Creating fear about asylum seekers and ramping up division over Australia Day means one thing to the Greens - the coalition's election campaign is fully underway.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale said warnings on people-smuggling operations and forcing local councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on January 26 was evidence that the coalition plans to fight dirty.
"No question we've got an election coming up which will be fought on fear and division," Senator Di Natale told reporters in Melbourne on Monday.
"They'll do what they can to try and heighten the concerns around innocent people seeking asylum, the fact that we're a multicultural nation with many different cultures.
"They'll try and divide and conquer the Australian community in an effort to win the next election, that's what they do."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants to force councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day, after several councils moved them in protest about the date.
"I don't want to Australia Day undermined into the future and just see it sort of fade away," he told the Nine Network.
"Councils that don't want to do that for political reasons, well, they don't have to hold ceremonies."
The coalition is also warning people-smuggling operations could ramp up again if Labor wins the next election, after a boat was intercepted off Malaysia 10 days ago.
The 34 asylum seekers, including 11 women and seven children, were stopped as they were about to board a boat with the promise they would be taken to either Australia or New Zealand.
"There's thousands of people up in Indonesia - if they get the green light from the Labor Party if they're elected - who will want to get on boats and test that system," Mr Morrison told the Seven Network on Monday.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said it was "complete rubbish" to suggest Labor would abandon Operation Sovereign Borders.
"What they do when they say these lies is they are actually encouraging people smugglers to try their hand against the Australian system," he told reporters in the Northern Territory.
Senator Di Natale said it was going to be an "ugly" election campaign, and he was looking forward to a change of government where the Greens will hold Labor to account.
