Final election debate: Channel 7’s tantalising promise goes nowhere

Channel 7 promised viewers there would be one tantalising moment during the final election debate. Ultimately, it fell flat.

Channel 7 turned the final leaders’ debate of the federal election campaign, a moment of immense seriousness, into a game show. And gosh darn it, it was excellent.

If the first debate on Sky News was a gentlemen’s disagreement over a glass of whiskey, and the second one on Nine was a UFC cage fight, Wednesday night’s affair was more like a good episode of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

I know, that show isn’t on Seven, and it’s called Hotseat or some nonsense now, but I haven’t watched a game show since the mid-2000s and my wellspring of knowledge here is limited.

Look. Mark Riley did a great job. The man’s a seasoned pro. But it was clear from the very first topic of the debate that Eddie McGuire should have hosted this event.

“Prime Minister, you’re saying the minimum wage shouldn’t keep up with the cost of living. Is that your ... final answer?” Eddie could have asked, with appropriate scepticism.

“Lock it in, Eddie,” Mr Morrison could have responded.

WHO WANTS TO BE A PRIME MINISTER? Picture: Mick Tsikas/Getty Images

The Seven debate was delightfully tacky in many other ways. For example, the way the two candidates were played off with generic game show music whenever they reached the end of their allotted time, as though they were particularly longwinded Oscar recipients.

You could really tell this was the network that had aired Big Brother minutes earlier.

Or there was the moment when Mr Morrison testily motioned for his empty water glass to be refilled, like me brandishing my wine glass at a waiter.

Or the way every nerdy question was accompanied by a dramatic ALL CAPS graphic. QUESTION THREE: CAN I GET A COMMITMENT FROM BOTH OF YOU THAT FAMILIES WON’T HAVE TO PAY TO SEE SPORT ON THEIR TELEVISIONS?”

Wonderful stuff.

I do have one complaint about Seven’s coverage though. Consider it a promise unfulfilled.

“After the break, the question that could stump them both,” moderator Mark Riley teased towards the end of the night, with much relish.

What could the question be? “Who was the monarch of Denmark in 1103?” “Name the MVP of Super Bowl XLVI?” “Who should be the next person voted out of Big Brother?”

Alas, in the subsequent minutes, no one was stumped.

Now, I’m not saying the questions after this point were not valuable. Far from it. Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese were asked about carbon taxes, climate change policy and childcare costs, all of which are perfectly worthy topics.

But the closest thing to a head-scratcher came when each man was asked to say something nice about his opponent. You know, the traditional political equivalent of being asked to outline your weaknesses during a job interview.

‘Something nice. About him?’ Picture: Lukas Coch/Getty Images

‘Something nice. About him?’ Picture: Mick Tsikas/Getty Images \

“The thing about Anthony I’ve always admired is he has never forgot where he has come from,” Mr Morrison said.

“He grew up in a housing commission and I have no doubt that the other day, Mother’s Day, is always probably the toughest day of each year for him. And he has shown the ability to rise and be the leader of one of the oldest parties in this country, and he should be commended for that. He has shown a great deal of determination.”

The Prime Minister then transitioned into a slightly unsavoury political attack. He returned to his new favourite slogan, calling Mr Albanese “loose” on the economy.

For his part, Mr Albanese acknowledged “the job of prime minister is one that is obviously a difficult one to do”, and he said Mr Morrison was “absolutely committed to his nation”.

He complimented his opponent for increasing funding for mental health.

Perfectly acceptable answers from both of them, then. Far short of the promised “stumping”.

Mark Riley, sandwiched between Mr Albanese and Mr Morrison. Picture: Mick Tsikas/Getty Images

There was a final, wonderfully farcical exchange as the debate ended, and no one wanted to be the last to say thank you.

“Thank you for your commitment to the country, both of you, and what you do,” Riley said.

“Thanks to you Mark, and to Seven for hosting,” said Mr Albanese.

“Thank you Seven. Thanks everyone for watching,” said Mr Morrison.

“Thank you,” Mr Albanese repeated.

Real “you hang up first” vibes.

Then we cut to the verdict from pubs across the country. Every normal voter involved looked morose, but to be fair, none of them had drinks in hand. What’s the point of being in a pub if you don’t have any drinkies? Certainly not politics, they seemed to say.

The first voter interviewed, Susan, went into the night undecided.

“At the end of the day, it’s Scotty from marketing, and a real man. I would rather go for Albo, who spoke from the heart. Scotty is still a marketer,” said Susan.

Like I said, undecided. But the weight of numbers eventually backed her up, with about half of participants naming Mr Albanese the winner, compared to a little over a third who backed Mr Morrison.

As someone who was tragically sober throughout the event on Wednesday evening, I would say it was the first time I’ve watched Mr Albanese and actually thought he was winning. It probably says something that it’s taken almost five weeks for that to happen.

But with Labor well ahead in the polls and Mr Morrison needing a dramatic shift in fortunes to cling on, Mr Albanese will presumably be happy enough with his night’s work.

Originally published as Final election debate: Channel 7’s tantalising promise goes nowhere