Analysis: Second leaders’ debate sees Albanese shoot at Morrison’s Achilles heel and miss

In the second of the leaders’ debates, while Anthony Albanese’s pointiest questions fell flat Scott Morrison landed zinger after zinger, writes Miranda Devine.

In a debate obsessively controlled by Nine, neither Scott Morrison nor Anthony Albanese had much opportunity to flex their muscles and shirt-front their opponent.

But the few times they got into a scrap the debate became more NRL 360 than Slumberland.

Then, 40 minutes in, we saw a flash of authenticity when the leaders jousted over one of the favourite topics of Labor and the teals – a federal ICAC. Albo thought he was on a winner: “Scott called it a kangaroo court”.

Then ScoMo flipped the switch to vaudeville, as Paul Keating used to say.

“Why haven’t you drafted your own legislation” for an integrity commission, he asked, then waved around a piece of paper. Labor’s plan is “only two pages”.

Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison fired up over a federal ICAC, the vaccine rollout, tax policy and illegal immigration at the second leaders’ debate. Picture: Alex Ellinghausen

“You throw mud around (but for) three years you’ve been hiding in the bushes.

“Small target. Big risk.”

Boom boom. When Albanese had the chance to ask Morrison a question, he went for what he thought was the PM’s Achilles heel – the old complaint on slow vaccines. “You said it wasn’t a race”.

Morrison admitted fault: “We shouldn’t have described it in those terms”.

Morrison then asked Albanese about his flip flops on negative gearing, retirement policy, tax cuts, boat turnbacks. “Since you have changed your mind so many times how can Australians (know what) you are for.”

Albo answered that he “supported the Labor Party at the last election – we had a range of policies that weren’t successful”.

Albanese’s responses to the PM’s attacks on foreign policy and China relations were weak. Picture: Alex Ellinghausen

Another willing exchange came over Labor’s shared home scheme when Morrison landed a zinger: “You go back to work and you have to sell your house. It’s force-to-sell!”

Albanese got increasingly flustered as Morrison pointed out that Labor deputy leader Richard Marles “ran his speeches past the Chinese government”.

“That’s an “outrageous slur”, Albo said twice, but without rejecting the claim.

The final impression was of a red-faced, flustered opposition leader focused on cheaper child care stronger Medicare, and a lot of clean energy, versus a confident, unflappable Prime Minister defining a choice between “strength and weakness, certainty and uncertainty”.

Morrison 1. Albanese. 0.

Originally published as Analysis: Second leaders’ debate sees Albanese shoot at Morrison’s Achilles heel and miss