Education Minister Christopher Pyne has signalled an election will not come early as the Opposition expected.

During question time on Thursday, Mr Pyne let slip that the election will be held “next year”, amid speculation that the government will go early.

“Why should the Australian people trust him [Opposition Leader Bill Shorten] on election day next year when the election occurs?” Mr Pyne said.

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You know the drill, photos like this appear with letterbox fodder at election time. So why has the government offered its MPs time to update theirs? Photo: ABC

His apparent slip-up appeared in the midst of electorate fundraising, the Opposition’s suspicions of an early election and a curious call for MPs to appear with Prime Minister Tony Abbott in new photos.

Mr Shorten earlier this week called on his colleagues to prepare for an early election, which he told a caucus meeting could happen as soon as August.

“I reckon there’s a real possibility we won’t be coming back until after an election,” Mr Shorten said on Tuesday.

The parliament is due to sit again on August 10 after it rises for the winter break.

And an email from Mr Abbott’s chief of staff Peta Credlin offering an hour to get a new photo “to use in local electorate materials” has been interpreted as preparations for a snap poll.

And the Victorian branch of the Liberal Party released a fundraising email leaning on proposed national security laws that strip dual nationals of citizenship.

Mr Abbott said the email was in “poor taste” and it was retracted. “We would never knowingly politicise national security,” he said.

But Mr Abbott has rubbished the early election suggestion, saying he was elected to run a full term.

“I would certainly advise anyone thinking that way to, in the old terminology, have a bex and a long lie down,” Mr Abbott said.

“Because this is a government that was elected to govern for three years.”