Sharri | 8 April

Live on Sky News US. Is Sharry.

Good Evening.

Welcome to this special broadcast live from the Sky News and Daily Telegraph People's Forum here in Western Sydney, and we've all just seen Anthony Albanesi and Peter Dutton go head to head in a live debate for the first time. The fuel excise, the Trump shock and the medi Scare campaign were all key moments. Make no mistake, this was a high stakes debate and both leaders were polished and on message. Dutton has been on the back foot in the first week of the campaign and tonight was particularly

Are you the biggest spending government since Whitlam so forty years? In forty years, there has not been a higher spending government than your government.

Is that correct?

Well, that's not true except for the one that you were a part of. And Jerio's course, it's true, and it's also true it's also true that there was a seventy eight billion dollar deficit.

Now, Dutton hit back again by saying Albanesi's was the highest spending government in some forty years. But then the Prime Minister attacked him for high spending during the pandemic, but Dutton said that the labor at the time had supported each of those measures.

Albanezi also had his.

Chance to ask a direct question to Peter Dutton, putting to him, well, how did he plan to pay for his nuclear energy policy? In response, Dutton aimed his energy plan was cheaper than Albaniasis.

That we could turn back into the domestic market. We can reduce as the independent analysis has shown the cost of gas by about fifteen percent, and that means we can bring down the cost of electricity, we can bring down the costs across the economy otherwise, and that is I think transformational for our economy. But of course opposed by the Prime minsters.

Well, let's hear for him.

Well, the a gas policy that the Coalition have is the gas lighting of the Australian public.

If the renewables are so much cheaper, as the Prime Minister keeps telling you, why has he broken his promise of a two hundred and seventy five dollars a year cut to your electricity bill, when in actual fact it's gone up by thirteen hundred dollars under this government.

Now, throughout tonight we saw Peter Dutton use words like dishonest and untruthful to describe the Prime Minister's answers. During the debate, Albanezi again got out his Medicare card and promised to get bulk billing.

It's back to ninety percent.

Well, Dutton responded, and this was a critical moment tonight. He asked if the female undecided voter was able to go to the doctor and only use her Medicare card or if she needed to take out her credit card as well. Here's that moment and Albanize's response that Dutton tried to introduce a fee to pay for bulk billing.

Can I just ask, please, it's a great question, but can I just ask what's your experience? So when you go to the doctor that you talk about with the gap fee, do you have to use your just your Medicare card or do you have to use your credit card as well?

You use both?

Because the first building doesn't cover the full chance, I have to pay something, do it.

Let's but pleada. You tried when you were the Health minister. You tried to abolish bulk billing by having a fee every time people visit a doctor.

And health came up several times tonight.

In fact, within just ten minutes of the debate, Dutton had called our easy out and claims that he'd cut funding to health also on his medi Scare campaign, and he said that these inaccurate claims were, in his words, a desperate measure from a Prime Minister who wanted to be re elected.

The Prime Minister goes out with this medi Scare campaign and the Education Scare campaign, it is not a truthful statement.

Of course, cost of living is the biggest issue this campaign, and Kieran Gilbert asked Albanzi why he wouldn't commit to.

Dutton's petrol tax cut as well.

And the sweetness on off of this campaign are between Albanese's tax cuts and Dutton's petrol tax relief. One driver and again this was one of the biggest moments tonight. One driver express support for the fuel excise, saying it works through the supply chain and he challenged the Prime Minister to match it. He also called for Dutton to extend it for longer than a year.

I'm an owner driver from King's Langley up near black Tail. It's about the fuel excise. I'm hoping that you can match that from Peter, because I know you've offered tax cuts and that's great, but I believe they're not for fifteen months. And to be honest, mister Prime Minister, people are hurting now, not in fifteen months time. So you know, the fuel is dialed into everything, not only personally people's cars,

Now, Donald Trump is the dominant figure looming over this election campaign, and here came up early in the debate, the very first question.

When you impost tariffs, it's a tax on the country that is imposing it, so Americans will pay more for the goods that they purchase from overseas, and that will have an impact here.

