As it happened: Studio audience decides Anthony Albanese wins first debate against Scott Morrison; quarter of voters still undecided

Thank you for reading today’s live coverage of the 10th day of the federal election campaign.

Here’s a quick summary of today’s main stories.

• Opposition leader Anthony Albanese was declared victorious in the first election debate by 100 undecided voters who watched it live in Brisbane. Albanese secured 40 votes to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s 35, with 25 voters still undecided. The questions ranged from housing affordability, foreign diplomacy and security, to the NDIS and the state of the economy.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition leader Anthony Albanese.

• The government was criticised by Labor and Former Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop for failing to protect Australia’s relationship with the Solomon Islands, in light of the Pacific Nations country signing a security agreement with China. Prime Minister Scott Morrison denied it was a misstep to send Pacific Minister Zed Seselja to the Solomon Islands before the agreement was signed instead of Foreign Minister Marise Payne. Bishop disagreed, saying “I believe our foreign minister should be on the next plane to the Solomon Islands to talk with the government to see what’s actually been agreed.”

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a diplomatic visit to Beijing in 2019.Credit: AP

• Household contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Victoria and New South Wales will no longer need to isolate for seven days as of this weekend, following a series of changes to the state’s pandemic rules. Unvaccinated travellers to NSW will no longer be required to hotel quarantine.
• The country recorded 38 deaths and 50,966 new cases of COVID-19.

NSW and Victoria have changed the COVID-19 close contact isolation requirements.Credit: Kate Geraghty, Joe Armao

• The Prime Minister’s pick for Warringah told the first gay US presidential candidate that surrogacy was a “human rights violation” after he announced the birth of his twins. In tweets first resurfaced by news.com.au, Liberal candidate Katherine Deves said gay men having babies was a “vanity project.” “Surrogacy is a human rights violation, she wrote in response to an image posted by US transport secretary Pete Buttigieg on September 5, 2021 who ran for Presidential election in 2019. Earlier today, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he would not let the candidate for Warringah be “silenced”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Katherine Deves and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet.

The Prime Minister’s pick for Warringah reportedly told the first gay US presidential candidate that surrogacy was a “human rights violation” after he announced the birth of his twins.

In tweets first resurfaced by news.com.au, Liberal candidate Katherine Deves said gay men having babies was a “vanity project.”

“Surrogacy is a human rights violation, she wrote in response to an image posted by US transport secretary Pete Buttigieg on September 5, 2021.

Buttigieg ran for presidential election in the US in 2019, and is a member of Joe Biden’s cabinet.

“Women’s bodies are not vehicles for a vanity project,” Deves continued.

The 100 voters who watched the first debate have declared Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese the winner, with 40 votes in favour while 35 chose to support Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The remaining quarter of the room were undecided, showing this election is well and truly up for grabs.

Nevertheless, this is a huge psychological boost for the opposition leader who needed to perform well tonight after a torrid first week on the campaign trail.

Some historical context worth keeping in mind here, Bill Shorten won the first, in fact all , debates in 2019 when the national polls also forecast Labor winning. And we all know what happened.

That’s it from me this evening. Thanks so much for your company during the first leader’s debate of the 2022 election campaign.

Anthony Albanese has won the first election debate in Brisbane with 45 votes, to Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s 35. There were 25 undecided voters.

We spoke to a few of the undecided voters in the audience tonight.

Jason McDonald, 39, said he was leaning toward supporting Labor after hearing from both leaders, saying he felt Anthony Albanese had a better grasp of housing affordability issues.

“Scott Morrison does an awesome job on the campaign and it almost makes you forget about all the issues. Australia’s economy is going well, but I’ve got an 18-year-old daughter who won’t be able to get into the housing market,” he said.

Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison at the first election debate.

“My wife and I are struggling to buy a house as it is.” He said the last time he had voted Liberal was when John Howard was Prime Minister.”

Fiona Lewis, 60, who described herself as having a “Liberal-National upbringing” but was now a swinging voter, said the debate hadn’t changed her mind and she was unconvinced by either leader.

