Seven key moments that mattered in leaders’ debate between Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have faced-off and battlelines were drawn. See the key moments.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have faced-off in the second leader’s debate of the election campaign, with housing, nuclear energy, and foreign policy the big topics.
Here are the moments that mattered:
Power prices
In 2022 Mr Albanese happily guaranteed power bills would go down by $275, but last night he declined to say when prices will go down at all. He said he wants to “make sure there’s energy security”.
Public service changes
The Coalition’s planned changes to the public service will not cover all their spending promises, Mr Dutton confirmed.
He would not reveal where the cuts would come from, only that the Coalition would look for efficiencies.
‘The one big thing they’ll be remembered for’
Mr Albanese nominated affordable childcare, listing off the changes Labor has already made and plans to make.
It’s energy policy for Mr Dutton, who takes the opportunity to spruik his gas reservation policy and nuclear energy plan.
‘Do you trust Trump?’
“I don’t know Donald Trump, is my point” Mr Dutton, who called Mr Trump’s treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “appalling.”
Mr Albanese said he had “no reason” not to trust the US leader based on the discussions they’ve had since his inauguration.
Submariner
Mr Albanese confirmed he had been on a United States-owned nuclear powered submarine that had docked in Western Australia. Peter Dutton jumped in and asked “were you scared?”, referring to the PM’s opposition to nuclear power.
‘I’m not a scientist’
Mr Dutton refused to say if he agreed the impact of climate change was being seen now, through increased natural disasters claiming he couldn’t as he wasn’t a scientist.
“I don’t know because I’m not a scientist and I can’t tell you whether the temperature has risen in Thargomindah because of climate change or the water levels are up,” he said.
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Originally published as Seven key moments that mattered in leaders’ debate between Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton
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