Mark Riley: 7 News political editor ahead of the Australian leaders' debate

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition leader Peter Dutton are set to face off in the first election debate of the campaign.

The debate is set to air on Sky News at 9:30pm (NZT) - and both leaders will be looking to boost up their campaigns and showcase their policies.

7 News political editor Mark Riley says opposition leaders stand to gain more from debates - and the pressure's on for Dutton.

"Campaigns are all about momentum - and if you can get what you believe is a shift in momentum from a debate and then ride it into the campaign proper, it can have a material impact." 

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Albanezi and Dutton. They will face off in the first
election debate on Sky News at nine point thirty tonight,
that's nine thirty our time. Dutton is under pressure to
convince voters he's been slipping behind Labor and the latest polls.
Mark Riley is seven News political editor. He has previously
mediated debates. He's with us tonight Mark, Good evening.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Good day, Ryan, and hopes to moderate debates in the
future as well.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Let's see is this Yes, sorry I didn't make that
so last century Mark? Is this tonight? Which one? Have
him a moderator because these questions from the audience it
sounds a bit more town hoy. What's the format?

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah, city's town hay. That's exactly it. I mean Kieran
Gilbert Sky will moderate, but he'll essentially just pass the
microphone around to people who've been selected by a survey
company as a representative of the electorate, and they'll be
asking questions about particular policy issues, peron and early issues, politics,

(01:01):
the whole lot. So it is very townholy.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
And how do you win a town hall debate?

Speaker 2 (01:09):
Well? Not in the other bloke off his feet, but
you know, there's these debates are always risky for prime
ministers and always opportunities for opposition leaders. I guess it's
a rare opportunity for an opposition leader to have equals
standing on the same platform with the Prime minister, shoulder

(01:30):
to shoulder, eye to eye, So much more to lose
for a PM, much more to gain for an opposition leader,
and most of the time it's kind of impressionistic. There's
a debate about about how much impact the debates themselves
have on people's voting intentions. Do they really turn votes? Well,

(01:51):
probably not in and of themselves, unless you you know,
start buffering on live television, as has happened in the
presidential debates before before the Democrats changed candidate with Joe Biden.
But I think also there's a psychological impact of this
that I've watched I'm fascinated by over the years. It

(02:12):
does play with the mind of the candidate if they
have a poor performance at a debate, so you know,
you could have an impact on a couple of different levels,
but they're normally remembered for moments, So opposition leaders and
prime ministers look for those moments where they essentially make

(02:33):
their opponent look like a goose.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, we had one of those in New Zealand that
show me the Money debate with our former Prime Minister
John Key down in christ Church and it changed, It
really did, because what it does for the next week
on the campaign is give that candidate the pip in
the step, the energy, you know, the vibe, the kind
of the push that you need to the finish line.
Doesn't it? So they can?

Speaker 2 (02:56):
It does it does. Look, campaigns all about momentum, and
if you can get what you believe is a shift
in momentum from a debate and then ride it into
the campaign proper, it can have a material impact on
the way that the next few days or week plays
plays out. But also it starts to build its own narratives,

(03:17):
so people like me start saying, well, you know, things
started to turn out the debate when you know Dutton
got inside Albany's he's head or Albanize he got inside
Dutton said, whatever the case may be. So they can
produce turning points in a way often don't. Sometimes can Trump.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
How much of a factor is he in this campaign?

Speaker 2 (03:39):
Massive? I mean the guys you know, look look at
you know your superannuation today. Trump is a factor in
every country around the world today and in this campaign
he is a factor because he's skewing the outlook for
the Australian economy. We had Peter Dutton today declaring that
Australia was headed towards recession, headed towards recession under Labor.

(04:03):
Of course he made the political point, but you know,
back in the day we would have said that's talking
the economy down and un Australian and all the rest
of it. These days it's just part of the course
and the political contact sport. But so there will be
questions about Trump. I am absolutely certain, and both of
the leaders will say that they are best equipped to

(04:24):
deal with him. The question is how you deal with him, right,
I mean, and that's the material point. How do you
deal with somebody who is so unpredictable as Trump. Alban
Easy's way has been to say that we do it
diplomatically through the usual channels and through traditional means. We
don't we don't engage in knee joke responses. That is,

(04:47):
we're not going to wack on tariffs on the US
in retaliation. Dutton's the Dutton's way of really of framing
this is that he will take a toughest stand he'd
be more forthright, stand up for Australia. But also because
it's kind of said sod of, But because he's of

(05:08):
the same conservative ilk, though not of the Trump kind,
but of the same conservative bent, he has a better
chance of negotiating an exemption or a deal for Australia
than alban eaz he does. But in essence, I think
Trump brings to this campaign the question, you know, who

(05:30):
is best equipped to lead Australia at a time of royling,
expensive and quite frightening uncertainty, particularly in the global economy.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
Yeah. Hey, great to have you on Mark, looking forward
to tonight's debate and looking forward to you moderating debates
in the future.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drave, listen live to
News Talks it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.