The election campaign trail is well and truly underway as the first leaders' debate took place overnight, with Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared victorious.
Albanese and Opposition leader Peter Dutton faced off in a Sky News debate in the Wenty Leagues Club, in Sydney’s western suburbs, tackling questions from 100 undecided voters.
This was the Opposition leader's first leaders' debate, which he faced after receiving news that his 79-year-old father had been hospitalised following a heart attack.
Out of the 100, Albanese was awarded 44 of their votes by the end, and Dutton received 35, but 21 remained undecided.
Topics on the table included cost of living concerns, education, energy policies, housing, healthcare and migration, as the audience pushed to find out how both men could help better the nation.
Throughout the debate, Dutton stood firm on his campaign line of it being a “tough three years” under a Labor government, while Albanese was more optimistic and asked voters to "look forward and seize the opportunities and build Australia's future".
In their concluding statements, the PM focused on the practicality and track record of the Opposition.
“Peter said that there’d be no cuts to health, but they said that last time, when they came into office in 2013. They said there’d be no cuts to health, no cuts to education, no cuts to the ABC,” Albanese said.
“And, the truth is that they ripped into education, they ripped into health. Now, if you have a $600 billion nuclear plan, you’ve got to make cuts. The money has to come from somewhere.”
As he spoke his piece to round out the debate, Dutton targeted the hip pocket nerve.
“We don’t need a Labor Greens minority government after the election, given the headwinds that we’re seeing at the moment, the Treasurer today was in panic mode talking about the prospect of recession next month, which is a disaster for our economy,” Dutton said.
“It shows that Labor just doesn’t know how to manage money or the economy.”
