After firing shots at each other from different cities on the campaign trail, Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton will come face-to-face in the first debate of the federal election.
The two leaders will be quizzed by 100 undecided voters at a people’s forum in western Sydney on Tuesday night.
Cost-of-living pressures, housing, healthcare and the impacts of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and subsequent stock market volatility are likely to be key issues.
Workplace rights are also likely to be on the agenda after the opposition leader backtracked on plans to ban public servants from working from home.
“We got it wrong, we’ve apologised for it, we support flexible workplace arrangements,” Mr Dutton said.
Mr Dutton has also shelved plans to get rid of 41,000 public service workers if elected, opting instead for a hiring freeze.
Melbourne bank worker Made said taking up his employer’s offer to work two-to-three days from home spared him a 40-minute commute.
“Whenever I need it, I know it’s there, so it’s great to use and the more flexibility the workplace can offer can make it attractive as well in terms of a place of employment,” the customer service representative told AAP.
Registered nurse Edriza Dioses doesn’t have the luxury to work from home, but she thinks others should be able to as long as it doesn’t affect the quality of their work.
“When people work at home, it is better for them because they have the liberty to spend time with their families during their free time, and it’s cost-effective if they don’t need to deal with traffic or have to wake up so early just to go for work,” she told AAP.
She didn’t view the opposition leader’s backdown as a negative, saying he had learnt from his mistakes.
Labor has sought to exploit the policy reversals, holding campaign events with families who have work-from-home arrangements in place.
“(Peter Dutton is) pretending that the policies he announced … just don’t exist and that everyone will just forget about all that,” Mr Albanese said.
Electoral rolls have closed with the Australian Electoral Commission confirming a record number of voters will be eligible to have their say.
The latest Newspoll showed Labor stretching ahead, leading 52 to 48 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.
A separate Roy Morgan poll suggested Labor was on track to be re-elected with an increased majority, leading 53.5 to 46.5 per cent.
But the outcome remains far from certain with a hung parliament still in play.
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