Parties sharpen attacks ahead of parliament's return

Labor is warning Australians they will be worse off under the opposition leader, as the major parties take lessons from Donald Trump's campaign to sharpen their attack lines ahead of parliament sitting.

With voters heading back to the ballot boxes sometime before May, the Labor Party has launched an attack ad highlighting the federal government's cost-of-living measures like free TAFE, tax cuts and pay rises - before pointing out Opposition Leader Peter Dutton opposed every policy.

"You'll be worse off under Dutton," the advertisement says.

The video, which has been broadcast across free-to-air TV and social media platforms, has been brushed off by shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash, who says Australians are "sick and tired" of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

"The best that Mr Albanese can come up with is they don't like Peter Dutton," she told Nine's Today show on Monday.

But the ad could be used to pre-empt attacks against Labor as it echoes similar lines used by US President Donald Trump to undermine the incumbent party and secure a second White House term.

Throughout Mr Trump's campaign rallies, he asked supporters, "are you better off now than you were four years ago?" and was met with a resounding "no".

The question invited comparisons between former president Joe Biden's term - which was marred by rampant inflation and rising interest rates - and Mr Trump's first four years, to create the perception of economic strength under the Republican.

Mr Albanese's time in parliament has been riddled with many of the same issues that plagued the former Democratic president, making him susceptible to similar lines of attack.

With politicians returning to Canberra before the start of the parliamentary sitting week on Tuesday, cost-of-living pressures remain the major focus.

Labor will introduce legislation to increase childcare subsidies and lock in fee-free TAFE as it spruiks moderating inflation that has spurred hopes of a February interest rate cut.

Sticky inflation is spearheading the coalition's offensive.

"If the government's pretending that somehow they've performed this miracle, the economy's turned around and families should be grateful - I just don't think that's the discussion around family tables at the moment," Mr Dutton said.

The coalition also says the government isn't doing enough to curb anti-Semitism, as debate over stronger hate speech protections goes to parliament.

Laws targeting hate crimes would create new offences for threatening force or violence against particular groups, including on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, nationality or political opinion.

It comes after a spike in anti-Semitic attacks, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, including the firebombing of a synagogue, cars and a childcare centre as well as expletive-ridden graffiti and Nazi iconography.

The opposition is blaming the rise in anti-Semitism on Mr Albanese's leadership, while Labor says terrorism shouldn't be used for political advantage.

Senator Cash says she will move an amendment to cover people who threaten attacks on places of worship, but Labor says there are already adequate provisions in the bill.

The opposition is also pushing for mandatory minimum prison sentences for terrorism, although Labor and the Greens are generally opposed to the proposal which won't be introduced in the upcoming sitting week.

The government's legislation has received backing from the Greens and in-principle support from the coalition, and is expected to pass in the next fortnight.

The government is still hoping to pass electoral reforms after negotiations with the coalition broke down last year and the crossbench all but rejected the bill as a major party stitch-up.

The two main parties were at an impasse over expenditure and donation threshold changes.