Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have begun making their election pitches to voters in the first leaders’ debate of the federal election campaign.
The pair are facing off on Tuesday evening at a “people’s forum” hosted by Sky News and the Daily Telegraph.
The debate is being held in western Sydney with both leaders to respond to questions from a group of undecided voters.
Mr Albanese was considered to have won the same contest against former prime minister Scott Morrison ahead of the 2022 election.
Sky News anchor Kieran Gilbert is moderating the debate, which is being broadcast live on the Sky News channel and website, and the Daily Telegraph website – a subscription is needed.
The second time the leaders will go head-to-head will be in mid-April on ABC News, to be hosted by Insiders host David Speers at the public broadcaster’s Parramatta studios.
Western Sydney is a key battleground for the two major parties, as Labor looks to win back the seat of Fowler from first-term independent Dai Le.
But Labor also faces new challenges from independent candidates from the city’s Muslim communities who feel angry and let down by the position taken by the government on the Israel-Gaza war.
The prime minister visited Sydney’s west as the first week of the campaign came to a close.
He has placed health front and centre of his bid for re-election on May 3.
The opposition leader has jumped on voter discontent with the nation’s housing crisis, making the Liberal Party’s case for the mortgage-belt seats where cost of living pressures are being profoundly felt.
Mr Dutton has pledged a 25 cents a litre cut to the price of petrol by halving the fuel excise for 12 months if the coalition is elected.
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
