Peter Dutton has accused the new Labor government of misleading voters for not advocating for a 5.1 per cent increase to the minimum wage in a submission to the Fair Work Commission.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has lodged a submission to the commission, calling for a pay rise for Australia's lowest paid workers.
However, the submission did not include a figure as to how much the minimum wage should be increased. During the election campaign, Mr Albanese in order to keep up with rising inflation levels.
Mr Dutton, who is expected to be named as opposition leader next week, said the government had broken election promises.
"Anthony Albanese looked Australian workers in the eye and said that he would absolutely support the 5.1 per cent increase in wages," he said.
"He looked workers in the eye and he has lied to workers."
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles defended the government's decision not to include an exact figure as to how much the minimum wage should rise.
"The focus of the submission is what we have argued throughout this election campaign ... That is, those on the minimum wage should not be left behind," he told reporters in Melbourne on Friday.
"Those who are on the minimum wage should not receive a real wage cut."
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles. Source: AAP / James Ross
Mr Marles said it was important the government use its voice to argue for the wage increase.
"We are experiencing in Australia a cost of living crisis because of the failures of the former Liberal government," he said.
"We see that with rising power prices, with rising petrol prices."
Richard Marles says 'politicisation' of asylum seeker boat intercept 'risked lives'
It comes as Mr Marles said an investigation will probe the involvement of former prime minister Scott Morrison's office in instructing the Australian Border Force .
The decision comes after the ABC revealed the controversial announcement during the caretaker period came after a request from Mr Morrison's office.
Mr Marles said the reported involvement of the former prime minister's office had put lives in danger.
"We saw our borders become less secure. We saw lives risked, we saw the national consensus around border security undermined," he told reporters.
"What's completely clear is that when it comes to the national interests, the Liberal Party just does not give a damn."
Mr Marles said the secretary of the Department of Home Affairs Mike Pezzullo would be investigating the matter.
SBS News has contacted Mr Morrison's office for comment.
Australian border authorities revealed the asylum seeker boat had been turned back the previous week on 21 May - the day of the federal election.
Text messages to voters about the boat's interception were also sent out by the Liberal Party.
The text had read: "BREAKING: Australian Border Force has intercepted an illegal boat trying to reach Australia. Keep our borders secure by voting Liberal today. ".
Mr Albanese earlier said the move was an "entire abuse of proper processes" and normal protocols for the publication of boat interceptions were not followed.
"This statement was made so it could facilitate the sending of ... potentially many millions of text messages to voters in a last-minute scare campaign," he told ABC radio on Friday.
"A disgraceful act from a government which was prepared to politicise everything but solve nothing."
Climate change in the Pacific is 'not a political argument'
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong says the Labor government has a "strong desire" to play its part in the Pacific and build stronger relationships.
Speaking to media in Suva, Fiji, Senator Wong acknowledged the impacts of climate change in the region.
"Our message to the Pacific is clear. We are listening and we have heard you," she said.
"One of the areas we are determined to make a difference on is climate. I'm very pleased that so many Australians voted for stronger action on climate."
Senator Wong said she recognised Fiji and other Pacific Island nations had been highlighting the issue for "many years".
"I remember when I was minister for climate change between 2007 and 2010, that the voices of the Pacific ... spoke with so much power because, for you, climate change is not abstract. It is not a political argument. It is real."
Senator Wong said the new government had put a "much stronger" climate change policy on the table, including an emissions reduction target of 43 per cent by 2030 to hit net zero emissions by 2050.
She said this would lead to the majority of Australia's energy and electricity grid being renewables by the end of the decade.
"We've also supported a range of other policies on the table for the Pacific which are about recognising that we want to build stronger relationships, stronger links, so reforms to the Pacific over mobility schemes, additional infrastructure funding," she said.
"What is at the heart of this is a strong desire to play our part in the Pacific family and build stronger relationships, as well as additional ODA [Official Development Assistance]."
Labor closes in on majority
Three tight races will determine the size of Labor's majority in parliament as vote counting continues following the federal election.
On Friday morning, the Australian Electoral Commission had Labor ahead in the count with 75 seats to the Coalition's 59, the Greens with three seats, and 12 on the crossbench.
The seats of Macnamara and Brisbane are without a two-candidate preferred count.
In Brisbane, Labor's Madonna Jarrett is holding on to her primary vote lead over the Greens, placing her in a strong position to take the seat from Liberal MP Trevor Evans.
She is 672 votes ahead of Greens candidate Stephen Bates.
In the Victorian seat of Macnamara, Labor MP Josh Burns is in the primary vote lead on 32.2 per cent.
But his fate will be determined by the race between Liberal candidate Colleen Harkin (29.5 per cent) and the Greens' Steph Hodgins-May (29.4 per cent).
Ms Harkin is currently 102 primary votes ahead of Ms Hodgins-May.
Liberal candidate Andrew Constance is 286 votes ahead of sitting Labor MP Fiona Phillips in the NSW electorate of Gilmore, with postal votes slightly favouring Mr Constance.
No seats have been formally declared.
Darren Chester to challenge Barnaby Joyce for Nationals leadership
Former veterans affairs minister Darren Chester has confirmed he will challenge Barnaby Joyce for the Nationals leadership when the party meets in Canberra.
"We need to be honest with each other in the party room and take some responsibility for the Liberal losses in the city," the MP for Gippsland told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age late on Thursday.
"How we develop our policies, deliver our message, and work with our Coalition partners in the future will determine whether we can return to government and deliver for regional communities."
Nationals MP Anne Webster has publicly declared her bid for the deputy leadership.
Mr Chester and Dr Webster's declarations came ahead of the Nationals' meeting in Canberra on Monday to spill the positions of leader, held by Mr Joyce, and David Littleproud's deputy role.
Former leader Michael McCormack and Mr Littleproud are also understood to be interested in the top job.
Mr Joyce has said he would nominate even if there was a challenge, noting his party had held all of its seats at the poll.
The Nationals automatically spill the leadership after an election.
With AAP.
