Turnbull declined to be more specific about when he would make an election announcement, preferring to say it would be at an “appropriate time” after the budget.

The prime minister has until May 11 to make the call.

“But I just want to be very clear that we are governing, we have a lot of decisions to make, not least of which is the budget, the most important economic policy statement of the year,” he told reporters at a construction site in Canberra on Tuesday.

He said it was his “strong expectation” that the election would be called for July 2, but he was paying “due respect” to the Governor-General.

Turnbull has the triggers he wants for a double-dissolution election after the Senate rejected for a second time government legislation restoring the building industry watchdog.

Ultimately voters would decide the fate of the Australian Building and Construction Commission, he said.

Turnbull vowed to use an election mandate to present the legislation to a joint sitting of the new parliament.

“I think Australians understand that it’s important that the rule of law prevails in every part of Australian industry,” he said.

They also understood they were paying too much for schools and hospitals and roads because of lawlessness in the construction sector.

more to come

– with AAP