Who won the last debate?

Leader of the Opposition Bill Shorten and Prime Minister Scott Morrison shake hands before the third Leaders Debate. Picture: AAP

Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten have faced off for the final time before the federal election next Saturday.

Our experts deliver their verdict on who came out on top.

Paul Kelly

Morrison told the public he led the Liberal Party “from the middle” and hammered the

consequences of Labor’s tax increases as a “dead weight’ on the economy. He led with the promise of more jobs and a strong economy, a “stick with us” appeal to the public.

Neither leader made a fatal mistake. They are temperamentally different but evenly matched. Shorten’s vision was for a modern nation, loyal to the fair-go and dedicated to climate change action.

Paul Kelly.

The more the campaign runs the more Shorten becomes a conviction politician on climate change – and the more Morrison both attacks the Shorten’s climate costings gap but also shifts his own stance towards renewables.

Shorten, as usual, connected more. He had more humour and passion. But the public is seeing more of Morrison, getting a better fix on a relatively new PM, and that is a plus for the Liberals.

Dennis Shanahan

The debate has confirmed what we knew all along, Scott Morrison is across the detail and Bill Shorten is not. Shorten was more emotive but Morrison’s simple message on tax cut through and was better than the previous debates but it’s still not going to change the vote.

Troy Bramston

Both leaders performed well and were on message.

But Shorten won because he outlined and defended a broader and more positive policy agenda for the future than Morrison.

Alice Workman

Neither leader had a “coronation” moment, to steal a term favoured by Scott Morrison, but Opposition Leader Bill Shorten narrowly won the same-same final leaders debate.