Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faced his electoral rival Peter Dutton during their first debate before the federal electoral vote on May 3.
Living cost issues dominated Tuesday evening’s debate, organized by Sky News and the Daily Telegraph, and the two leaders were also questioned about the prices of US President Donald Trump.
Opinion polls predicted a thin margin between the Labor Party of Albanians and the Liberal Party of Dutton, and the possibility of the formation of the next government with independent deputies or minor parties.
Albanese was declared winner of the evening by Sky News after a vote of 100 undecided voters, who also provided the questions of the night.
When the host of the debate asked the public if he had had trouble with the cost of living, most public members raised their hands, according to ABC News.
Dutton described the spectacle of the hands as a “very confronted scene” while Albanese said that he had lowered inflation, that wages and added that interest rates were starting to drop, according to ABC.
The two candidates were also questioned about a possible reduction in the excise tax in fuel and the increase in the cost of the vision of a general practitioner.
How to react to Trump’s prices was the first question of the night. To which Albanian replied that “no country is better prepared” than Australie because of its efforts.
“We will continue to negotiate, of course, the United States looking for a better offer for Australia because the reciprocal prices would, of course, be null, because we do not impose prices on American products,” he said.
Dutton underlined his experience of negotiation with the first Trump government.
“The Prime Minister of the Day should have the capacity and the strength of character in order to resist the intimidators, against those who are looking to hurt us, to ensure the security of our country,” he said.
