The pair went head-to-head off in a Sky News People's Forum debate where their already-personal campaign reached new heights.
In the most tense moment of the debate, Dr Ryan blasted Mr Frydenberg as the “Treasurer for New South Wales”, saying “you weren’t here” during the pandemic.
“Public hospitals have been doing it pretty hard,” she said.
Mr Frydenberg said he was “not going to be insulted like that”.
He said his father was a surgeon, his sister was a paediatrician and his uncle was a urologist.
“I’m the member for Kooyong, I’m the Treasurer for Australia, and I have delivered economic support for Victoria which is greater than any other state on a per capita basis,” Mr Frydenberg said.
Mr Frydenberg said climate change was “one of the biggest issues the world faces” and that he was “absolutely committed” to practical and strong action to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Dr Ryan and Mr Frydenberg traded blows over her status as an independent, with the deputy Liberal leader accusing her of concealing the truth about her political past and Dr Ryan saying he was calling her names. They also debated interest rates, wage growth and refugees.
Asked why a hung parliament would be a bad thing, Dr Ryan said the current Liberal government was already a “minority government” given its coalition with the Nationals.
She said Mr Frydenberg was a “hostage to Barnaby Joyce” and to “his own political ambitions”.
Dr Ryan said if she was in the balance of power, she would negotiate with both major parties, with her top priorities being taking effective action on climate change and delivering a federal anti-corruption commission.
Dr Ryan also blamed the Morrison government for the breakdown in Australia’s relationship with China.
She said ties with Australia’s biggest trading partner needed to be “treated with respect and sensitivity”, not “macho chest-beating belligerence”, as she accused the government of weaponising the relationship for domestic political reasons. Mr Frydenberg said China has changed and Australia's national interest was a priority.
The Treasurer has admitted he is in the ‘political fight of his life’ to hold on to the seat of Kooyong “and warned voters they face the ‘horror movie’ of an Albanese minority government propped up by teal independents who are performing a ‘fraud’ and ‘con job’ on the nation.
Dr Ryan, who is shaping up to be Mr Frydenberg’s toughest competition, is backed by the Simon Holmes a Court’s Climate 200 machine.
Originally published as Kooyong debate: Josh Frydenberg v Monique Ryan go head-to-head
Updates
Wrapping up the debate, Dr Ryan said Australia “can do better”, and that the Morrison government’s legacy was a “toxic miasma of division, disappointment and debt”.
‘This government has done nothing good for us in the past nine years,” she said.
“For Mr Frydenberg, politics is about power. For me, it’s about people.”
Mr Frydenberg used his closing statement to say politics was “about people” for him as well.
He told the stories of local residents he had been able to assist, including with access to the NDIS and through economic support measures in the pandemic.
He said he had “a lot of work left to do”, and that he needed the support of voters at the ballot box, instead of risking the chaos and confusion of a hung parliament.
– Tom Minear
Mr Frydenberg retold the conversation he had with Dr Ryan’s mother-in-law, saying she was a “very nice person” who told him she would vote for him.
Dr Ryan said she had “no problem with that” but that her mother-in-law felt she had been misquoted.
She said she had since been subjected to harassing phone calls, as she criticised Mr Frydenberg for bringing her into the campaign.
“It’s been really distressing for the family,” Dr Ryan said.
– Tom Minear
In the most tense moment of the debate, Dr Ryan blasted Mr Frydenberg as the “Treasurer for New South Wales”, saying “you weren’t here” during the pandemic.
“Public hospitals have been doing it pretty hard,” she said.
Mr Frydenberg said he was “not going to be insulted like that”.
He said his father was a surgeon, his sister was a paediatrician and his uncle was a urologist.
“I’m the member for Kooyong, I’m the Treasurer for Australia, and I have delivered economic support for Victoria which is greater than any other state on a per capita basis,” Mr Frydenberg said.
Dr Ryan claimed there had been a “leadership vacuum at a federal level” during the pandemic.
Working as a doctor in a public hospital, she said: “You could see the tsunami coming. You felt helpless and angry.”
Mr Frydenberg said Australia had performed at a world-leading level on administering vaccinations, saving lives and shoring up the economy during the pandemic.
"We've done pretty well," he said.
– Tom Minear
In response to Dr Ryan’s push for an anti-corruption commission, Mr Frydenberg said he had put $100m in the budget to deliver on the government’s model, which it is yet to legislate.
He said the government disagreed with allowing public referrals to the watchdog, and also warned expansive public hearings could impact the rule of law.
Clearing MPs after they had been grilled publicly over allegations would be "cold comfort", Mr Frydenberg added.
Dr Ryan said it was “patently false” that the government had set aside money for the watchdog.
She said the reason the government did not want an anti-corruption commission was because “it knows what we will find”, pointing to JobKeeper payments to mining magnate Gina Rinehart while the scheme left out universities.
– Tom Minear
Dr Ryan has shot down suggestions she should have targeted more conservative members of the Coalition rather than kick out the more moderate Mr Frydenberg.
"I don't agree Mr Frydenberg is a moderate Liberal," she said.
"He sits with Mr Morrison's faction in the centre-right.
"We're defined by our actions, not our words."
She said that Mr Frydenberg had never crossed the floor on a matter of conscience, pointing to how he voted in favour of the religious discrimination bill and to keep refugees offshore.