I know that we can deal with whatever comes our way. I think one of the great things about living in the greatest country in the world is that whatever is thrown at us, the Prime Minister of the day should have the ability and the strength of character to be able to stand up.

Now tonight, these were all audience questions that the leaders couldn't prepare for. They didn't know what the audience of one hundred undecided voters were going to ask. And not long before the debate began, pe De Dutton received the news that his father had had a medical emergency, a suspected heart attack. That was a shock just minutes before the debate began, and which no doubt would have rattled

But now let's bring in Sky.

News political editor Andrew Clanell and Ben English, the editor of the Daily Telegraph.

Welcome gents.

Andrew, first to you, this was never has a debate really been so important given Dutton's falling fortunes.

How do you see how tonight went well?

I thought Peter Duttin was a clear winner, and I think that was pretty meritorious given the situation with his father. I've got to say though, that coming into the debate I did predict this. He had a lot a lot to work with, a lot to work with on the cost of living front. And there were a couple of good hits from Peter Dutton on the Prime minister. There was one or two decent hits on the other side. So for example, he was ready for the Medicare card stuff,

With you, Sharry, the best performance this camp.

I think it is the best performance I've seen from Peter Dutton, and he needed for his campaign and from what occurred in terms of his father that, as I say, that was all the more meritorious. The only concern for the coalition, Sharry, is those undecided voters. Questions all went to areas of strength, but a lot of them went to areas of strength for the government, right, so a lot of them are on health, which the government is prosecuting.

Ahead of him.

Yeah, exactly.

Benny English bringing you in now, what were the key takeouts for you? And I want to specifically as well ask you about that question from the driver, the undecided voter who's a driver who said petrol tax cut just makes sense.

Yeah.

I thought that was a great moment for Dunton. Actually was the first pro coalition question that came about. The first three were very much in Albanese's camp and were starting to wonder about the composition of the undersided voters, but.

Of your own foreium bed, of my.

Own foreign there might be a few inquiries. But with this with the fellow who was the driver owner, that was right in his wheelhouse, and Dunton leaned into it, and it was probably an uncomfortable moment for Alberan easy because what it highlighted was that Dunton's offering immediate relief, and it's relief that courses through the economy. And I thought Dunton was very good to explaining that. I don't think he has properly up until now, but he actually crystallized it.

Not only is it actually for.

You at your at the petrol pump, but it's also for the farmers, it's for the businesses and it actually then actually is an anti inflationary device.

So very it was just a lot clearer, you.

Know, on stuff like the budget situation, than he has been in any press conference. You can see it in the campaign when you're on the bus with him, Cherry, he's untrained at twenty journalists throwing him a question, but he prepared assiduously for this and you could see it in his performance.

And I think we've seen that in the first week or so of the campaign that the Prime minister. That is just this is not his first campaign, he's done this before match it's more.

Experienced, he's more polished. I hate to say it, but.

He probably has a better labor outfit behind him as well.

The messages are clearer.

We've been lacking some of those sharp messages from Peter Dutton, you know, messages that really cut through to voters, like Tony Abbott is used in the past.

I think that's right.

And I think the budget one's a big one because he for the first time really explained why he couldn't do the tax cuts. Up until now it's sort of why aren't you doing these? Or you said you're about lower taxes, so why aren't you, you know, providing a lower tax policy. But he was really able to frame that debt and deficit situation that austrays in.

And there was a moment tonight ben where Kierra Gilbert asked the audience to put up their hands and he said, you know, tell me who here is struggling with the cost of living. I mean it was a majority of

I think this is one of the key successes of tonight for Peter Dutton is that he actually humanized the cost of living issue. So as you said, he leveraged off the grim picture of all those hands going up and actually was successfully to that into a narrative about the human misery that has been wrought, in his words.

By this Albanese government.

So in that sense, I think he started to build his narrative. I felt like his press conference today he started to refine it as well.

It's like he's starting to get match fit.

And if you could reduce the mission for Peter Dutton tonight, it was to reset and to reframe it because up until now it's all been framed by labor. Tonight, I feel like there's been a reframing.

