Source : the age
Peter Dutton branded Anthony Albanese loose with the truth, while the prime minister accused the opposition leader of desperation, as they traded sharp personal barbs while sparring over health funding and nuclear energy costs during the third leaders’ debate of the election campaign.
Dutton took the first step to call out what he said were “a lot of lies told by Labor over the course of this campaign”, defending the Coalition as it comes under a sustained political attack in Labor’s paid advertising for plotting mystery cuts to Medicare to pay for his nuclear energy plan.
Dutton disputed Labor’s $600 billion costing on the Coalition’s energy policy as a number whipped up by an interest group, while rejecting the government’s claims that he would cut healthcare.
“Your best description of him [Albanese] could be that he’s loose with the truth and he says it with a straight face, which is the most remarkable thing,” Dutton said.
The prime minister sought to draw focus to Labor’s Medicare plans by saying he would “absolutely” stake his leadership on bulk-billing rates going up, but this only added fuel to a protracted dispute over the Coalition’s record on health spending from Dutton’s tenure as minister in 2014.
Albanese referenced budget papers from a decade ago to make his case that Dutton wanted to cut health and education.
“Our population is increasing. You had the allocation that had been previously put in the budget prior to you coming to office. You ripped $80 billion out of those two items in 2014,” he said.
Dutton said that was not the same as cuts. “Your argument – and I’ll pay you credit on this – your argument is that the growth should have been higher… [But] the funding went up every year. Surely you can see that what you’re saying is that it should have gone up by a bit more each year. And that’s what you describe as a cut.”
In a tense exchange, Dutton said: “Prime Minister, you couldn’t lie straight in bed. Honestly, this is unbelievable.”
Albanese brushed it off. “You can go to personal abuse, that’s a sign of desperation, Peter, frankly,” he said.
But Albanese took aim at Dutton later in the debate, when the opposition leader did not answer a question about which areas of government spending he would cut in pledge to repair the budget bottom line.
“He [Dutton] won’t tell you what they [the cuts] are. That’s just not being fair dinkum,” Albanese said.
“That’s not fair dinkum”: Albanese and Dutton accuse each other of lying. Credit: James Brickwood
Both leaders ruled out any changes to capital gains tax discounts or negative gearing under questioning on housing policy, while they also took the chance to promote their records on foreign policy.
Dutton pointed to his past dealings with the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations to show he could handle the current US administration – veering clear of personal comments about US President Donald Trump – while saying his years in politics had helped him build relationships with Australia’s neighbours.
“I’ve got good relationships in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in Canada, in Japan, and that has built up over a period of time. And I’m very proud of the connections, globally, that I have,” Dutton said.
Albanese, on the other hand, played up the risk of uncertainty while pointing to his role stabilising Australia’s relationship with China.
“Peter spoke about his long experience, and that’s true. But that’s the problem. Every Pacific leader remembers him joking about water lapping at their doors for the Pacific Island neighbours,” he said.
Shaking hands at the end of the exchangeCredit: Alex Ellinghausen
But in the debate’s lighter moments, the leaders praised each other’s families and found common ground on their shared support for banning children from social media.
When they were invited to explain their personalities, Dutton conceded he had become hardened.
“I’ve always been serious in my public life as a police officer, and since I’ve been in Parliament, in protecting people. And I’m very genuine about that, women and children in particular, and that’s been the focus of much of my work in Parliament,” Dutton said.
“But I hope what it says to people is that I’m absolutely determined and passionate about getting our country into the best possible position to keeping us safe, to keeping the economy running well so that families can get some breathing room again and can live again financially.”
Albanese rejected criticisms he was too soft. “It’s just rhetoric. Kindness isn’t weakness. Kindness is something that I was raised with,” he said.
“But I’ve been capable of making tough decisions… I’ve been in public life like Peter for a long period of time, and you don’t get to be Prime Minister and to lead the Labor Party without a toughness. It’s a tough forum.”
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