculture visa within the Pacific labour schemes," he said.
"This government's current agricultural visa is not working. Not a single worker has entered this country under the agricultural visa."
Labor says its visa scheme will allow 55,000 pre-screened Pacific workers to access the program.
But the proposal has been criticised by the National Farmers' Federation.
"Unfortunately, Labor has today confirmed its intention to do away with the farmer-developed ag visa," NFF CEO Tony Mahar said.
"The NFF and our members advocated for an ag visa for more than five years ... Labor has turned its back on a chance to be part of a solution for the sector's workforce crisis."
The NFF says the agriculture visa will be kept on in name only, and limited to workers from Pacific nations who are already well catered for by other worker programs.
The NFF has called for the visa since 2016 to cater for low-skilled to highly-skilled farm workers from countries outside the Pacific.
The Australian Workers' Union, which has actively campaigned against the ag visa, welcomed Labor's agriculture workforce policy.
AWU National Secretary Daniel Walton said rolling the "failed" agricultural visa into the more established PALM scheme would build on its success and strengthen ties with Pacific neighbours.
"Australia doesn't need to run an agriculture sector that turns an intentional blind eye to worker exploitation and abuse," he said.
"We can uphold Australian working standards on farms while continuing to grow our industry."
Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the Labor Party had "torn up" the agricultural visa that farmers desperately needed.
"The Australian Workers' Union have got their way and will kill the hopes of providing a long-term solution to the labour workforce issues in agriculture," Mr Littleproud said.
"What Labor has announced today is what is already in place with some tinkering at the edges of the Pacific Labour Mobility Program."
Prime minister attacks Labor's Pacific relations policy
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has accused Labor of "playing politics with the Pacific" in the wake of , which Opposition leader Anthony Albanese claims has made Australia less safe.
Mr Morrison, who Labor has accused of not , said the Opposition's attacks only benefited China.
"They are playing politics with the Pacific and the only ones who are benefiting from Labor's attacks on the government is the Chinese government," Mr Morrison told reporters on Tuesday.
Mr Morrison also took aim at Labor's plan to bolster relations with Pacific nations and tackle China's growing influence in the region.
Under the plan, a Labor government would spend $525 million over four years to boost foreign aid to Pacific countries and Timor-Leste.
Labor's foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong says the spending would address a decade's worth of "development gains" that have been lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Morrison government cuts.
The ABC would receive $8 million a year to deliver Australian content to Pacific nations and a $6.5 million Australia Pacific Defence School would be set up to train personnel from regional neighbours.
Senator Wong said Labor would also establish a program to support climate and clean energy projects in the region.
"We will work with our Pacific family to support specific projects that deliver real change in areas of health, economic growth, education, climate change adaptation and resilience," Senator Wong said.
"I also announce that ... we will restore Australia's leadership on climate change. We will establish a Pacific climate infrastructure financing partnership to support climate and clean energy projects in the Pacific."
Mr Morrison said Labor had a "Q&A solution in the Pacific" - a reference to the ABC talk show.
"What we have is real investment in our partnerships with the region," Mr Morrison said.
He said the China-Solomon Islands security pact "concerned" him, but reiterated sovereign governments were free to make their own decisions.
"My concern is first and foremost for Australia's national interest but I am concerned for the Solomon Islanders," he said.
"I am concerned that they can become compromised. I am concerned about the security of the Solomon Islanders and I am also concerned about the broader regional security of all of our Pacific family."
Mr Albanese described it as "remarkable" and "incredible" Australia had not sent the foreign minister to Solomon Islands.
"We need a comprehensive plan of engagement with the Pacific and we simply haven't had it," Mr Albanese, who is currently in isolation after contracting COVID-19, told Perth radio station 6PR on Tuesday.
"We've dropped the ball, and as a result, Australia is less secure."
China was looking to increase its influence in the region and had been more forward-leaning in the past few years, Mr Albanese said.
Guide Dogs Victoria CEO stood down over Josh Frydenberg endorsement
Guide Dogs Victoria's chief executive has been stood down after she endorsed Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in a series of pre-election materials.
Karen Hayes was featured in a flyer and promotional video posted on social media backing Mr Frydenberg as the member for Kooyong ahead of the 21 May poll.
When made aware of the material last week, the charity's board confirmed it had not approved it and requested its immediate removal from circulation while launching an internal investigation.
On Tuesday, Guide Dogs Victoria confirmed Ms Hayes had been stood down from her role, pending the probe's outcome.
"The independent investigation is underway and is ongoing. The purpose of the investigation is to understand what happened and ensure it never happens again," it said in a statement.
The flyer and promotional video were authorised by Mr Frydenberg's Hawthorn East office, in compliance with electoral laws.
The ACNC reminded charities of their obligations less than a week before the Ms Hayes' comments came to light.
Ms Hayes also appeared in a similar promotional video for Mr Frydenberg before the 2019 federal election. The Morrison government gave Guide Dogs Victoria $2.5 million the following year to upgrade its facilities.
Mr Frydenberg is under pressure to retain his blue-ribbon seat in Melbourne's inner east, with "teal" independent candidate Monique Ryan mounting a strong challenge.
