Anthony Albanese desperately wants to guard his poll lead.
The unpredictability of a debate on commercial television was always going to be more precarious territory for the Prime Minister as the frontrunner.
As long as Albanese got through without making an error, he could mark it down as a win. He will feel that he achieved this.
For Peter Dutton it was a case of having little to lose. He is the underdog and needed to make a greater impression.
His passionate defence of the Coalition’s record on health and education funding revealed the frustration he is feeling with the relentlessly negative campaign that Labor is running.
Dutton was more forceful than he has been to date in calling out what he claims are Albanese’s lies. Medicare and Labor’s inflated cost of nuclear topped the list.
“You couldn’t lie straight in bed,” he accused the Prime Minister.
Albanese’s retort was to brand this as abuse.
The Prime Minister didn’t deny that people were worse off now than they were three years ago. His appeal to the electorate is that it could have been worse.
This debate was more likely to reach more of Middle Australia than the first two, with the Sky News forum confined behind a paywall and the ABC debate skewed to a more politically engaged crowd.
But the debate wasn’t without the opportunity of some reward for Albanese.
The contrast of leadership has been working in the Prime Minister’s favour during the campaign. Albanese is not the leader he was in the 2022 campaign.
He is across the detail and confident in his approach.
Dutton’s mission was to hit the cost-of-living message hard, raise reasonable doubt about Albanese’s truthfulness and expose the failures under Labor’s management that have led to the collapse in living standards. He did this effectively by repeating the argument people are worse off now than before Labor was elected. He also seeks to present himself as a leader of contrasting authenticity.
It was notable that Albanese avoided repeating his claims that things are getting better for people.
This signals a realisation that this messaging must be starting to grate with voters. It may now have been airbrushed out of Labor’s campaign.
More Coverage
Chinese ancestry-heavy aspirational seats break for Labor
Labor continues to be most attractive to cosmopolitan, high-migration, high-education voters whereas its message is not cutting through as much elsewhere.
Ladies in red romp home as Apple Isle strategy bears fruit
Having virtually wiped the Liberals from the federal political map of Tasmania, Labor says it will apply the lessons learned to other looming battles.