“I wish they would stop talking about historical issues like stopping the boats. What are they doing about the present - like the people left homeless by the floods in Lismore.”

Fiona Borserini, 60, who said she leaned towards the Greens in her voting habits, said the ICAC issue was “very important to me”.

“I want the federal government to be accountable,” she said. She said she was enticed by Labor’s pledge to have 24/7 nurses in aged care facilities. “My mother is in aged care. I know how difficult it is.”

Labor has seized on a moment that took place during the debate when an audience member asked a question relating to her four-year-old son who has autism.

“Jenny and I have been blessed, we’ve got two children who haven’t had to go through that,” Morrison told her, stressing that he could only try to understand her predicament.

Labor frontbencher Katy Gallagher said that she was blessed to have a child with autism.

“I am “blessed” to have a child with autism. She teaches me things every day. Our lives are enriched by her,” Gallagher said on Twitter.

Labor’s disabilities spokesman and architect of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill Shorten also weighed in.

“ScoMo says he is ‘blessed’ to have two non-disabled children. Every child is a blessing. The NDIS is there to help people with disability live their lives to the fullest,” Shorten tweeted.

“The Morrison Gov has slashed NDIS plans for 1000s of children around Australia. Labor will fix the NDIS,” the former Labor leader said.

The leaders were given a closing minute each to sum up their pitches to the 100 undecided voters in the audience.

Morrison repeated his warnings about the economy being weaker under Labor compared to under the Coalition’s management.

“We’re heading in the right direction,” he said.

Albanese said he is driven by the ideal that no one is left behind and that no one is held back.

“If I’m prime minister I’ll accept responsibility and I’ll work hard ... and not always seek to blame somebody else,” he concluded.

The leaders were then asked about how they’ll restore trust in the democratic processes and about political bullying.

Albanese said it’s concerning that people are losing trust in democracy and what it offers which is why forums like tonight are so important.

Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison. Credit: Fairfax Media

He said politics needs to engage with young people who are particularly concerned about climate change.

“It’s a matter of us reaching out, working out new ways of participation in the political process,” he said.

Morrison said one of the things he’s noticed in Australian politics and civil debate that’s really changed is the “corrosive impact” of social media and the way the online bullying robs young people of their confidence.

He said his government has stood up to big tech companies.

He said some of the impacts of social media are “incredibly dangerous” and that being able to “disagree better” would help improve participation in society.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne has told ABC’s 7.30 that the Solomon Islands has made a “very serious decision” in signing the security pact with China.

“We are deeply disappointed that they have chosen to go down this path,” she said, defending the government against claims it had let down its guard.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne.Credit: Steven Siewert

“Australia, frankly, has been at the forefront of these discussions about the geostrategic realities that we face in the Pacific,” she said.

Payne has been criticised by Labor and former Coalition minister Julie Bishop for attending a business dinner instead of visiting Solomon Islands ahead of the security pact agreement.

Moderator Kieran Gilbert then asked about Solomon Islands’ decision to sign a security pact with China and the future of Australia’s relationship with their Pacific Island neighbour.

Morrison asked, almost angrily, why Labor took China’s side and criticised the government over the security pact.

He said the deal came after years of increasing Chinese interference in the region, and is more evidence that China has changed.

Albanese said everyone recognises that China has changed, but that Beijing’s security pact on our back door is a “Pacific stuff-up” and a “major foreign policy stuff-up” by Australia.

He cited former foreign minister Julie Bishop who said that Foreign Minister Marise Payne should have gone to Solomon Islands not the “junior burger,” of Pacific Minister Zed Seselja.

Albanese also said the Coalition cut foreign aid to the Solomons, something Morrison could be heard rejecting.

The leaders have been asked about disaster recovery payments and how to “disaster-proof” Queensland ahead of the Brisbane Olympics.

Albanese said the government has done too little, too late in responding to the floods and that funding for disaster relief should also be about future-proofing.

The Brisbane River broke its banks across the city in February. Credit: Fairfax Media

Morrison said he wants more data and co-operation from the states about how to manage bushfires, specifically on managing fuel loads.

He said the federal government pays 70 per cent of disaster relief funds.