Voters will have the final say on which leader prevailed after Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese spanned well-trodden ground in a debate rematch.
The prime minister faced off against the coalition leader at the ABC’s western Sydney studios for the second out of four campaign trail clashes on Wednesday night.
Unlike the first debate, where an audience of undecided voters declared a winner, this contest – moderated by the ABC’s national lead David Speers – will only be decided when viewers go to the ballot box on May 3.
The leaders covered everything from housing to international relations, amid moments of humility and thinly veiled hostility.
Mr Dutton admitted he was wrong after claiming the Indonesian leader had announced Russia had asked to station aircraft in the country.
“It was a mistake,” he said.
The duo traded barbs throughout the match-up, with Mr Albanese alleging the opposition leader had “verballed” the Indonesian president, and Mr Dutton accusing the prime minister of “complete dishonesty” in his portrayal of the coalition’s nuclear policy.
US President Donald Trump was also a hot topic.
Mr Dutton threaded his usual needle by claiming he could seal a deal on a tariff exemption while also distancing himself from the Republican leader.
“We trust the United States and I don’t know the president,” he said.
The prime minister, on the other hand, said he had “no reason” not to trust Mr Trump but maintained the tariffs imposed by the US were an act of economic “self-harm”.
When the moderator attempted to create a moment of levity by asking whether it would truly be a disaster for Australia if each man’s opponent won, neither leader took the bait.
“I think that Peter has taken his party to a more conservative bent than it has ever been,” Mr Albanese said.
Mr Dutton said there were some shared bipartisan positions, but he noted they had different visions and pathways.
“The prime minister is running a scare campaign,” he said.
“He doesn’t want to talk about the reality of the last three years, which has been a failure for our country.”
Halfway through the campaign, Labor is in pole position to form government according to new polling conducted by Freshwater Strategy for the Australian Financial Review.
This survey has has favoured the coalition compared with other pollsters and the latest 50-50 two-party-preferred result – alongside other polling data – indicates a swing in Labor’s favour.
Outside the ABC studios, about 100 pro-Palestine protesters gathered to oppose the major parties’ responses to Israel’s violence in Gaza.
The first leaders’ debate, hosted by Sky News and the Daily Telegraph, ended in a narrow victory for Mr Albanese after 44 per cent of the undecided voters in attendance deemed the prime minister the winner.
But 21 per cent remained unsure, indicating there is still room for Mr Dutton to make a comeback.
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