TRANSCRIPT
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition leader Peter Dutton have butted heads for their third and penultimate leaders debate, hosted by Channel Nine.
After a political truce from the leaders during the day as they paid their respects to Pope Francis, both began by reiterating their condolences.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton won the coin toss and opened the debate, starting by repeating the coalition's mantra that Australians are not better off than they were three years ago.
“Over the course of last three years, people have gone through the biggest drop in living standards in any other country compared to any other country in the world, we need to make sure that we can get our country back on track that we can help manage the economy”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese instead looking to the future.
“Labor's plan is to build Australia's future, to build your family's future. We have immediate support through cost of living assistance, whilst making sure that we invest in the future.”
The latest Roy Morgan survey suggests Labor would be returned to government with an increased majority of 55.5 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, if the election was held today.
This compares to the Coalition on 44.5 per cent.
Peter Dutton blamed the coalition's sliding polls on Labor, who he says have spent the campaign slinging mud.
“Well, Ally, the Labor Party spent $20 million throwing mud and negative ads, and that has an impact, and I get that but for a lot of Australian families over the course of the next few days they're going to have to make a decision about what's in their best interest and what's in our country's best interest.”
With host Ally Langdon encouraging the pair to avoid using their time repeating familiar talking points, both leaders were asked to nominate the "biggest lie" the other has told about them and given the chance to refute it.
Despite being asked for just one, Peter Dutton couldn't help but offer more.
“Just one? Geez Charles. Making it hard. The $600 billion figure comes from a company that is a donor to the Labor party, full of donors, Labor staffers. Discredited, and it is at odds with a hundred and twenty billion dollar figure for the construction of nuclear power sites, which is the CSIRO figure. In relation to Medicare, the whole Medicare scare campaign which has been going on at subsequent elections for a long period of time. The fact is that bulk building has plummeted under this Prime Minister, people can't afford to go to the doctors because the out of pocket expense now is about $43 per person when you going to the doctor.”
But Anthony Albanese says it's Mr Dutton who has the numbers wrong.
“Medicare is at the centre of this campaign, and we will strengthen Medicare. Peter uses a figure about about bulk billing that takes into account the fact that Australians had to get COVID shots during the pandemic, and that boosted artificially the numbers. But the truth is, bulk billing was in free fall because the incoming Liberal government, the last time they won ripped $50 billion out of the hospital system. This Minister, when Peter was the health minister, tried to introduce the GP tax, which would have abolished bulk billing, all together, and when he couldn't do that, what happened was that there was a six year freeze on the Medicare rebate which sent off billing into a free fall.”
The pair went on for a while about the numbers, before things turned a little more personal.
“ALBANESE: In the budget, prior to you coming to office, you ripped $80 billion out of those two items in 2014."
DUTTON: "Prime Minister, you couldn't lie straight in bed. Honestly, this is unbelievable."
ALBANESE:" Well, you can go to abuse. You can go to personal abuse. that's a sign of desperation."
DUTTON: "Well as is lying"
ALBANESE: "That's a sign of desperation, go to the 2014 budget papers. People can do that online. It's all available for all to see”
With their biggest clash of the night out of the way early on, the pair moved to some of the biggest talking points of the campaign so far.
On housing, Peter Dutton says the coalition has no plans to make any changes to negative gearing or capital gains tax.
“I want to make sure that we can have the tax settings in place so that we can encourage investment, because young Australians have to rent for a period of time until they can afford to get into their own home and if we don't have investors in the market, then we don't have that rental accommodation and we reduce the stock of housing.”
The Prime Minister says his government is focusing on supply.
“What we are concentrating on is supply. We won't be making the changes that you suggest because we're concerned that it would have a negative impact on supply and would push up rents. That is why we are not making those changes, and we haven't done so. But this idea that the housing crisis has occurred over the last two years is just a nonsense, just a nonsense, and everyone out there knows that it's the case and they didn't even bother to have a Housing Minister for half of the time that they were in government.”
On the cost of living, Mr Albanese says that while he knows people are doing it tough, Labor is offering real relief.
“We understand that many people are doing it tough, which is why we've provided significant cost of living relief but we've had to do it in a way that put that downward pressure on inflation. As a result, inflation as a two in front of it 2.4 But at the same time, we've created a million jobs.”
Peter Dutton says the government has squandered a commodities windfall and rising interest rates are a home-grown problem of the government's making.
The cuts the Coalition would rely upon to pay for policies are still under wraps.
Mr Dutton says the coalition's plan to cut fuel costs will deliver relief to every Australian.
“It goes across the economy. So it's not just for families who are doing it tough. Pensioners are really doing it tough because they've got fixed incomes and rising costs under this government. Electricity is up by thirty two percent. Gas is up by thirty four percent and for those pensioners and self funded retirees, for small businesses as well, they benefit. So whether petrol is at two dollar a litre or a dollar fifty a litre, it will always be 25 cents cheaper under us.”
When asked what the biggest risk to Australia is right now, Mr Albanese took the opportunity to revisit one of Mr Dutton's less flattering moments.
“Complacency and the uncertain world that we inherit, In an uncertain times it's the last, last time where you'd want to take a risk. Peter spoke about his long experience, and that's true, but that's the problem. Every pacific leader remembers him joking about water lapping at their doors. For the Pacific Island neighbours. It's not a joke, climate change, it's something that is the entry fee to credibility in our region.”
In the end, the panel of Nine journalists delivered their verdict, and Peter Dutton has won 2-1.
This debate coincided with the opening of early voting across the country, with time running out for leaders to convince voters of their policies.
By midday, the Australian Electoral Commission reported 230,000 Australians had already cast their vote.
With 50 per cent of Australians expected to vote before May 3, every moment of campaign time between now and then is critical.
