Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have turned the election personal, taking verbal jabs at each other as they tried to prove their chops.
The prime minister faced the coalition leader at Nine’s Sydney studios for a third campaign trail showdown, moderated by A Current Affair host Ally Langdon, on Tuesday night.
Things got off to a subdued start as both leaders extended condolences to Catholic Australians following a day-long break in campaign activities in response to the death of Pope Francis.
But as Ms Langdon encouraged the two men to move away from talking points and “speak from the heart”, the debate took a pugilistic turn.
“Prime minister, you couldn’t lie straight in bed. Honestly, this is unbelievable,” Mr Dutton said as he accused his opponent of dishonesty.
Mr Albanese hit back by saying the opposition leader had reverted to “abuse”.
“It’s just abuse – that’s a sign of desperation, Peter,” the prime minister said.
The clash was generally light on policy as the more unusual questions homed in on the two leaders’ character.
Throughout the campaign, Mr Dutton has used his history as a Queensland police officer to position himself as a “strong” leader, while painting the prime minister as “weak”.
“In my time as a police officer, where you see some truly horrible things … I do think you become hardened,” he said.
“We all are shaped by our own life experiences, but I hope what is says to people is that I’m absolutely determined and passionate about getting our country in the best possible position.”
Asked if he needed to take on a “hard man” persona, Mr Albanese leaned in to his supposed flaws.
“It’s just rhetoric – kindness isn’t weakness,” he said.
“Kindness is something that I was raised with, we raise our children to be compassionate with each other.”
Both leaders also faced policy questions from 9News political editor Charles Croucher, 2GB’s Deb Knight, and Australian Financial Review political editor Phil Coorey, but generally responded with typical party lines.
The first leaders’ debate, hosted by Sky News and The Daily Telegraph during the second week of the campaign, ended in a narrow victory for Mr Albanese after 44 per cent of the undecided voters in attendance deemed the prime minister the winner, though Mr Dutton netted 35 per cent of the crowd.
A subsequent clash hosted by the ABC at the mid-campaign point allowed the two to explore policy points while pro-Palestine protesters rallied outside the studios in opposition to both major parties’ responses to the conflict in Gaza.
With less than two weeks until voters make their final decision on May 3, and many having already cast their ballots at early-voting centres, Tuesday’s debate was one of the last opportunities for the leaders to win over undecided Australians.
But the tide may have already turned in Labor favour as it has increased its two-party-preferred lead to 55.5 per cent over the coalition’s 45.5 per cent in the latest Roy Morgan poll, which echoes results shown in other surveys.
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