CANBERRA - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that he would stand up for national interests in response to US tariffs during the second leaders' debate of the election campaign.

Albanese, leader of the governing Labor Party, and opposition Coalition leader Peter Dutton on Wednesday night went head-to-head for the second time on the campaign for the May 3 election in a debate that mostly focused on domestic affairs.

The candidates were asked about how they would negotiate with US President Donald Trump over a 10 percent tariff placed on imports from Australia.

Albanese said that the government has "put forward a proposition" to the United States but would not "budge" on pharmaceutical, biosecurity or media laws that have been identified by the Trump administration as trade grievances.

"We will stand up for Australia's national interests," he said.

He said that Australia has made it "very clear" that the tariffs were an act of "self-harm by the United States".

During the debate, Dutton, who has promised to abandon Australia's Paris Agreement emissions reduction target if elected prime minister, said that he would "let scientists pass judgment" on whether the impacts of climate change are getting more severe.

Facing pushback on the comment from Labor as well as scientists and environmentalists on Thursday, the opposition leader declared that he does believe in climate change and that it is a "reality".

The election campaign is expected to enter a lull over the four-day Easter weekend from Friday before re-igniting on Tuesday, when early voting will begin, with Albanese and Dutton set to go head-to-head in the third of four leaders' debates that night.

ALSO READ: Australian prime minister's party launches election campaign

A poll, conducted by think tank the Lowy Institute ahead of the general election, found that 41 percent of respondents identified Albanese as the prime minister candidate who would be more competent at handling foreign policy compared to 29 percent for Dutton.

The same survey, released on Thursday, asked respondents which candidate they think would be better at managing Australia's relationship with the US and Trump, 35 percent of participants chose Dutton and 34 percent Albanese.

Hundreds of early voting centers across the country will be operated by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) between Tuesday and May 2, allowing millions of voters to cast their ballots before election day.

Over 8.4 million people, 47.7 percent of all registered voters, cast their ballots early in the 2022 general election.

Although early voting opens 11 days before election day, no ballots can be counted by AEC staff until polls close at 6 pm local time on election night.