Building on recent swings in the polls back towards him, Anthony Albanese will no doubt have a little pep in his step this morning after winning his first leaders’ debate against Peter Dutton last night.
The two leaders went head-to-head in a town-hall style debate in Western Sydney hosted by SKY News and the Daily Telegraph.
Of the one hundred undecided voters in the room, 44 went with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and 35 with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. 21 remained undecided.
Hear about the debate on The Briefing, bringing you this morning’s headlines:
What were the main topics?
There were no knockout blows or major blunders. The debate focused on policies and issues we’ve heard about along the campaign trail, including cost of living, migration, education and housing.
There were plenty of accusations of lying, unsurprisingly. Both leaders accused the other of manipulating narratives around funding, timelines and scare campaigns, especially when it came to schools and hospitals.
Clash over ‘Mediscare’ claims
The PM reminded listeners that Dutton froze the Medicare rebate after becoming Health Minister in 2013.
“You tried to abolish bulk-billing by having a fee every time people visit a doctor,” Albanese said.
“When you couldn’t get that through, you froze the Medicare rebate, which stayed frozen for six years,” Albanese said.
The opposition leader was swift to shut down the claim, saying that was, “Factually incorrect.”
“‘The prime minister might say it should have gone up by more… But to say that the funding was cut, and you can go and look at the budget papers, that is not a factually correct statement, it is misleading, it is designed to scare people”.’
Turning to international issues
The debate turned to global issues, including the war in Gaza and what one member called the “Trump Pandemic”, referencing Trump’s tariffs.
The Briefing host Tara Cassidy said Albanese, “reminded the audience that apparently Australia got the best deal of any country under him, Dutton said he’d have done better though.”
Both sides backed funding public schools, but tussled over who cut funding when.
The pair disagreed over student migration and how much it relates to the current housing crisis.
Albo says his 33 billion dollar housing plan will do the trick, meanwhile Dutton said it’s not even close.
Dutton claimed there’s more international students coming here than the population of Adelaide. Which he says is hindering young Aussie’s home ownership dream.
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