"This is a man who votes with Barnaby Joyce every time against what is essentially our national interest," she said.
Mr Frydenberg was then questioned about whether he was being held back by other members of the Coalition.
"Not everyone in this room will agree with what the Liberal Party has done, particularly over the last three difficult years," he said.
"But I am who I am.
"With Monique Ryan, she sought to conceal the fact she was a member of the Labor Party."
Dr Ryan denied she'd been dishonest about her past.
She said that she only joined the Labor Party between 2007 and 2010 because she believed Kevin Rudd would take effective action on climate change.
"He didn't and I moved on," she said.
– Ashleigh Gleeson
Dr Ryan blamed the Morrison government for the breakdown in Australia’s relationship with China.
She said ties with Australia’s biggest trading partner needed to be “treated with respect and sensitivity”, not “macho chest-beating belligerence”, as she accused the government of weaponising the relationship for domestic political reasons.
Mr Frydenberg said China under President Xi Jinping had changed, and that the government’s focus was protecting Australia’s national interest.
He urged Dr Ryan to look at the demands the Chinese government had put on the Australian government.
“I make no apology … We have serious issues and we can’t put our heads in the sand,” Mr Frydenberg said.
– Tom Minear
Asked about refugee policy, Mr Frydenberg said the government had a strong humanitarian intake that had expanded to deal with conflict in Afghanistan and Ukraine.
“I understand better than most the opportunities Australia provides for people who come from difficult backgrounds,” he said, pointing to how his mother arrived as a stateless refugee.
Dr Ryan said Australia’s attitude to asylum seekers had been a shame to the country over the past decade. She said the government needed to end offshore detention for refugees and temporary protection visas, and increase the refugee intake by at least 50 per cent.
Asked about the gender pay gap on superannuation, Dr Ryan said there was “no question” women should be paid superannuation on their parental leave.
Mr Frydenberg pointed to the changes the government had already made to remove the $450 rule to ensure about 200,000 low-paid women would still receive super contributions.
– Tom Minear
Dr Ryan took it up to Mr Frydenberg on the economy, questioning his record when Australia now faced $1 trillion in debt, rampant inflation, rising interest rates and falling real wages.
“Tell me how that is a successful economy,” she said.
She also accused him of wasting $38bn on JobKeeper payments to companies that did not need it during the pandemic.
Mr Frydenberg said that was “completely not true” and that JobKeeper had saved more than 700,000 jobs.
He said he was “very happy to debate Monique every single day about the economy”, as he questioned why her billboards referenced delivering a strong economy when she did not have a tax policy.
Dr Ryan said the fact that Mr Frydenberg was “keeping such a close eye” on her policy positions was a “mark of respect” for her candidacy.
She said it was not her job as an independent to provide a sweeping plan for tax reform, although she said it was disappointing that vision had not been provided by the major parties.
– Tom Minear
A local voter has asked "who should I believe?" while holding up opposing brochures from Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and teal independent Monique Ryan which make different claims about climate change.
"I'm a long time resident of Kew," Noel said at the Sky News debate for the seat of Kooyong.
"I have one question for both of you please, Treasurer, you said we will reach net zero emissions by 2050.
"Dr Ryan, you say Australia will not reach net zero emissions until 2094, the Liberal government's documents are a lie.
"Who should I believe?"
Mr Frydenberg promised that they would "get there" but they didn't want electricity prices to rise.
"Let me state from the outset that climate change is one of the biggest issues the world faces and I'm absolutely committed to practical strong action on climate change and was a very public and strong advocate for our government's commitment to net zero emissions by 2050," he said.
"So we will get there.
"We have the costed plan to get there.
"In the budget we've invested in everything from micro grids to new clean hydrogen facilities.
"We have Snowy 2.0 that's been built as a big battery for the east coast of Australia.
"But we've got to mutually achieve a number of objectives of course we're going to reduce our carbon footprint. That's a priority. But we've also got to ensure that electricity prices stay low."
Dr Ryan said the Coalition only had a plan for a plan and accused them of fudging figures.
"The sad fact of the matter is that since 2015, our carbon emissions have – if you remove the fudging that's associated with the numbers associated with land usage, land clearing and forestry – increased by 4 per cent," she said.
"This is a government that does not have a plan for net zero by 2050.
"It has a plan for a plan.
"In the most recent budget, the amount of money allocated to amelioration of climate change decreased."
– Ashleigh Gleeson
Dr Ryan said a hung parliament could be a 'good thing' if it meant independents like herself would be able to influence governments more.
She argued the current Liberal government was a minority to the Nationals – 'held hostage to Barnaby Joyce'.
"If independents like myself are in a position of a hung parliament and we are in a position to influence governments – then that is a good thing," she said.
Dr Ryan said if she was in the balance of power, she would negotiate with both major parties, with her top priorities being taking effective action on climate change and delivering a federal anti-corruption commission.
Mr Frydenberg said a hung parliament would create more uncertainty which would be a very bad thing for the economy and national security.
“We need the stability of government,” Mr Frydenberg said.
Asked about his “Keep Josh” billboards, Mr Frydenberg said Liberal voters may not be able to “give me a kick” for some actions of the government without losing him as their local member.
