Prime Minister Scott Morrison has denied he has broken any promise about establishing a federal integrity commission against corruption.
The prime minister pledged to introduce the anti-corruption body on a national level ahead of the 2019 election but failed to bring the proposal forward before the next election on 21 May.
He said he will not be pressured into introducing a "kangaroo court" that he says is established in NSW on a state level.
"What I am concerned about is the circus that Labor would want to put in place with an integrity commission, I have lived with that in NSW," Mr Morrison told reporters in Launceston, Tasmania.
"I have seen the lives destroyed by a commission such as that, which becomes a kangaroo court and goes around and seems to operate through politics and shaming people and the proper process that should go to those important issues being properly considered."
The term "kangaroo court" is often used to describe an ad hoc court that has limited power and does not follow normal legal procedures.
NSW established its Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) in 1988, and there have long been calls for its model to be adopted at the federal level, despite the prime minister's objections.
SBS News put to Mr Morrison that he had failed to deliver on his promise to introduce a federal ICAC before the next election, to which he responded: "I have to disagree with you."
Mr Morrison was further pressed on whether he would concede he has broken his promise to introduce a federal ICAC. The prime minister said: "No, it's not."
"We put forward our proposal in detailed legislation and it has not been supported by the Labor Party. I need bipartisan support to put that in place," he continued.
NSW's ICAC model allows for the investigation of corrupt conduct in the public sector through public hearings, probing tip-offs from the public, and issuing public findings.
The prime minister has previously described the state's ICAC as a "kangaroo court" after former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian resigned in October last year when the anti-corruption watchdog announced its probe into her dealings as leader of the state.
Members of the Coalition believe that the NSW ICAC model allows for public scrutiny without the presumption of innocence, before being proven guilty.
Ms Berejiklian was forced to front a public hearing that investigated whether she breached public trust by allocating funds to a project in Daryl Maguire's electorate, who she was in a secret relationship with at the time.
ICAC also investigated Mr Maguire over allegations he was running a business out of the state's Parliament House. Separately, the anti-corruption commission's investigations into former Labor MPs Eddie Obeid and Ian McDonald led to their imprisonments.
Mr Morrison stood alongside Liberal MP Bridget Archer in her electorate of Bass, who .
But unlike in parliament, Ms Archer and the prime minister took a united front on Thursday.
She said she understood that Mr Morrison must balance the interests of the country with hers, as she acts for the people of her electorate in Bass.
When Ms Archer was asked whether she believed the NSW ICAC was a kangaroo court, she said she was not exposed to the state's integrity body enough to comment.
"I have ... made the view that all sides of politics agree that we should have some sort of national integrity body. The disagreement comes on that what should look like," she said.
"Nothing will move forward until the politics is taken out - I have said that all the way along."
The prime minister also announced a $220 million package for the forestry industry.
He said his government would never shut down native forestry and would work with state governments to establish permanent timber production areas.
"The pressures on the building industry and the uncertain international trade situation has made it clear that local wood products and local skills are critical," he said.
'We will turn boats back'
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese said people attempting to arrive in Australia by boat will be turned back to avoid offshore detention.
Mr Albanese said the boat turnback policy had resulted in fewer asylum seeker boat arrivals heading for Australia, reducing the need for offshore detention.
When asked about whether people smugglers from other countries will take advantage of Labor's border policies if elected on 21 May, Mr Albanese's response was clear.
"We will turn boats back. Turning boats back means that you don't need offshore detention," he said.
But later, he clarified that a Labor government would still keep the option of offshore detention centres.
"[We haven't seen people put in] offshore detention in recent times because the boats have been turned back. It's been [an] effective [policy]," Mr Albanese said.
It comes as the United Kingdom is set to announce a world-first deal to who arrived in Britain through the English Channel.
On the fourth day of the election campaign, Mr Albanese travelled to Cessnock and Hunter Valley, proposing urgent care clinics for regional NSW in what has been a health blitz for the first week of the election campaign.
The prime minister accused Mr Albanese of leaning on border protection policies that he says he invented.
"I designed the boat turnback policy. I implemented it. I stood up to criticism day after day after day, I remember back at the 2013 election, people said this was an inhumane policy. It wouldn't work. There is no way you could make it happen. I stood firm on that policy," Mr Morrison said.
"Anthony Albanese has had every position on border protection. He has supported everything he has opposed and he has opposed everything that he has supported."
Mr Morrison used the opportunity to hammer the key message he has made against his opponent that Australians do not know who the Opposition leader is.
"When it comes to border protection, the people smugglers know who I am."
Meanwhile, the Greens were in the NSW Illawarra region announcing a plan to invest $500 million in green steel to shift Australians away from the use of coal and gas.
Green steel is made with hydrogen instead of coal, meaning its by-product is water and delivers the lowest carbon footprint possible.
Further up the NSW coast, deputy prime minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce were in the Hunter region to make two infrastructure announcements - one at Morisset in Lake Macquarie and one at the Newcastle airport.
With AAP.
