Get live leaders’ debate text message updates and exclusive verdict from Samantha Maiden

If you’re texting about the election and your group chat will be fired up tonight, here’s how to add one of Canberra’s top insiders to your contacts.

4 min read

May 11, 2022 - 2:10PM

Leaders debate heats up over energy policy (60 Minutes)

Political junkies across Australia will be watching tonight’s leaders’ debate with phones in hands and group chats fired up.

If that sounds like you, as well as sharing hot takes on the campaign’s final clash with mates, you can get live updates and inside info from national political editor Samantha Maiden by subscribing to news.com.au’s federal election texting service.

Subscribers can also use the direct line to one of Canberra’s top insiders to ask about the leaders’ performances and have their questions answered live. Sam will also reveal her verdict on the debate’s winner via text.

Ready to start texting? To sign up, just hit the button below or text Election to 0481 606 879

Sharing her verdict on Sunday night’s second leaders’ debate exclusively with text subscribers, Maiden acknowledged the entire debate was “all over the shop”, but said it really came down to the leaders’ answers.

“Anthony Albanese’s delivery wasn’t as confident as Scott Morrison, but the Prime Minister spent the whole debate hectoring over the host to the point where everyone just wanted him to shut up,” she texted. “His answer ‘it depends’ whether everyone should get the minimum wage was hopeless. Win for Albo.”

During the broadcast, news.com.au readers asked questions about the leaders’ performances and south Maiden’s opinion.

“Do you think Anthony Albanese is presenting a lot better this round compared to his last debate?” one reader asked.

“He’s doing OK,” Sam replied. “I think he’s been a bit low energy to start.”

“Do you think ScoMo and Albo were disrespectful to the moderator of the debate — or that she was inexperienced and the wrong choice to anchor such an important session?” another punter asked.

“I thought it was a mess and it was very rude that both leaders kept talking over her and ignoring her. You can say another moderator would have done better but that’s no excuse for being disrespectful to Sarah Abo during the debate,” Sam replied.

Others didn’t hold back from sharing their opinions.

“Punters were the losers Samantha,” one reader shared after the shouting match. “There was precious little information on policy to assist determining a vote, and as you have indicated, an appalling, schoolboy discourse that has people frustrated with such poor leadership.”

Another shared: “It wasn’t even a proper debate in my eyes and a real waste of my time. As for who won the debate, for me, neither. They were both as bad as each other.”

‘Punters were the losers’: Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison face off during Nine's leaders' debate. Picture: Channel 9

Maiden has been sharing her exclusive stories and live election updates, and answering subscribers’ questions over text during the election campaign, and subscribers can expect more updates and Q & As now the campaign has entered its final fortnight.

There’s still time to sign up and get a direct line to the press gallery so you can become the ultimate insider when it comes to the federal election.

The texts are free to receive (though message and data rates may apply) and you can stop them at any time. You can reply, but don’t worry, you won’t get messages from everyone else who’s signed up, just Maiden.

You’ll get stories delivered straight to your phone, be texted live updates on major election campaign events like leaders’ debates, and get exclusive access to chat with one of Canberra’s top insiders.

Subscribers will get live updates during the final leaders’ debate and of course on election night, and Maiden will definitely be up for a chat about the result.

FAQs

Will my question(s) actually be answered by Samantha Maiden?

Sam will do her best to answer you directly. However, it’s not always possible to respond to every question. You may find that your question is addressed by Samantha in a text to all subscribers, as other subscribers were asking the same question. Great minds think alike!

Can other people see my texts?

No. This is not a group chat. Only Samantha and a few others in our editorial team will see the messages you send to them. We won’t publish any conversations on news.com.au without your permission.

How often will Samantha text?

It’s totally up to her. Feel free to text Samantha directly and let her know if you want to hear from her more or less.

How do I cancel?

You can text STOP at any time to end all text messages.

Texting guidelines

We encourage healthy, constructive and challenging conversations. We do our best to ensure fairness, but in all cases we reserve the right to suspend and/or ban accounts without notice, for any reason, but particularly to protect our services, our journalists and our readers and community. Here are our 3 simple rules for joining in the text conversation.