Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese slammed over treatment of debate host Sarah Abo

Scott Morrison has reacted to accusations that he and Anthony Albanese were disrespectful towards debate moderator Sarah Abo.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has rejected accusations that he and Anthony Albanese were disrespectful towards the moderator of their second election debate last night.

The two major party leaders have been criticised for repeatedly talking over Channel 9’s Sarah Abo and ignoring her efforts to control the debate.

“You’ve both been pretty heavily criticised for the way you behaved in the debate, particularly the treatment – pretty dismissive – of the female moderator. In hindsight, do you wish you had acted differently?” a reporter asked Mr Morrison during a press conference in Yerriyong, NSW this afternoon.

“Well, the way the debate was set up made it, often, very difficult to hear in the room itself,” the Prime Minister said.

“It was a spirited debate. I think Australians expect spirited debate, and the last one was a bit more measured. I hope the one on Wednesday, the way the rules work, maybe that will help the moderator a bit more.”

Mr Morrison said he didn’t think Ms Abo’s gender “had anything to do with it”.

“Both Anthony and I, I think, are completely respectful, have always been respectful of females in the workplace, and certainly when we work with them professionally,” he said.

Host Sarah Abo was spoken over on several occasions by both leaders. Picture: Channel 9

Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese’s treatment of Ms Abo was labelled “truly terrible” by some viewers.

On multiple occasions, the Labor and Liberal leader spoke over each other, and refused to stop arguing points despite repeated requests from the 60 Minutes.

In one instance, Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese engaged in a nasty war of words concerning China and Australia’s foreign policy.

In an attempt to stop the duo from arguing, Abo said: “I think we are getting more questions … Excuse me. I think we’re getting more questions between the two of you than from our panel”.

Her requested seemed to fall on deaf ears though, and the exchange continued as though Abo wasn’t even there.

Once more, she tried to interject, saying: “Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese, this is enough, we do need to move on”.

Still, they persisted.

On her third attempt to move the discussion forward, she had to remind the men of the rules they had agreed to prior to the debate.

“You all agreed to the rules this evening. Chris Uhlmann has a question, and we will move on to his question,” she said.

Moments later, Abo again had to battle with Mr Albanese to get a word in.

“Something that Mr Albanese, we have a question. Mr Albanese, we have given you more than enough time,” she told him.

“The pair of you have had more than enough time. You agreed … You agreed to these rules before coming on the program tonight.”

Viewers were furious at the blatant disrespect both parties displayed towards Abo.

This is truly terrible - where is the moderator #leadersdebate

— Lenore Taylor (@lenoretaylor) May 8, 2022

Allowing the two speakers to simply butt in whenever they want and question each other whenever they want and talk over each other for as long as they like without any sign of the moderator is a serious mistake here.

It makes for painful, unwatchable viewing.#LeadersDebate

— Ronni Salt (@RonniSalt) May 8, 2022

Royal Commission into the moderation of the debate #leadersdebate

— Isaac Nowroozi (Taylor's Version) (@isaacnowroozi) May 8, 2022

Uhlmann earlier took a stern approach in his probing of Labor leader Anthony Albanese during his debate with the Prime Minister.

Mr Albanese was asked by Uhlmann early in Sunday evening’s Great Debate whether he could guarantee wages would rise faster than inflation under his Labor government.

“I will guarantee that wages will grow faster than they will under this current government,” Mr Albanese responded.

He said Labor had “practical plans” including improvements in insecure work, casualisation, the gender pay gap, and feminised industries such as aged care.

“We will put in a submission to the Fair Work Commission that is dealing at the moment with aged care workers who are paid just $20 an hour,” he said.

Chris Uhlmann. Picture: Channel 9

Mr Uhlmann interjected claiming Mr Albanese was in no position to make such an assurance.

“To summarise, you cannot guarantee that real wages will rise?” he said.

“The difference between myself and the current government and Scott Morrison is that we will try to do what we can in measures and structures to improve real wages,” Mr Albanese replied.

“We will support, for example, minimum wage increases. At the moment, this government will not even do that.”

The divisive host’s name was trending on Twitter even before the debate began, with many accusing him of favouring the Prime Minister.

It didn’t take long for the debate to descend into an fiery exchange of barbs between the two leaders.

On several occasions they spoke over each other, and ignored persistent requests from Abo to finish their argument.