An independent inquiry should be carried out into when the prime minister was briefed on the discovery of a caravan filled with explosives and a list of Jewish targets in Sydney, the opposition leader says.

Peter Dutton said he had written to Anthony Albanese on Thursday requesting a public probe, arguing it was “inconceivable” the prime minister was not informed before the caravan’s discovery was made known to the community.

“There is no way in the world that a prime minister would be kept in the dark for 10 days about an alleged terrorist plot that could have killed hundreds of Australians. Why was the premier of New South Wales notified about it?” Dutton told reporters in Canberra.

“If there was a national security imperative to keep it from political leaders, it just doesn’t add up.”

The opposition has been using the first week back for federal parliament for the year to question the prime minister on when security agencies briefed him on the caravan plot.

However, Dutton said there had not been any breakdown in the intelligence process, also rejecting suggestions an inquiry would divert police resources from active investigations.

“It’s obvious that the prime minister wasn’t notified, and the question is, why? I don’t think that distracts hours of human resource away,” he said.

“It’s obvious that the prime minister was kept in the dark.”

The federal police are set to be questioned on who they briefed about the caravan during a hearing in Canberra on Thursday afternoon.

While NSW Premier Chris Minns said he was told of the caravan plot several days before it was made public in late January, the prime minister has not stated when he was informed, following a breakdown of communication between state and federal authorities.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said an inquiry was not needed and that he was briefed regularly on security issues.

“Peter Dutton wants resources of the Australian Federal Police and the intelligence agencies to stop doing what they’re doing, chasing down these criminals, arresting them, putting them in the clink. Instead, he wants a political process,” he told reporters in Queensland.

“It’s extraordinary that Peter Dutton thinks this is the way to go. But for Peter Dutton, there is no issue too big for him to show how small his approach to politics is.”

The opposition leader said the prime minister had been changing his position repeatedly on when he was informed about the caravan’s discovery.

“It’s obvious that the prime minister wasn’t notified, and the question is, why? I don’t think that distracts hours of human resource away,” he said.

“It’s obvious that the prime minister was kept in the dark.”

Albanese said authorities had made arrests as part of their investigations into the plot and police processes needed to be respected.

“You don’t have to be someone who watches CSI every week to know that that is the important process, not these political games.”

“What I will do is to back intelligence agencies, what I will do is to not reveal information that is sensitive for things that are ongoing investigations.”

Albanese said any claims he wasn’t told about the threats was an assumption and that the opposition was weaponising national security.

“What’s important here is that we don’t play politics with national security, and when it comes to a range of the issues related to the anti-Semitic attacks, what I haven’t done is gone out there and reveal intelligence,” he told Nine’s Today program earlier on Thursday.

“Peter Dutton has chosen to not get a briefing, because if you don’t get a briefing, you can just talk away and not worry about facts.”

The opposition leader said the prime minister had been changing his position repeatedly on when he was informed about the caravan’s discovery.

-AAP