Yeah, and Ben, I want to ask as well, if you agree with Clonnelle that Dutton won the debate.

Yeah, I think he did. I think you expect the opposition leader to win debates.

I mean, let's not.

Forget I think Alberanze you probably won the three last time and Morrison the three before that. But yeah, he won it. He was he was clear, he was focused, and he was across the detail.

Mind you.

Albanize was across the detail too, and he had a couple of zingers there, but Dutton showed that he was serious.

One thing we haven't spoken about yet, Andrew, is the little tiff around education as well, another area that is naturally a strength for labor.

Yeah, it is.

And the thing that the government at the time, the Abbit government, I don't think to fine enough, was that Julia Gillard really mined the villagers for them, right. So he was trying to point out the original plan had education spending and help spinning sliding way up, so we had to pair it back, whereas the state government scene

Really tough balancing act, and we did see questions that went to both of those things. Tonight Ben Dunnan spoke about immigration, linking it to housing affordability and the housing supply, which of course is as well a critical issue.

Yeah, absolutely critical that he did that, and that was speaking to all of Australia, not just Western Sydney, particularly those fringe electorates as.

Well as we're talking about earlier.

But it is interesting, isn't it how the electorate has changed. I think we were here in twenty thirteen and it would have been a very different different set of questions about migration then to what we're seeing today.

Yeah, all right, Andrew Clonel, Ben English. Great to have your insights, really appreciate your time.

Now after the break, we're going to be joined by Ray Hadley, Wrong and Bishop, and we're just moments away from the official verdict from the audience tonight as to who won this debate, So don't go away, we'll see you in a moment. Welcome back to this special version of Shari live from the Sky News and Daily Telegraph.

Peoples for him here in Western Sydney.

Now the votes of one hundred undecided voters are being counted as we speak. The result will be revealed by Kieran Gilbert very soon. But let's bring in now for their reaction from a Speaker of the House, Broman, Bishop and radio legend Ray Hadley. Great to see you both now, Bronwan, starting with you, what's your verdict?

How did that go? Who won?

Well?

To me, it was clear that Peter Dutton did win. He was clear who was precise and started to hammer the point about the immediacy of the tax on fuel being immediate and stretching out every aspect of the economy so that a mum who's at home looking after the kids with no job she gets a benefit.

Someone who's a pensioner.

They get a benefit someone who's bringing the apple to market from the orchard. It's going to cost less to bring in, less to refrigerate less at the cost of the supermarket.

That point into ray.

Do you think this is the Peter Darton that people have been waiting to see?

Sharper on message.

He's a pet I know.

I just had the end to him off camera, and I think he's pretty happy with how he went. I think he concur with Bromwin. I think he counterpunched really well. I think he you know, he's got to be careful whether he puts someone in their place and appears to

And I think that it's great to be with you as well. I love this.

Lady for a moment reunion here.

I must to spend a lot of time together to a paramounta Leaves club A long long time ago, when I was a senator, even the game I was calling anyway, So she's a wonderful lady. But I thought the question from the owner operator of the trucking at Winston Hills, I think he came from, which is just a stone throight from here. I thought that was a really important question to ask.

I mean, fifteen months for a five dollars tax cut or an immediate reduction in excise, what do you want? Which way do you go? I'm going to be fascinated by what Kieren Gilbert will reveal in relation to what the punters here thought. I spoke to many of them on the way in, just saying good a and the rest of it. And it's hard to gauge what sort of crowd.

They are, you know, whether they're undecided.

Well maybe may be undecided, but you know, there were some pointed questions, and I thought they both handled the guards a question as we'd.

Expect you'd expect, I mean, from Albert Easy, we only heard a brief mention of hostages, whereas Dutton focus.

Well, he focused on that.

He focused on what happened in October seven.

And how any country would respond that sharing.

I don't to bore your viewers, but it's one of it. But never ray, it's one of the more salient points. How Peter Dutton, Penny Wong Etel have been as weak as water. Yes on the any sympatism that we've seen time and time again, and.

