Leaders hit each other right where it hurts

Sparks really flew here ⚡

Sparks really flew here ⚡

Viewers tuning in to the second leader's debate between Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese last night may be forgiven for thinking they had accidentally flicked on to an episode of Jerry Springer.

Alas, it wasn't an illicit affair or love child sending sparks flying but questions of integrity and character.

With a strict 60 seconds on the clock, viewers suffered whiplash as the leaders raced through topics faster than a weekend, from wages growth to the definition of “a woman”.

At one point the bickering went for a whole minute  - “that’s not right”, “yes it is”, “no it’s not”; followed by, “yes it will”, “no it won’t”, “yes it will”, “no it won’t”. 

Lightning legend:

⚡ = particularly heated

⚡⚡ = extra spicy 

⚡⚡⚡= lightning

Here's where the sparks flew:

🥬 Cost of living

With the cost of lettuce hitting 5 bucks, both leaders were asked what policies they were introducing to address the rising cost of living. 

Albanese pointed to his childcare policies and commitments to drive renewable energy as a way of lowering prices.

Morrison said the factors pushing up inflation are not all within the government’s control and that his good economic management will keep prices lower than they might be under Labor.

But Albanese fired back by saying Morrison's policies won't do much to help Australians struggling to pay for their groceries. 

"The problem with what Scott just said, the cost of living measures that he spoke about are all temporary, they have all the sincerity of a fake tan, they disappear once people have cast their vote and people are them back on their own again," he said.

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⚡Electricity prices

When asked about how to keep electricity prices low, sparks really flew when Morrison attacked Labor’s “irresponsible climate targets” as a key difference between the major parties, saying it is a factor affecting energy prices.

Both the Coalition and Labor support net zero emissions by 2050, but Labor has gone one step further by committing to an interim target of 43% by 2030. 

Albanese fired back, saying the government has held 22 energy policies and hasn’t landed one.

He said his policy to have 80% renewables by 2030 will lower prices.

Things got a bit heated and Morrison vigorously disputed this, saying Labor will spend more on transmission costs.

“How much more are you going to spend on the transmission?” Morrison fired back.

Albanese conceded there will be higher spending, but said Morrison is “all over the shop” when it comes to energy policy and prices.

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⛽ Petrol

Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese have both ruled out continuing a government subsidy that's making petrol cheaper for drivers. 

The cut to the petrol excise is due to expire in September, which means fuel will get more expensive for Aussie drivers at the end of this year, but Morrison says petrol will be cheaper by then anyway. 

“This relief, it is well-designed, temporary, targeted and affordable. That is how we did JobKeeper as well,” Morrison said.

“We have said we will maintain the same position on that,” Albanese said.

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💸 🏠 Home ownership and rising rents

Asked what is being done to help young Australians deal with rising rents and house prices, Albanese says young Australians are doing it tough and recited Labor's housing policy.

“In order to address housing, what you need is a comprehensive plan and we have that. We have that in terms of increased investment in social housing. We have that 20,000 additional housing dwellings. We have a plan for 10,000 affordable housing units for essential workers,” he said.

“We also have our help-to-buy scheme which would enable low- and middle-income earners to have that assistance with a shared equity scheme. That is something that has operated in Western Australia for 30 years.”

Morrison was also asked how long it will take young Australians to pay back the national debt. Hint: it's a lot. 

“Yes, we had to borrow to do that, and yes, we had to borrow to do that, and had we not borrowed, the Australian economy would not look like it does today, and I think Australians understand that, and that is why they supported those programs,” he said.

“Another thing we can do for young Australians is to make sure they get jobs. That is why we have 800,000 training places as part of our budget. I know from being a social services minister that if you don’t get a young person into a job by their early 20s, the chance of them spending a lifetime on welfare goes through the roof. My mission has always been to get young Australians into work.”

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🎭 Character

Scott Morrison said people don't like him because it's been a tough two years during the pandemic. 

He said he understands people may be "disappointed" in some of his decisions, but has urged Australians to vote him back in based on "what he achieved" through Covid.

"It has been a tough three years, particularly the last two years and I know over that period of time there would have been many disappointments, people would have disagreed with many things I did and would have a different view about how things might have been managed," he said.

"I can understand the hurt feelings that people have had coming out of a time like this.

"What I do say to those Australians is that you have seen what we have achieved together, we have one of the lowest unemployment rates this country has ever seen. We have an economy that is growing faster than the advanced economies of the world."

Anthony Albanese said Australians know what he stands for, and said he had three great faiths, the Labor Party, the Catholic Church and South Sydney rugby league football club.

But he was forced to defend his own truthfulness on the NDIS after he was last week unable to recall his party's six point plan despite insisting he "knew the policy".

"This week you claimed you are not given the opportunity to detail a policy you clearly did not know, wasn't that a lie?," he was asked and their uncomfortable exchange went a little like this: 

Albanese said he didn't lie.

Nine reporter said he did.

Albanese said he didn't.

Reporter said he did.

Albanese said no. 

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💀 Corruption

Scott Morrison said he hasn't seen corruption on his side of politics during his career.

The Prime Minister was asked if he had ever witnessed corruption in the Liberal Party, to which he replied: "No I haven't".

Anthony Albanese said there has been corruption on both sides of politics.

"The truth is, there is a stench around Canberra at the moment," he said.

"In the past wherever anyone has done the wrong thing, it is a good thing that action is taken," he said.

"I think overwhelmingly, people go into politics across the spectrum for all the right reasons...They go... to help their fellow Australians in the best way possible. But the truth is, there is a stench around Canberra at the moment."

Morrison dropped his pledge for an independent commission against corruption (ICAC) style body to monitor federal politicians during the early stages of the campaign.

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💉Vaccines and Australia's covid response

Scott Morrison has conceded he should never have said the vaccine rollout was "not a race" but says Australia "came back" to achieve one of the highest vaccination rates in the world.

"It was a race, Anthony, and we shouldn't have described it in those terms," he said.

"But what we did do, working together and closely with the Chief Medical Officer at the time, Professor Brendan Murphy... (was) taking care to make sure the vaccines that were approved in Australia were the right vaccines and I could confidently say to Australians with the support of medical authorities that they would be safe for Australians.

"Yes, we had our challenges early on. So yes it is true, Anthony, we had our setbacks, but we came back, we got the vaccines and we now have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world."

But Mr Morrison says he fixed the problem by procuring vaccines through vaccine swaps with other countries and the rollout only missed its original target timeframe by a fortnight.

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🇨🇳 China 

Scott Morrison said the deal signed between the Solomon Islands and China was not in the national interest of the Pacific Islands nation. 

The Prime Minister was asked to clarify what he meant by saying he had "drawn a red line on any Chinese military bases in the Solomon Islands".

"It means that was something Australia believes would be completely against our national interest, and we also believe it will be against the Solomon Islands's national interest," he said.

When asked if Australia would turn to measures like blockades against the Solomon Islands, Mr Morrison said "it would be very unwise for any government to speculate around these issues". 

Anthony Albanese attacked the deal as "a massive foreign policy failure" by the Coalition.

Albanese also attacked the government for allowing the Port of Darwin to be leased to a Chinese company.

"When I was a minister, we put US Marines into Darwin. When you have been a minister we have had the port of Darwin sold to a company connected with the Chinese Communist Party," he said.

Albanese slammed a question about the most pro Beijing voices coming from within the Labor Party as "an outrageous slur".

"Labor has always been good on national security. I tell you who Australia turned to in World War II, in our darkest hour - John Curtin.

"Labor will always take national security issues seriously."

Morrison then took a swipe at Deputy Labor Leader Richard Marles, asking Albanese how often the Labor front bencher met with the Chinese Ambassador in Australia.

It follows reporting from The Australian that Marles had met with people from the Embassy before making a speech in Beijing, even showing them a copy of his speech.

"That is an outrageous slur," Albanese said. "Richard Marles did... criticise China's human rights record."

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💅 Mean Girls

Anthony Albanese dodged questions over why he hasn't investigated the allegations of bullying and harassment of the late Senator Kimberley Kitching, who died from a heart attack in March. 

The Labor Leader was asked why he hadn't launched an official investigation, but only spoke about bullying in Parliament in general.

"We have worked together to improve the parliamentary mechanisms which are there, and they are passed with the support of the entire parliament," he said.

When pressed Albanese said "the death of Kimberley Kitching was a tragedy". 

He stood by the women on his frontbench, who were the people accused of bullying Senator Kitching.

"I have the utmost confidence in my frontbench," he said.

"From time to time there is conflict, more people want positions that are available. My experience with Kimberley Kitching was she was making an outstanding contribution. I think it is a tragedy that she was lost, particularly to her family and her close friends but to the Labor family as well, far too early."

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Ps. We are now just two weeks away from the election and you can actually start voting from today via postal vote if you can't wait for democracy sausage sizzle day.

Pps. According to Channel 9's viewer verdict Scott Morrison was victorious this time around with 52% of viewers picking the prime minister. Labor leader Anthony Albanese scored 48%. The QR code voting system was not working for most of the night.