Labor challenges Scott Morrison over net zero
Mr Morrison has reaffirmed as "absolute policy" the government's target of net zero emissions by 2050 after a coalition candidate appeared to describe the pledge as not binding.
Colin Boyce, the LNP candidate for the Queensland seat of Flynn, labelled the commitment "flexible" and noted "wiggle room" within it, a view Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce described as "completely understandable".
The comments prompted Labor to demand the prime minister clarify the government's position.
"Scott Morrison has a job to do today - is net zero a firm commitment of the government, or is it simply a flexible guideline as the candidate for Flynn has said?" Opposition energy spokesperson Chris Bowen told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.
The Coalition was saying one thing on climate change action in seats such as Hinkler in Queensland, and another in Higgins in metropolitan Melbourne and Queens Park in eastern Sydney, he said.
"They want to be on both sides of the stream - well they can't be."
Mr Morrison said Mr Boyce was talking about the pathway to net zero, rather than the strength of the pledge.
"He wasn't talking about the commitment itself, he has clarified that," he told reporters in Townsville.
"Our commitment to net zero by 2050 is a commitment of the Australian government that I made in Glasgow. It is the government's absolute policy.
"As technologies change and improve, we are going to get there and we will get there by the best method possible."
Mr Boyce said earlier the net zero pledge would not be legislated, although moderate Liberal MP Dave Sharma has previously described it as binding.
"It leaves us wiggle room as we proceed into the future. Morrison's statement that he has made is not binding," Mr Boyce told the ABC on Tuesday.
The Liberals and Nationals agreed to an unlegislated target of net zero emissions by 2050, following tense negotiations ahead of the COP26 UN climate change conference in late 2021.
Asked whether Labor's own climate targets were designed to appeal to voters in a number of marginal seats, Mr Bowen said the party's targets would be promoted nationwide.
Labor is aiming for a 43 per cent emissions cut by 2030, exceeding the government's forecast figure of 35 per cent, but falling well short of a 75 per cent pledge by the Greens.
"Labor's climate policy is determined by science and economics ... our policy, I sell it in regional Queensland, in Sydney, in Melbourne," Mr Bowen said.
"It's a good policy and stands up to scrutiny anywhere in Australia."
Malcolm Turnbull calls for Katherine Deves' disendorsement
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said Liberal candidate for Warringah Katherine Deves' comments on transgender people "seem designed to whip up animosity and hatred against some of the most vulnerable people in our community".
Ms Deves has come under fire for comments she made, and has deleted and apologised for, on social media about transgender people, including likening her lobbying to stop trans women competing in women’s sport to standing up against the Nazis during the Holocaust.
Mr Turnbull said he found the comments unacceptable and he agreed with NSW Liberal Treasurer Matt Kean that Ms Deves should not have been put forward and should be disendorsed.
"But she is Scott Morrison's pick," Mr Turnbull told ABC's Radio National on Tuesday.
"The members of the Liberal Party in NSW don't have any say in preselections ... of late, they're all in the hands of Mr Morrison."
In an exclusive interview with SBS on Sunday, Ms Deves said that she recognised debate over transgender issues required "dignified and respectful" discussion rather than divisive and hurtful comments posted to social media.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said he found some of the comments about transgender children made by his party's pick for Tony Abbott's old seat "unacceptable," but they raised legitimate issues.
The treasurer visited Melbourne's west on Tuesday, where he defended debate about the participation of trans-women in sport, as he made a funding announcement for a stadium upgrade to make it more "inclusive".
Mr Frydenberg said the discussion about transgender people's participation in sport raised "legitimate issues".
"Some of those comments were unacceptable, they were certainly insensitive, and they were certainly inappropriate," he said.
"I've made it very clear, my strong views about some of the analogies that have been used and the way that message has being communicated.
"But as to the issue of fairness in competition, I think they're real ones."
LGBTIQ+ community leaders have warned the ongoing political debate prompted by Ms Deves' comments and inciting hate towards the community.
"Ms Deves has spread dangerous and inaccurate misinformation about trans and gender diverse people and, when called out on that, claims to be silenced and casts our communities as the aggressor," Mama Alto, CEO of Transgender Victoria, told SBS News.
"That being said, if she has received death threats that is unacceptable - and I empathise because as trans people, we are often harassed, discriminated against and fearful for our safety."
Scott Morrison checks on embattled Liberal candidate's welfare
On Tuesday morning Mr Morrison said he had spoken with Ms Deves, checking on her welfare after she told SBS News that "death threats" had forced her
"I'm concerned about some of the reports I've seen," Mr Morrison told Sydney's 2GB radio. "I've been in contact with Katherine to make sure she's okay."
While Mr Morrison has previously said Ms Deves should be more careful in the way she expresses her views, he told 2GB the issue she was raising was an "important" one.
“I have no doubt that if she had been talking about any other issue, you wouldn’t have had people poring over everything she’s ever said in the way that they have in an attempt to try and silence her,” he said.
“And I think she should continue to stand up on these issues, as she has been.
“What I’m surprised about is the reaction to her comments on women and girls in sport and the way people have tried to try and just basically take her out.”
Mr Morrison denied that he blocked Ms Deves from appearing on 2GB, after host Ben Fordham said he invited her.
With additional reporting by AAP.