It's not in his DNA. It's not in his DNA.

In another world he was carrying a Palestinian flag and shouting as a younger man, and I think that he recurs.

Back to that, and he wasn't even a younger man at the time he was in Parliament when he was yelling into the megaphone.

He's always been ol over trotted.

So we've seen this election campaign the Prime Minister almost on a weekly, if not daily basis, stand in front of a Medicare sign.

Bronwin. Today that critical.

Moment where Albanizy again got out the Medicare card and Peter Dutton said to the voter, well, did you need to get out your credit card as well?

What did you think of that? Well, it impressed me so much.

I got out my Medicare card and I got out my credit card because every time I go to the doctor, this one has to be used.

And when she did that, I thought, you've got a Medicare card out. Then I saw the credit card, is there a clinic here?

And then he mentioned there's one down the rate of work before But look at that stage, prop I thought that was probably his clumsiest part of the night too, all of a sudden, like Merlin, the magician produce a medicare card in relation to a question about medicare.

Was you're thinking, well, did he know that question was coming?

But obviously he knew was going to use it.

And I think the e was thing that came up and you said to me, and we discussed the fact that you'll get pimples on his tongue when.

He keeps going on about what you get what in his tongue?

Did the prime Ministeil get pimples on his name?

Now, Shari, I have that to educate you, and under loot none of the last four weeks. It's an age old expression that someone my age, certainly not the senator's age. But my mother used to say, Raymond, if you keep telling lies, you'll get pimples on your tongue.

And the other one was your nose ver longer.

Yes, well I know the Pinocchio one of coss all right, so there you go, And Dutton did pick up that theme tonight of the Prime Minister v dishonest and called him out on what he claimed.

We're inaccuracy several times.

Right, Well, the best one was the energy, the nuclear six hundred billion, when it's been costed far less than that and far best than what all the renewals are going.

To cost in the law.

And I'm glad he was able to give Casanova Bowen to send around us well in relation to his wind farms off the south coast of New South Wales of Port Stevens, not even the Europe because he kept harping on the Prime Minister about oh, there's no one wants to invest in nuclear it's because no one supports it. From his side of politics, it's illegal. So of course they're not going to invest in something that he thinks is illegal nuclear energy. And to get it past the

I want to talk about the impact that this debate tonight will have in the election campaign now ronwin. Do you think this will be a reset for Peter Dutton? Is it in enough of a reset if the commentator is more broadly as all four of my guests tonight have said that Darton came out ahead here if not a clear win. So do you think this will give him the momentum that he needs?

Well, yes, I do think it was a reset, and I think I'd like to congratulate Peter on the courage to come out and say that a policy that had been announced earlier was just playing wrong and wasn't was not going to be implemented at all. Didn't stop the Prime Minister speaking as if it was still the policy. But that's the sort of thing he does. But I think that for his own point of view from the views that we had here, but the people who carry

Well, we're coming up to school holidays. There's also then going to be Easter.

Ray.

What's your verdict.

On how this campaign is heading at the moment. Do you think Dutton can still recover to when or is this really a two term proposition for the opposition leader.

Well, Peter Kreedlin made a very good point in both her program on this network and in writing about it that the election can't be won or lost in the first week. It can't be and it's a five week campaign. We're into the second of five weeks. I think Dutton started the Marquis territory tonight. I think he was strong and effective. I think the Prime Minister was good, but not as good as Dutton, and so I did a bit of a headcount talking to people, and I think the Brahma makes a good point.

About the press gallery.

They'll be clinging to the votes of those people there like a life boy, hoping it goes the way of the Prime Minister.

So they can then, I guess.

Write what they wish to write, as opposed to having a con review if.

It gave the other way.

I think it's not.

Even necessarily the lens of the press gallery, because there have been some tough questions to Albanezi, including from The Nightly's Letika Burke. But it's also dote and getting his message out, which he was able to do with the whole of Australia watching the debate tonight, and of course we are here wrapping up the debate moments away from finding out the official verdict. Brom and Bishop ray Hadley. Great to have you here. We'll see you next Tuesday.

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