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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faced-off with his election rival Peter Dutton in their first debate before the 3 May federal election vote.
Cost of living issues dominated Tuesday night’s debate, organised by Sky News and The Daily Telegraph, and the two leaders were also asked about US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Opinion polls have predicted a slim margin between Albanese’s Labor Party and Dutton’s Liberal Party, and the possibility that either will need to form the next government with independent MPs or minor parties.
Albanese was declared the night’s winner by Sky News after a vote by 100 undecided voters, who also provided the night’s questions.
When the debate host asked the audience if they were having a tough time with the cost of living, most of the audience members raised their hands, according to the BBC’s broadcast partner, ABC News.
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Dutton described the show of hands as a “very confronting scene” while Albanese said he has brought inflation down, wages up and added that interest rates were starting to fall, according to ABC.
The two candidates were also asked about a possible cut in the fuel excise tax and the rising cost of seeing a general practitioner.
How to respond to Trump’s tariffs was the first question of the night. To which, Albanese replied that “no country is better prepared” than Australia because of his efforts.
“We’ll continue to negotiate, of course, with the United States looking for a better deal for Australia because reciprocal tariffs would, of course, be zero, because we don’t impose tariffs on US goods,” he said.
Dutton pointed to his experience negotiating with the first Trump government.
“The prime minister of the day should have the ability and the strength of character to be able to stand up against bullies, against those that would seek to do us harm, to keep our country safe,” he said.