Steve Price: Australian Correspondent on the first debate between Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has come out on top in the first debate of the election.  

Of the 100 undecided voters polled after the debate, 44 chose Albanese, 35 chose his opponent Peter Dutton, and 21 were undecided.  

Australian correspondent Steve Price told Mike Hosking a personal tragedy struck Dutton shortly before it started.  

He says Dutton received news his father had had a heart attack an hour before the debate started.  

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
See price morning to you good about two part question?
How long was it and will you get any of
those moments back?

Speaker 2 (00:10):
It was an hour, and I work for the TV
company that staged the debate was at a worthwhile event. Look,
I think to get them both together on the same
stage is not a bad thing to have happened during
an election debate. Election campaign. I mean, we're only a
week and a bit into it, We've got four to go.

(00:32):
The next debate is going to be on the ABC,
so you can imagine what way that'll go. This was
a Sky News Daily Telegraph, supposed to be an audience
of one hundred undecided voters. I was a little skeptical
about how undecided these people are as they filed out.
The result fell in in Elbow's favor forty four for him,

(00:54):
thirty five for Dutmaan twenty one people who bothered to
turn up as undecided voters still were unstarted when they left,
so that might say a little bit about what it
was like online. Peter Dutton said to have been the
stronger performer. Interestingly, an hour before it happened, he got
news to his father back in Queensland had a heart attack,
so he'd have to cut him some slack there, because

(01:17):
I mean, obviously that would be very bad news. We've
got eight days to go now really because and the
reason I say that is we're going to be interrupted
at the Todder on Monday by Easter and the Antac
Day long weekend. So there's eight days before Easter and
then about four or five days a clear era after that.
I think Dutton last night did himself albut did himself

(01:40):
no favors. I think Dutton was pretty strong and he
needed to be because, as we said on Monday, he's
been struggling.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
Yeah, So, as I understand it correctly, if I'm wrong,
there are two debates sort of that one plus as
you say, the ABC seven and nine wants something, Will
they do more or not?

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Well, Peter Dutton says his advantage they do more because
I think he's a better performer live and unscripted than
what the Prime Minister is. So whether it goes to
one of those two commercial networks, who knows, but I imagine
that they will twist their arms. Anthony ALBENEZI, I doubt
that he'll commit to another one. He's done Sky and
the Telegraph, so that is what you would describe as

(02:22):
the right leaning media and the ABC's started the left
and so he will think I think that he's got
all bases covered.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Now, given our e MMP situation and given your possibility
of a hung parliament. When it comes to dealing with
minor players, are you in the stage yet where you
know what they are demanding or who they will go
with and what they want and won't get in bottom
lines and all that stuff or not.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Well, yes, from the Greens, but not from the tills.
So we have that problem that we have a group
of so called independent community independents, whereas they're really funded
by Simon Holmes of Court and climb at two hundred
and they took millions into these people, so they're not
really independent. But Adam the leader of the Greens, will
today outline what he wants if there's a home government

(03:06):
houn Parliament that demands the Greens to stump up and
allow them to govern. And the list is extraordinary really
And they're going to tax billionaire as they say and
rate in twenty three billion. We're not sure how they'll
do that. The company tax rate will go up to
forty percent. They want dental put on Medicare, which will
cost the country billions of dollars. They want to turn

(03:27):
the government into property developers to build cheap and sell
cheap houses, stop all coal and gas mining completely, All
public transport will be at fifty cents a ride. They're
going to wipe all student debt, and they'll give every
pair in eight hundred dollars for the kids to go
back to school. And they'll abolis all public school fees.

(03:47):
See a nice little list.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Of course they will. And if push came to shove,
would they rather be OUSI The history of the Green
Party in this country in general is they'd rather be
out of power than in power because they stand on
quote unquote principle and if you can't agree with us,
then you're wrong and therefore we don't want any part
of it. So how does it play out at your place?

Speaker 2 (04:08):
Pretty much the same, except I mean, obviously with the
debate around global warming and negative being able to argue
that you're doing the right thing about the climate, they
probably wouldn't mind a seat at the table. But unfortunately
for them, there's so many other independents that even if
Anthony Alberanezi needs two or three, he doesn't need the Greens.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
Right where here at with the tariffs and this fallout
we've seen the last few days.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, Well, the US Finance Committee met while we were
asleep last night by called Senator Mark Warner is blown
up at a bow called Jameson Greer, who's the US
Trade representative. He wanted to know why friends like Australia
and we can put in New Zealand to this list.
I imagine we're hit with a ten percent tariff. He
said that Australia is vital to the US security in

(04:58):
this region of the world. He talked about or Kissy said,
Australia is one of our strongest allies. We have a
free trade agreement with Australia, we don't have tariffs. We
even have a trade service with Australia. So we do
have some Republicans over there serving our story.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
Good. Hey Hanson Pauline who, funnily enough, I don't want
to be rude or unrude about it, but that says
she's approaching seventies, she's about to retire. I didn't have
her at seventy, so she's aged very well. She's recruited
her daughter Lee to stand in Tasmania and of Lee wins,
because she wouldn't have any of us sons anywhere near Parliament,
which I thought was good. Anyway, if she wins, that'll

(05:35):
be the first mother daughter combo. Is there any chance
that Lee wins? Do we have any clue or not?

Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah? Possibly? I mean the Hanson name and the handsome
brand to a certain part of the Australian voting public
is very strong. Probably Hanson where you like her or don't.
I interviewed it face to face a number of times,
even went once to her house out at the back
of Brisbane and interviewed it for television. She is a
principal woman who's never varied from that first speech that

(06:05):
she gave back when she first entered Parliament all those
years ago, where she said, there and we were bringing
in too many migrants and it was going to cause
us trouble. And then she said that forever the daughter
could get up, Yes, she certainly could. Pauline retiring, I'll
believe that when I see it. I don't think she's
up for elections time round. That's why she's probably brought
the daughter in. And it's interesting, isn't it. There's never

(06:26):
been a mother daughter combat yeah exactly.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
All right, nice to see you mate. Yeah, good weekend.
We'll catch up next week. Appreciate it very much. The
Price Out of Australia for this Wednesday morning. For more
from the mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to news Talks
i'd Be from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio