Peter Dutton cut Anthony Albanese down to size as leaders got personal in their attacks

This debate revealed Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese are fundamentally different political animals on a level much deeper than mere politics, argues James Morrow.

Hundreds of thousands of Australians have already cast their vote but that hasn’t stopped the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader getting together to again slug it out on the debate stage.

Tuesday night’s back and forth was designed to generate a bit more biff between the two men.

And, up to a point, it succeeded. There was plenty of fireworks and no small amount of name calling.

But there were also far too much recitation of both sides’ pre-prepped talking points.

What there was, though, was the sense that Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese are fundamentally different political animals on a level much deeper than mere politics.

Dutton revealed himself again as the long distance runner we saw during the Voice campaign.

Having started out a bit wobbly, punching out policies and points almost at random (“biggest drop in living standards! Back on track! 25 cents off fuel!”) he became progressively more focused, calmer, and devastating to the prime minister’s case.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton during the debate. Picture: James Brickwood / POOL / NewsWire

Perhaps his strongest moment came late in the debate, when the topic was energy policy.

The Prime Minister had claimed that Dutton’s nuclear plan imagined a smaller economy, but Dutton quickly cut the Labor leader down to size explaing in that all that solar and wind needed to be overbuilt and duplicated.

But, as the exchange went on, Albanese became increasingly testy and for resorting to name calling himself (“Peter puts forward this complete nonsense!”)

Dutton also won an exchange on Trump, calmly depersonalising the issue.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese slugs it out with Peter Dutton. Picture: James Brickwood. SMH NEWS 250422.

Yet his weakness – odd at this point in the campaign – came out in an exchange when they were asked to articulate their visions.

Tony Abbott, one of the debate’s panel pointed out, was very effective in 2013 with his slogans like axe the tax and stop the boats: Voters knew what they were voting for.

Here, Dutton resorted to his opening, scattershot approach, reeling off tax policy, dreams of home ownership, making Australia safer, the lot.

Albanese had a far tighter answer – “no one left behind and no one held back” – a great slogan that sounds warm and fuzzy until you realise it sees opportunity as coming from the government getting involved with your life, rather than getting out of the way.

Originally published as Peter Dutton cut Anthony Albanese down to size as leaders got personal in their attacks